Five Lessons World Should Learn From India

Published

8 years ago

April 10, 2013

Patrick French, writer and historian. Photo: Outlook India

India is a vast nation now considered as a military and economic giant of Asia. In past fifteen to twenty years Indian growth story has changed the complete geopolitics of the region and how the rest of the world looks at this nation. Just recently until 1980s the country which was known as the country of snake charmers today the same country is ruling the software and service sector of the world with its mouse charmers “highly qualified engineers” making undisputed fast delivery services to the end users in US, Canada, Britain and other European countries.

India’s growth story is different than many others, India is largely diverse. Hundreds of languages and thousands of dialects, ethnic differences and variety in religions and food. Large number of riches, larger number of poors, and a big size of middle class population, India has somewhat managed to keep them all together in the growing path. Having so many people below poverty line and literacy rate 74.04%, if India can be one of the fastest growing country in the world, then what will happen if India improves its above statistics. All these gives us great lessons which the world must learn from India and implement.

This article is based on the views and the research done by award winning writer and historian Patrick French whose video is embedded in the end of the article for your reference. These are the lessons which he believes Britain should take from the good or bad conditions in India. Please note that any reference to any particular community, religion or caste is only for the purpose of example.

The growth story of India in the world outside India has become so popular that everyone in Europe and the US is attracted to India. However, on reaching India the first impression which it gives cannot support the argument that India is third largest economy by GDP (PPP). Unplanned infrastructure, damaged and dirty roads, shortage of basic amenities like water and electricity in some of the major cities gives a negative impression.

Indeed growing with the pace of 7% to 9% has changed a lot in the country which has generated world class economic regions like in Bangalore and NCR (National Capital Region), etc. Somewhere in the growing process nearly one third of the India’s poor population has been left behind who are still struggling to find their ways to eat two times a day. If India is able to check that in coming days, it can make progress smoother and faster.

Lesson 1: Idea of Managing and Dealing with Diversity

India is a country of Indians, but it is better to say that India is a multi culture, multi ethnic, multi lingual and multi religious society. People are ethnically, linguistically and religiously diverse and still living in harmony since independence for past more than six decades. There have been severe conflicts around the world on ethnic and religious issues, and India too had to struggle when it was partitioned in the name of religion that resulted into religious violence during mass migration between a secular India and Islamic Pakistan. Once the formation of a secular India happened, the nation continued getting stronger.

Today religious practices and festivals are celebrated in India that encourages collective security and peace within communities. It is common to see Muslims and Hindus decorating and lighting their homes on Christmas, people of all religions celebrating Christmas in their office or in shopping malls. Similarly it is common to see people of other religion celebrating and enjoying playing Holi and Diwali which are fun filled Hindu festival of colours and light respectively. Celebrating Eid is a friendly gesture and wishing their Muslim brothers with a hug and then having delicious sweet at their homes made with vermicellis and milk is a wonderful feeling.

You are not only exposed to various cultures and customs but another interesting thing in India is that religious holiday of any religion is a public holiday and hence you get more holidays in a year to get a day off from work.

In the 21st century when people are leaving their religious and ethnic differences to grow together, there are instances where ethnic or religious hatred are creating problems resulting into wars, whether it is Israel or Palestine or Tamilians and Sri Lanka or North and South Sudan. The world must take this lesson from India for their benefit.

Lesson 2: Flexibility

Flexibility can be in anything, flexibility can be in time, in religion, in politics, or in society. Those who have done business in India or who have to deal with Indians always complain about time that Indians fail to be on time. Those who schedule meeting with Indians often experience delays. When most of the world has defined time limits and schedules and strictly bind to it. Indian believes in infinity, In the broader perspective, Indians will finish their work on time, but in narrow perspective how do they do it, what timings they follow, leave it on them. Importance of time and self discipline is taught in many religious teaching. The idea of flexibility comes very much from the religion that most of the Indian follows, which doesn’t prohibit you from alcohol or non vegetarian food, and leaves decision making ability and philosophy on you encouraging you to feel the god within yourself.

The concept of flexibility also comes from the centre. In the true sense, democracy is in India that involves nineteen to twenty two political parties based on different ideologies forming one central government in alliance in Delhi. It requires you to be very flexible in thoughts as you need to make and run a government that is formed of various ideologies. There has been times in India when communists and capitalists co-existed in the central government of India.

Dalit comunity of India, which is one of the backward community came up with an idea of learning and teaching English among themselves to improve the employment conditions in the community. For this they invented a new god, English goddess, showing the flexibility in the religion. They made temples around and encouraged dalit children to come and learn English that would give a better image and job for their community.

