The store is crowded! The trial rooms are busy. It is a struggle to reach the clothes stand for your size because there are so many who want the same thing. The parking space is not enough, you parked on a no-parking area and you need to complete this purchase quickly.

The signs clearly say ‘No exchange/ No return’, still we are drawn to the sale. Like a moth to a fire.

Welcome to the new rip-off
Many people are realizing the quality of the products sold in the sale does not match up to the reputation of the marquee brand. The product becomes useless in a short time; has the durability of the product brought from a footpath. In my own personal experience:

• A reputed ‘tough’ shoes had cracks on both soles in 6 months of use
• A pair of marquee jeans shrank 3 sizes after 2 washes. It was so shrunk, it took me weeks before I realized the new jeans is not an old jeans from college days
• T-shirts shrunk 2 sizes and make you feel like a 2nd grade movie side-kick

No wonder the big name brands say ‘No exchange/ No returns’. Doesn’t your bulb glow now? Doesn’t it feel like the brands knew in advance about the quality of their products? No wonders they created the policy ‘No exchange/ No refund’.

Most interestingly, the product works for a few washes or few months before it degrades. By this time neither can you find the bills nor can you explain why you bought that item in case you find the courage to go back to the store.

It is not to say that all deals are rip-offs. I have had better luck with quality when the deal was not announced outside the store. You walk in to buy something and then you realize there is a sale later. In such situations the quality was much better. Also, when there were a small number of cloth items that were not available in all sizes, looked like something the store genuinely wanted to get of its shop. Again no buzz here and no crowds. Just a corner or shelf in the store with items available only in one color and one size.

Finally, I welcome the brands to please sue me: I know what I am writing here and would be happy for a contest. More importantly, it may just prove that what I am talking is right.

Are you one from those coming to Hyderabad assuming “Hyderabad is all about money” and “I am here to exploit the existing thing to its fullest”? If you come with this kind of attitude to rape the existing system, then you are no better than Ghori or Nadeer Shah, who came to plunder and occupy India causing untold misery to the Indian population.

Hyderabad is not only about money or opportunities
There are many other things that make Hyderabad a solid destination to get settle down including its cosmopolitan nature, better civilization (non-feudalistic and non-castist people), better quality of life, better culture etc. One can taste various cuisines; watch good movies in Hindi/Telugu/English that are screened in theatres with good crowd, jobs with better work profile, good educational institutions and many more. Ask anything a good city offers, you will get it here at Hyderabad.

Make no mistake 99% of Hyderabadies are migrants. There are some who came in a few centuries back and some who came in a few decades back and are part of Hyderabadi culture. Hyderabad is welcome for all, but there are some expectations. Hyderabadies are proud of their city and many don’t settle down in other cities. All they expect you to do is add value to the existing system. Read through the story to know the attitude of a good migrant.

Be a good migrant
Many centuries ago, Parsis migrated to western part of India (now Gujarat). They wanted to settle in the new land but the local king (Jadi Rana) was reluctant to give shelter to them as his land could not support more people. To explain this to them in simple terms, he stated that his land could not hold any more people by sending their leader a cup full of milk as if to signify even one more drop will lead to overflow.

Parsi leaders took the cup and poured a handful of sugar and said, just like this sugar, which not only got well-blended with the milk but also made the milk sweeter, we will become one of you. Impressed by their gesture, the king gave them refuge in Sanjan (Gujarat). As good migrants, Parsis adapted the Gujarati culture. They were smart to adopt the dress of the locals. Even today, only Gujaratis and parsis wear the saree pallu to the right side. In order to prevent conflicts, they promised not to own agricultural land and figured out a way to add value to the kingdom. Most of them went into trading/business. They speak Gujarati and follow many Gujarati customs.

Mercenary attitude
Mercenary is a person hired to fight for a foreign country. He will be ready to work for anybody, even for the bad reasons. He just focuses on money. In contrast, a soldier works for his own country. More than money, he will be interested in serving his own country. Similarly, you need to come with good mindset. Even strangers welcome good people, while mercenary attitude is obviously not appreciated.

