Shyam Parekh

Over the past couple of months, one uncannily similar sentiment has been cropping up in a large number of conversations. It left me disturbed and pondering. Of course, the view is not unheard of; most of us have expressed it at some stage.

But when Nobel laureate Venky Ramakrishnan's father muses about the time when the vice-chancellor of his son's alma mater, MS University, had no time for Venky during his visits prior to winning the Nobel; a familiar Indian foible seems to rankle again.

Curiously, when he was denied the appointment, Venky had already received dozens of laurels, except Nobel. Respect for him, his work and his achievements reached India strapped on the wings of Nobel prize. He didn't matter till he was respected by others in the West.

Then there is the case of Lord Bhikhu Parekh. When asked whether he would have succeeded in India in his academic pursuit and won a nomination to the upper house of parliament, his answer was emphatically negative, "I was recognised only because I was abroad," he has said. "Had I stayed in India, I would not have achieved what I have staying in the UK."

IIMA professor Anil Gupta has been working hard for years, sometimes very quietly, sometimes quite visibly and audibly to nurture the innovative spirit of the common people. But it took a Bollywood blockbuster like '3 Idiots' to project innovation fostered by him and highlight his work.

A learned friend recently summed up our society's indifference-to-originality-syndrome quite well. "Unfortunately, India is known globally for working only on other people's ideas. In ancient times, we gave so much learning to the world. But in the last few centuries, we have only followed the Western models of science, thinking, governance, academics, commerce and trade. What's originally ours? At least the Chinese are original in learning from the West and beating them at their own game. What do we stand for?"

If you ever share the feeling that our society is not inherently receptive to bold, new ideas, you are not necessarily wrong. As a society, we are prone to celebrating only success and not the attempt. We worship Krishna but conveniently forget his message of "karmanye vadhika raste....". Probably, the last original idea that came from India was put forward by Mahatma Gandhi, who experimented with truth and successfully led a non-violent movement to free a country. The systematic neglect of Mahatma by his own state only reflects our myopic attitude.

To come out of this mediocrity that is hindering the growth of originality in our society, we need to show openness to new ideas, to accept that there are multiple ways of doing things and not just a known one. Lets begin by talking about an idea, irrespective of its practicality. When Arthur C Clarke first visualised in mid 20th century, a satellite or a man on the moon, his ideas were nothing more than a fantasy. But today? Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are as big as their ideas were, or to be more correct, their faith and persuasion of their own ideas. Closer home our much celebrated Karsans, Gautams and Dhirus have shown the strength of what an idea can do.

What can be a better way to achieve this than by discussing, floating and sharing ideas about anything that you want to make better - politics, society, business, governance, your living environment, services and more. Do you have an idea? Get inspired by ideas and share them with us to inspire the whole world!