Baidu, Tencent and India

Khushwant Singh once remarked to a Pakistani friend " The difference between you and us is that you import your cars and build mosques. We build our own cars. " That was a very important statement. Its about Sovereignty. We had our own heavy indsutry. We had our own education institutions, even our own space reasearch program that was boo-ed by the naysayers, but doggedly pushed. (One of things for which I love Nehru)

And then, the currency of the game changed. In addition to physical assets, digital supremacy became key currency. While we were demolishing mosques and trying to create temples, while we were tomtomming our fat packet google and yahoo salaries, what was China doing? It was creating Baidu, Tencent, and other internet giants - basic stuff that ensured that it did not come to depend on anything external. Who has the best techies in the world? Arguably, we do. And who has the ONLY known competition in the world to Google? China Does.

Who sends software engineers to the West like a staple export? We do. And who has the courage to take on MS and Yahoo in their own domain - English, French et al? Tencent, from China.

Who has the most coding experience in the world? We do. And who has an instant messaging company that pips Apple in growth rankings? China does.

When we are done discussing the application devleopment growth numbers and the fat salaries, when we are done with honor killings, Barkha Dutt's arrogance and the color of Saif Ali Khan's shirt, maybe it will be time for that long forgotten concept - nation building with a long term vision.

Guess who will win the supremacy race in the long run? We will. Because we have it in us. :-)