Have you ever wondered why people do not come to your hometown? Why offshore centers are not a big hit in your native place? It may not be because of land infrastructure – roads, railway stations, buildings, apartments etc. For a fast developing country with rapidly rising tax revenues, such infrastructure can be built in a year or two. If such things are easy to create, then why is the difference? Remember, Hyderabad has a great culture, values and makes migrants feel welcome. If they change, it is no longer a ‘City’ – it will become like your home town.

If you are getting a job, the city need not be thankful to you. No region of the country (not even AP) accounts for more than 40% of jobs in Hyderabad. From North East Calcutta to Eastern UP, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Eastern Maharashtra and all parts of AP prefer Hyderabad if they want to look outside their home town for better opportunities. The opportunities are good and it is an easier commute to their hometown compared to Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai. It is also probably the most welcoming of all these cities.

What would happen to your career if you had to live your entire life at your home town? How much career progress could you make? Remember, there is too much wasted talent for lack of opportunity. So, instead of being egoistical, be thankful for getting an opportunity to work in a city close to your hometown. So you can easily go and see family and they can also easily see you.

The fact is Tamilnadu always has a much better track record compared to AP in terms of running genuinely good businesses for long term. While most Andhra Pradesh based companies have either failed or are struggling in their market when they grow big to national level, businesses from Tamilnadu are not only running successfully but also are appreciated nationally.

Tamilnadu has the highest number of enterprises in India. Tamilnadu is also most industrialized state in India. Tamilnadu holds 2nd position in the list of states with the most FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) approvals and has a network of over 100 industrial parks. Andhra Pradesh is in 4th position in the list of states with the FDI approvals.

Businesses from Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu
The way businesses in Tamilnadu operate is very different from the ones in Andhra Pradesh. It may not be due to lack of good entrepreneurship in AP, as we can see many good small businesses in AP. But they lack in capabilities to take the business to the next level or maintain for long time.

A major feature of Tamilnadu businesses is that they stay humble and avoid being flashy. For example, a national level English newspaper run from Tamilnadu has a great image. You cannot find any flashy look on the newspaper and ads. But in Andhra Pradesh we cannot find a newspaper without flashy look. You may find some, but they lack substance to appeal at national level.

Finance companies
There are many big finance companies from Andhra Pradesh, but most of them known for controversies rather than sustained positive image. Nagarjuna finance, SKS Micro finance (recently in news for negative reasons), Charminar bank, Krushi bank, Global Trust bank are a few to name. Can we compare any of them in AP with the Sundaram Finance of Tamilnadu, which has been running since 1964 with a positive image with customers and in marketplace.

IT exports
If not finance sector, let’s consider the IT sector which we believe there is a positive perception of AP. Andhra Pradesh is 6th in rank for IT exports from India. But Tamilnadu is in 5th position, a rank ahead of AP. In the list of the top 20 IT exporting companies in India released by NASSCOM, one company from both states was listed. The company from AP could not even enter the top 15 list. Tamilnadu based company was ranked 12th whereas Andhra Pradesh based company ranked in 17th position.

No Superbrands from AP
We already discussed about this in our previous articles that not even a single brand from AP got selected in the list of Consumer Superbrands till now. There are many consumer brands from Tamilnadu that got listed in Superbrands India. Among them are The Hindu, Sify Technologies, Apollo Hospitals and Club Mahindra. We need to take a hard look at why Andhra Pradesh brands have failed to create a strong customer loyalty at national level.

Manufacturing sector
Tamilnadu also leads in manufacturing sector against AP. Tamilnadu is a major player worldwide in textile and leather exports. It has created a positive image at international level in a non-flashy manner.

Tamilnadu hosts manufacturing operations of major global automobile companies including Ford, BMW, Hyundai, Mitsubishi Motors and Michelin. There are few local automobile majors as well like TVS Motors, one of the top two-wheeler manufacturers in India; Ashok Leyland, one of India’s leading manufacturers of commercial vehicles; Royal Enfield, the tough motorcycle of India.

Though companies like Honda, Ashok Leyland, Tata, Suzuki, Escorts, Mahindra & Mahindra, Kirloskar and Bajaj etc. are importing major components from Andhra Pradesh, but they are not willing to start manufacturing operations here. Despite trying hard, Hyderabad was not able to attract any new automobile venture. Tata Motors chose Gujarat while Volvo turned out to be a controversy.