Lesson 3: Learning and Education

Indians have extra ordinary devotion to education and academic attainment. It is in their culture to compete not only with their batchmates in the school but also with their neighbours and also with their siblings and cousins. Often students in 10th and 12th grade prepare themselves to break the records set by their seniors or cousins may be 10 years back, it doesn’t matter. The seeds of competition are sowed in much early age of a student by the parents and other relatives in the society.

India is also one of the largest producer of first class internationally accepted degree holders like doctors, engineers, MBAs and lawyers. India is one of the largest producers of high quality resources that drive companies and economy around the world.

Again this dedication towards education has a religious impact. The idea of learning is considered as a social duty and service to the goddess “Vidya mata” or Goddess Saraswati.

Still there is a big population in India who are not even literate. India’s literacy rate in recent years has climbed to 70+ mark. If India’s education system can pump hundreds of thousands of engineers, doctors, lawyers and business administrators during current conditions, its result will be enormous if India can also give attention to the other half of its population who have not been much blessed with primary education.

Lesson 4: Environment

This is an important lesson to be learnt so that the rest of the world do not end up like how Indian natural resources and environment has ended up in pollution due to extremely fast growth. Those who travel to India are shocked by the level of public mess, garbage dumped along the roads and in the drainage, polluted rivers and deforestation in central India and Himalayas for farming or mining etc, although efforts of reforestation have also started on a big pace. Still in many Indian cities even if you are sitting indoors you might feel eyes burning due to pollution. Some cities like Delhi have made enormous progress in reducing air pollution by introducing Natural Gas for vehicles, cooking, and heating purposes. The city where just 10 years back eyes used to burn, today you can breathe freely.

Flora and fauna holds a great impact on Indian society. For thousands of years Indians have been worshipping trees and animals as they believe in collective society where not only humans, but trees and animals also have an important place. Often in the morning and evening women can be seen tying a kind of thread on the branches of peepal tree which sets up a kind of relationship with the trees who are the pillar of the life on earth. With high demand and improper infrastructure, forests are being destroyed for illegal construction and mining, a large number of endangered animals like leopard and tigers continue to be killed by the poachers increasing the risk of their extinction.

In a moment against deforestation in north India, famous as chipko movement, local people would hug a tree if the authority or industrialists would come to cut down the trees forcing them to stop. Indians also celebrate vanmahotsav festival where before the raining season everyone plants a sapling of plant. However, the popularity of such festival has gone down in recent years which needs a promotional campaign.

Lesson 5: Idea of Contradiction

When you will reach India, you will immediately notice two Indias moving forward side by side. One is a third largest economy by GDP (PPP), a military and space power, another is an India of poor and illiterate people, who do not get to have food even two times a day. There are nearly 300 million poor people in India and on the other hand some of the most richest people are from India. Presently the richest person in Britain is of Indian origin, Lakshmi Mittal.

India has a dynamic middle class, but a static rural culture, which has been somewhat ignored in the recent years, a large part of Indian agriculture is still based on the monsoon rains which highly impacts the outcome of the crops every year resulting into unreliability of Indian farm output due to high fluctuation in the rains.

India gave attention to some of the great sectors right after the independence but failed to give the required amount of attention to some of the basic sectors. For example, primary education was not made priority in the 50s and 60s, but India came up with the world class institutions like IIT almost during the same period. India’s advancement in the space can be seen from late 60s. India started importing early computers from IBM and Soviet Union. After the technology embargo on India as a result of nuclear testing, India was forced to develop and design indigenous supercomputer and supercomputing technologies. In 1990, a prototype was developed and was showcased at the 1990 Zurich Supercomputering Show. It surpassed most of the other systems participating, placing India second only after the US.

India, one of the richest country few century ago had to start again from the scratch when most of the western world was already in their later stage of development. With large number of resources, large population, rich history and cultural heritage, when the country is moving again with the fast pace, it gives us many lessons. Some lessons which should not be repeated and to be aware of, and some lessons which should be implemented. India gives many such lessons and is a model for other developing nations in Asia, Africa, East and Central Europe.

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Top 10 Simple Health Changes To Boost Your Well-Being

Published

2 weeks ago

September 11, 2021

Andra Tudor

It does not matter how old you are, where you live, or what your occupation is, your health should always be a top priority. However, most of us are a little bit guilty of letting our well-being slide from time to time. With that being said, read on to discover some of the simple ways you can give your health a boost today.