Chik shampoo from a small village in Tamilnadu has shown the world that it is possible to beat the multinational companies. That too in the fast moving consumer goods, considered as the most difficult market. MRF, a leading tyre maker in India, is from Tamilnadu.

Tamilnadu has created legends like A.R. Rehman and Abdul Kalam who let their work speak for themselves. Businesses from Tamilnadu are conservative but solid, genuine and enduring. While Andhra Pradesh has established a name as flashy, flamboyant and fraudulent.

Analyze the situation objectively, instead of going with emotional feelings. Our intention here is not to demean anybody, but to ignite a positive revolution in the business sector of Andhra Pradesh.

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Hyderabad is one of the major hubs of Indian IT industry. It is known as the second Silicon Valley of India just after Bangalore. The city even has a region dedicated to IT industries – the ‘Hi-Tech City’ of Madhapur suburb. A rapid growth of technology in this area has led civic boosters to call the city “Cyberabad”. The city also has a prominent place in the International IT sector.

Only one Andhra Pradesh company listed in top 20:
With all the resources and hype on IT sector in Hyderabad, we had only one company listed among the top 20 Indian IT companies, that too at #17 position. In total, there were 16 domestic and 4 foreign IT companies in the report released by NASSCOM on top 20 Indian IT companies for 2009 – 2010. Among them, only one domestic company – the Infotech Enterprises Ltd., was based out of Hyderabad.

It was also observed that not even one major foreign IT company had its Indian headquarter in Hyderabad.

Top 20 IT companies headquarters – city wise rank positions:
Bangalore was leading the list of cities, with more number of IT companies in the NASSCOM report, with 6 companies; followed by Mumbai (5 companies), New Delhi (3), Pune (3), Chennai (1), Indore (1) and Hyderabad (1). The details are as follows:

1. Bangalore – 5 domestic (Ranks- 2,3,6,16,19) and 1 foreign (Rank 13) companies
2. Mumbai – 4 domestic (Ranks- 1,7,10,18) and 1 foreign (Rank 14) companies
3. New Delhi – 2 domestic (Rank 4, 15) & 1 (Rank 8 ) Foreign companies
4. Pune – 2 domestic (Rank 5,20) & 1 Foreign (Rank 11 ) companies
5. Indore – One domestic company (Rank – 9)
6. Chennai – One domestic company (Rank – 12)
7. Hyderabad – One domestic company (Rank – 17)

Infotech enterprises Ltd., of Hyderabad ranked in 17^th position among top 20 IT companies. It was incorporated in 1991. There are some companies which started their operations in Indian IT sector after 1991 and got better ranks than Infotech. MphasiS ltd (1998) is ranked 6^th, Honeywell Technology Solutions Lab Pvt Ltd (1994 ) is ranked 16^th, L&T Infotech (1997) is ranked 10^th, 3i Infotech Ltd (1993) is ranked 14^th, MindTree Ltd (1999) is ranked 13^th, Polaris Software Lab Ltd (1993) is ranked 12^th, Honeywell Technology Solutions Lab Pvt Ltd (1994 ) is ranked 16^th, CSC India Pvt Ltd. (1991) is ranked 9^th and Aricent Technologies (Holdings) ltd (1991) is ranked 8^th.

There are no strong players from IT sector in Hyderabad when compared to other cities. Intelligroup was sold off to NTT, Sierra Atlantic was sold off to Hitachi and Satyam was taken over by Mahindra. Most of the Hyderabad based companies failed due to various reasons. Almost all major IT companies having their branches in Hyderabad, operating successfully. But it is a uncomfortable fact to know that none of them has its Headquarters here.

Top 20 Indian IT exports Companies: [According to NASSCOM 2009 – 10]

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Poor Show by Andhra Companies – Not Even One Company has Customer Appeal at India Level
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The quality of education, resources they have and more importantly the cosmopolitan nature of the city gives the kids great exposure and an opportunity to be mature and sensible. But they are setting too low standards for themselves. Many of the city kids today lack ambition. They are sitting on the fence unable to choose the right career path, not aspiring to become better or to succeed anywhere or anyway.

City kids are losing dignity of labor. Day by day they are becoming more pleasure seeking and focusing more on fancy and dysfunctional things. This attitude is being reflected in selection of their jobs as more and more individuals are opting for jobs which involve repetitive tasks such as software instead of choosing fields which require creative and critical thinking.

Another most important concern about city kids these days is that they are hampered of the capability of taking risks. They are not taking risks to do difficult things well. They are not coming out of their comfort zones and are not exploiting the opportunities they have. On a good batting pitch, they are scoring low as a team. They need to understand that ultimately respect is important in life and it can be achieved only through performance.

On the other hand, small numbers of ambitious kids are migrating to city from rural areas or small towns in search of good education and jobs. They are deprived of all the facilities enjoyed by city kids but they have a drive, urge and commitment to succeed as they have landed away from comfort.

This rural migrant youth often follow city kids assuming the latter are more capable. Coping up with the city’s culture initially is definitely not their cup of tea. Therefore they tend to look for guidance and look up to the city lads. However, in many instances, very quickly they realize that most of the city kids are not having the same level of commitment as themselves and lose respect for them as people of substance. This is something that city kids should not allow. It is time the city kids realize the need to reach their potential by aiming higher and focusing on doing good and difficult things.

For several centuries, Hyderabad has been the stage for dynamic economic growth and as well as of daring social and political reforms. Since city kids have seen all these things, we believe that they are full of creativity, energy, as well as practical and localized knowledge. They just need to understand that they should not settle for small things. They need to develop their resourcefulness, improve problem-solving skills, develop critical consciousness and feel a greater sense of purpose and concern to do their role in keeping the city vibrant.

An independent rating agency that collected customer validated feedback from consumers over last 8 years and published 3 surveys of customer friendly brands, has not found even one Andhra Pradesh company fit to give a ‘Superbrand’ status. Yes, not even a single brand from AP got selected in the list of Consumer Superbrands till now.

This is despite Andhra Pradesh being a home to many large public and private sector manufacturing companies, internationally renowned civil and research establishments, Public Sector Units (PSUs), specialized industrial parks, more than 3,500 large and medium enterprises and around 1.5 lakh small enterprises.

All these businesses put together could not produce even a single brand that could win the hearts of the consumers across India. Clearly showing that our Andhra Pradesh companies are not those of substance. The quality of a business is its ability to create a strong loyalty from its customers – which is the simplest definition of a good brand.

Brands from the states including Gujarat, Karnataka, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra, New Delhi, Kerala etc. are consistently getting listed in the Consumer Superbrands. Even smaller neighbors like Tamilnadu and not to mention Karnataka have many Consumer Superbrands.

Some of the Consumer Superbrands from other states are:

• Tamilnadu – Apollo Hospitals, Sify Technologies, The Hindu etc.
• Gujarat – Dhara, Nirma, Fortune etc.
• Karnataka –Prestige, Tanishq etc.
• Haryana – Boost, Fujifilm, VLCC, BILT, Hindware etc.
• Uttar Pradesh – Dabur Chyawanprash, Real juices etc.
• Punjab – Hero Cycles
• Maharashtra – ACC Cement, Cinthol, Crompton Greaves, Goodknight etc.
• New Delhi – Airtel, Ashok Leyland, Maruthi Suzuki, Indane etc.
• Kerala – Kerala Tourism
• West Bengal – Britannia

About Superbrands:
‘Superbrands’, a UK-based Organization, is an independent authority and arbiter of branding excellence throughout the world. In the world of branding, Superbrand tag is considered as the prestigious symbol of exceptional achievement and credibility. Since its inception in late 2002 in India, Superbrands has released 3 editions of consumer Superbrands selected by experts and consumers. Its experts include highly reckoned professionals from the Indian advertising, media, marketing and corporate world.

The first Consumer Superbrands edition was launched in the year 2004 comprising 101 brands. The second and third editions were launched in 2007 and 2009 with 91 brands each.

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In every cricket world cup, you see Indians wishing for our team to be the champion team. So do the people of Bangladesh, Srilanka, Australia or any other country whose team plays the game. However, its obvious that it is an achieving cricket team that wins the cup. Team, which is a set of individuals, becomes achieving only when it overcomes obstacles and challenges. World cup tournament is a series of challenges where everyone does their best. The popularity of a person or team has little to do with winning the world cup.