Get rid of at least one item in your life that contains toxic chemicals – You may be shocked by just how many items in your life contain toxic chemicals. This includes everything from air fresheners to bed sheets. Get rid of one of these items and replace it with something natural instead. This is something you should make a habit to do every few months or so. You will be surprised by just how much of a difference this can make.
Deep breathe for at least five minutes – Throughout the day, you should make sure you take the opportunity to deep breathe for at least five minutes. Why? Well, there have been numerous studies that have shown that deep breathing can help to lower stress hormone levels. This means that you will feel better, get an improved night’s sleep, and you will have less anxiety too.
Drink more water – You probably expected this to be on the list, but the importance of drinking more water should never be ignored. Your body needs water for almost every function. If you are dehydrated, this could be the cause of headaches, pains, aches, and a number of other symptoms.
Have one veggie night per week – A lot of people eat far too much meat, red meat especially. So, why not have a veggie night once a week? Not only is this good for your health, but it will be good for your bank balance too. There are so many great recipes online that can give you ideas regarding tasty and creative dishes that do not incorporate any sort of meat or fish. Once you start off with one night per week, you may then decide that you want to up it to two nights, and so on. However, it always helps to start off small so that it is easier and more manageable, and you can then get used to it.
Sign up for an online pharmacy – Nowadays, you can easily order your prescriptions and medications over the Internet via an online pharmacy. This can help you to boost your health because it ensures you never experience delays with your medication. If you are someone who often doesn’t take their recommended course of tablets because you cannot get to the doctors in time for a repeat prescription, then this is definitely a good suggestion for you. Your medication will be delivered to your door with a click of a button.
Make a dedicated effort to lower your stress levels – There is no denying that we live in a very stress-filled world at the moment! The world we live in is one that has heaps of pressure, and it can be difficult to stay on top of everything and keep those stress levels low. However, it is vital that you find a way to do so. After all, if you don’t adrenal fatigue and health can start to take a tumble, which is the last thing you want. For those who are unaware, adrenal fatigue relates to a group of different symptoms that impact people who are under a lot of physical, emotional, or mental stress. From being a single parent to having a stressful job, there are a lot of different reasons why you may be struggling. Therefore, we recommend that you look for different ways to reduce those stress levels so that you can enjoy a more calming and peaceful life. Whether it is doing some breathing techniques or taking more regular breaks so you can have moments for yourself, there are a lot of different ways that you can make sure you are keeping your stress levels to a minimum. The importance of this should not be overlooked, as stress can impact our mental and physical health in so many different ways.
Do something nice for someone every day – You will be surprised by how good this makes you feel, and by how much this has a positive impact on your health. It’s all about mental well being. When you do something nice for another person, you are benefitting their health, as well as your own. First and foremost, there is no denying that it feels good to hear some nice words for someone or to get a helping hand when you need it. You feel recognised and appreciated, and this is something we all need. At the same time, doing something nice for someone else and seeing their reaction can make you feel amazing too. After all, doing something good for someone is a gift for yourself at the same time. You will find that the deed continues throughout the day, making you feel great and happy within yourself.
Incorporate some movement into your commute – If you do not have an active job, this is particularly important. Sitting at a computer all day can be bad for your health. One way to combat this is by incorporating some movement into your commute. If you can walk or bike to work, you should give this a go. If not, start parking your car further away from your place of work so that you have to walk there and back. You should also start using the stairs instead of the elevator whenever you can.
Start meal planning – You will find it much easier to eat healthily if you plan your meals. At the start of every week, make a menu of what you are going to cook for dinner every evening, as well as what you are going to make for your lunches every day. Not only will this help you to eat better, but you will save money too. Make sure you incorporate some healthy snacks into your food prep for work. This will stop you from going to the vending machine whenever you are bored or your energy is zapped. The great thing about the times we live in at the moment is that you can easily get recipes and meal prep inspiration online. So, if you are struggling, simply do a little bit of digging online and we are sure that you will find a lot of different options when it comes to meal ideas and clever food prep suggestions for the week ahead. Not only is this going to help you to be more organized, but you will find that it actually saves you quite a bit of money in the process. After all, when we do not have a food plan for the week ahead, we tend to spend a lot of money on items we do not need. Food can end up going in the bin because we do not use it. This ends up in an awful lot of waste, and we should all be looking to reduce this, so meal prep is great in many ways.
Keep a journal – Last but not least, keeping a journal is good for a person’s mental health. You should write down your thoughts. It doesn’t need to be a long entry; you can simply jot down a few bullet points every evening. This will help you to articulate your thoughts so that they do not wear you down. After all, it can be very difficult to sleep if you have lots on your mind. A lot of experts advise this approach for people who suffer from insomnia. One of the main reasons why a lot of people struggle to get the hours of sleep they need is because they cannot shut off when they go to sleep; their minds are still going at a million miles per hour. They are thinking about what they need to do the following day and any worries or concerns that they may have. Because of this, it very much makes sense to keep a journal so you can offload some of these thoughts and worries and you can have a much more restful night of sleep. Once you get into the habit of doing this, you will see that it actually does make a significant difference when it comes to drifting off and enjoying a good night of rest.

So there you have it: some of the best ways to give your health a boost. The suggestions that have been provided are really simple and easy, so there is no excuse not to give yourself a bit of TLC. we are sure that you will start to notice a difference as time goes on. However, as is the case with anything, it requires patience and persistence. You cannot expect to turn your health around in one night.

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Why Buy A Business, Rather Than Start One

Published

2 weeks ago

September 11, 2021

Andra Tudor

There are good and bad sides to buying a business and starting your own business from scratch. For lots of people, the positives of buying an established business outweigh the positives of starting a business. Here are the reasons why buying an existing business could be the right choice.

Easier To Secure Finance

All businesses will need finance. Unless you can fund your business yourself, you’ll need to secure financing from investors. Most lenders will be more willing to lend money to an established business that they can already see is doing well, rather than risk an unknown factor.

Income From Day One

One of the downsides of starting a business is that most start-ups will go through an early stage where they don’t make much, if any, money. For some entrepreneurs, this stage can last for several years.

During this stage, you will need to pay out for things like your premises, as well as equipment, installation of equipment, stock, materials, fixtures and fittings, legal and professional fees, a license, uniforms, and more.

If you don’t have finance in place or another form of income, this stage can be very tough for a new business owner. If you buy a business, you can start earning from day one, and avoid this tricky period where you might be out of pocket.

Established Brand

When you buy a business that already exists, you are also buying into a brand that is already known, recognizable, and has a track record. You get the business complete with all the trademarks, copyrights, and websites associated with it, as well as the business locations.

This means that your business will already have customers, lenders, suppliers, and other contacts that are confident in the business already.

Instant Customer Access

An existing business also has customers already, which can help you succeed straight away. You can use a range of strategies and marketing to build on the existing customer base, but won’t have to struggle to build a customer base from scratch.

Established Network Of Contacts

When you start a business from scratch, a lot of your time and energy has to be put into building up a network of contacts.

All businesses need to have supplier and marketing contacts, so buying an existing business that already has those contacts in place allows you to hit the ground running.

Like money lenders, suppliers and marketing companies are more likely to offer you more favourable terms if your business has been around for a while and they know it.

Focus On Growing The Business

When an entrepreneur starts a new business, they will have to put a lot of their energy into getting their business off the ground. This takes a lot of time and can be very tiring.

On the other hand, when you take over a business that is already established, you’ll be freer to focus on the areas of the business that most need your attention, aiding the growth of the business as a whole.

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Temperature Controlled Transport: What is it?

Published

1 month ago

August 21, 2021

Andra Tudor

Transport logistics is not only based on transporting goods from point A (origin) to point B (destination), but also involves other aspects that are not so well known to end users.

For instance, a factor that can be decisive is the temperature-controlled transport of goods. Such is the importance of this that there are logistics companies specialized in the distribution of products sensitive to thermal changes.

These companies have vehicles equipped with systems that can maintain the right temperature, keeping the product safe through temperature fluctuations.

What is temperature controlled transport?

A temperature-controlled shipment is one that guarantees the cold chain of the product, without it being subjected to sudden changes in temperature and always without exceeding the values of a safety interval.

The purpose of this cold chain is to guarantee the optimum condition of the product from the time it is picked up until it is delivered. This is why temperature controlled transport is in such high demand for proper product maintenance.

Cold chain in food

The cold chain is a key factor in food safety since it guarantees the preservation of food in optimum conditions.

Food safety is closely linked to health, to the point of being a right recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Therefore, if the cold chain was to be broken during the distribution, the food could not be delivered and would need to be discarded.

Several factors are involved in keeping the food cold chain intact:

Storage in cold or refrigerated chambers.
Transport in temperature-controlled vehicles
Storage in display cabinets or refrigerated chambers at point of sale
Other goods requiring temperature-controlled transportation

Whenever we talk about refrigerated transport, we usually think of the food cold chain, but there are other types of goods that also need temperature-controlled logistics to maintain their conditions intact until they reach their destination.

The main goods that need to be transported under temperature control are flowers, chemical or biological products, medicines, live animals or photographic films.

Medicines

There are certain medicines that need to be stored and transported at low temperatures so that they do not lose their curative properties.

An example is vaccines that have weakened live viruses and if subjected to sudden changes in temperature, these microorganisms would die and their effectiveness would be null.

Chemical or biological products

Some chemical or biological goods also need to be transported in an environment that guarantees a stable temperature from collection to delivery.

These goods are of mere importance since they can be considered dangerous. Hence, they must be treated very carefully.

Live animals

The current legislation also contemplates that the transportation of live animals over long distances must be subject to a temperature control that ensures values between 5 and 30 degrees Celsius with an interval of up to +/- 5ºC depending on the outside temperature.

Flowers

Something as delicate as flowers also need to be transported under optimum temperature conditions so that their scent and beauty are maintained at the point of delivery.

Besides, flowers are a very apt simile for the importance of temperature-controlled transport in today’s logistics because the ultimate goal is the welfare and health of humans and animals. Undoubtedly, a very necessary end.

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