Stop emphasizing on statistics
A fifty, century or 5 wicket haul are important. But it is more important to recognize and reward those who focus on the challenges that are required to overcome and to win the many matches (obstacles). Statistics are deceptive and show wrong symbols. They are like wrongly pointing direction boards (especially for Indian teams).

We need to stop rewarding/recognizing those who score statistics inefficiently or ineffectively. When someone scores slowly at 40′s or 80′s and 90′s to reach a personal milestone, then they are compromising on team results. They are keeping their team’s milestone below their individual goals. That is selfish play; does not matter how senior the player is.

Recognize and encourage variety
Some people are aggressive and some are not. Some bowl accurately, some bowl to get wickets. As long as the member is playing to win the match for the team, we need to recognize and encourage variety.

Plans are already made for predictable play by opposition. In order to win, team has to be proactive and do some things differently. This needs strong cricketing mind and innovative thinking.

Recognize those who don’t run away from challenges and play for the team victory
Cricket is a team game where victory is possible only by positive contribution of every team member. Playing as per the directions of school level or district level coaches does not win matches. Playing less risky shots, settling down, bowling line and length are helpful at low level cricket that has too many unaccomplished cricketers. It does not work at international level where the bowlers bowl well, the batsmen bat well and fielders field well. There is a genuine need to take the game to the next level to be a champion team. Unless the senior cricketers are willing to risk their reputation on challenges and deliver a contributing performance, it will be difficult to win.

More importantly, when senior cricketers run away from the challenges, the other junior cricketers will know when they are tasked to do an unfair challenge.

The biggest challenge needs to be taken by the most competent and the smallest by least competent. A warplane takes on a warplane. You cannot expect a foot soldier with an INSAS rifle to win over a F16 warplane. The Sukhois have to do that job.

Some performances inspire others; some performances build resentment and demoralize others. The middle overs are bowled by 4th and 5th bowlers. When the best batsman plays at slow rate against such bowlers and expects his last 2 batsmen to hit at 8 runs/over against the top 2 bowlers, something is wrong with such team. They can never win against a good team.

Refuse to count statistics in crucial times. Hitting 10 runs of 5 balls is better than hitting 22 runs of 18 balls. This needs to be publicly acknowledged.

Recognize excellence
Recognize the regular players who have done the 100 basic things well in the match. Wars are not won by generals, but by the foot soldiers. As much as it needs champion performances from a few, it needs that everyone performs. No team that neglects its foot soldiers will win the world cup. From 5th change bowler to last specialist batsmen to the weakest fielder, the 12th man, the practice bowlers, the physio, doc, manager and BCCI, everybody needs to do their job well.

Winning the World Cup – What Indian Cricket Team Needs to Do – Part 2 >

Winning the World Cup – What Indian Cricket Team Needs to Do – Part 3 >

Inadequate commitment towards research
India produces about 4,00,000 engineering graduates and 3,00,000 computer science graduates every year, but just about 20,000 master’s degree holders and fewer than 1,000 Ph.Ds in engineering graduate each year. When compared to the number of engineering graduates each year, less than 1 percent are going for doctorate degrees. In 2007-08, there were about 156 researchers per 10 lakh population in India when compared 4,700 per 10 lakh in the United States.

According to a survey of 47 universities conducted by the University of Grants Commission in 2007-08, the vacancy levels in research in India were about 51 percent stating that many of India’s graduates are going for jobs affecting the number and quality of those available for research.

Concentrating only on grades rather than creativity
Many students concentrate only on grades rather than understanding and expanding their knowledge. Many of the institutions in India concentrate only on bookish knowledge – memorization and writing of standard responses to predictable questions, which is the main problem for the lack of application of knowledge in real life situations. Whereas, the institutions in developed countries concentrate mainly on application of knowledge which increases effectiveness of students in real life situations. India has been a developing country since 1947 and still it is considered as a developing country.

Our graduate friends are more interested in low skilled repetitive back office and programming jobs rather than doing something substantial for the advancement of human civilization. There are no augmentations in IT space for technology patents.

Priding ourselves for non-substantial achievements
Recently we have got our own currency symbol. India is the fifth in the world to have its own currency symbol. It’s cool to have our own rupee symbol, but is it what really makes our country great? We pride ourselves on these things which don’t take much effort to create. What we need are achievements of substance – not easy to arrange superficial things. Putting it in another way, it is relatively easy to create an attractive packing for a product. But what is difficult is creating a product that is useful, convenient, durable, cost-effective and superior.

For a country claiming to have the 4th largest technology workforce, this kind of performance in research is painful and unacceptable. While we endeavor to fix this, we need to understand that excellence is not easy to achieve. And that nobody gets inspired by modest achievements.

<< Nobel Prizes and Rupee Symbol for India and its Implications – 1

India and other countries
Indian track record of innovation and research performances are very poor compared to other countries. We are lagging in research oriented awards in comparison with other countries. India got only 6 research based Nobel Prizes. Whereas, developed or fast developing countries received many Nobel Prizes like Cannada-15, France-33, Germany-87, Italy-13, Japan-13, USA-286 and USSR-22. As we are discussing about science oriented Nobel Prizes, we are excluding literature and peace prizes.

Sir CV Raman

Nobel prizes of pre-independent India
India was felicitated with 2 Nobel Prizes before independence. Sir C.V. Raman received Nobel Prize for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of ‘Raman Effect’. He worked for Indian Finance Department under British rule in Calcutta and served as an Assistant Accountant General. Raman resigned his government service and started doing research/teaching in Physics. He was able to achieve such a major success during the British rule in India. C.V. Raman was the first Asian and first non-white to receive a Nobel Prize in the sciences.

Sir Ronald Ross was awarded Nobel Prize for his work on Malaria which was a deadly disease during those days. He was a British physician who had spent many years working in India.

Post Independence – by Indian diaspora, can we take credit?
Even after 63 years of independence, Indian diaspora could receive only 4 Nobel Prizes. Moreover, all the 4 Nobel laureates did their research in foreign universities.

Hargobind Khorana was Indian-born US biochemist who is a US citizen, received Nobel prize for his work on Genes in 1968. He became a citizen of United states in 1966 and presently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, nephew of Sir C.V. Raman was Indian-born U.S. Astrophysicist. He was awarded Nobel Prize for his work on theoretical structure and evolution of the stars in 1983. He became a citizen of United States in 1953 and died of heart attack in Chicago, United States.

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, an Indian-American biochemist, received a Nobel Prize (Chemistry) for studies of the structure and function of the Ribosome in 2009. He migrated to US long back to study, where he got settled later and attained US citizenship.

Amartya Sen is an Indian born economist and philosopher. He was awarded a Nobel prize for his contributions to Welfare Economics in 1998. He did his research in Cambridge University and now resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is not a citizen of India. His dual citizenship request was turned down initially for lack of documentary evidence connecting him to India.

It is also important to ask this question – would these persons get the results if they were in India? Can we take credit of these Nobel prizes?

India has a great history of research and innovation

Aryabhatta

Many people perceive that today’s India is a knowledge based country. But, we are not even contributing 1 percent of new innovation when compared to our ancestors. Our ancient India comprised of the world’s finest Universities such as Takshashila (700 B.C.), Nalanda (4th century A.D.). India is known as the birth place of several Mathematical concepts like zero, decimal system, square root, cube root, algorithm and algebra. Zero was given by the great Indian astronomer and scientist, Aryabhatta. Budhayana gave the value of pi and also explained the famous pythagoras theorem. Science astronomy is based on orignial findings in India like, the calculation of occurrences of eclipses, determination of circumference of the Earth, theory of gravitation, determination of number of planets in our solar system and determination of sun as a star. Bhaskaracharya was the first person to calculate the time that the Earth took to revolve around the Sun. Rust poof iron was developed 1500 years ago in India. Ayurveda, a branch of medicine, originated from India. In 800 B.C., Shushruta performed many major surgeries like extraction of catracts, plastic surgery, and dental surgery. He was the first person to study human anatomy. Charaka was the earliest school of ayurvedic medicine. These are some of the major milestones of ancient Indian history, but today we lag in research and innovation for the advancement of human civilization.

Unlike some of the African countries, India has a history of highly advanced educated civilization, but still it is unable to achieve the Nobel Prizes. India is yet to break the jinx and get ONE NOBEL PRIZE for research done completely in India. It is not a big thing to ask since India got independence 63 years ago.

If India needs to be a super power, it needs a dozen Nobel Prizes in the next decade. A super power is a nation that is seen in awe by other nations. Not for its ability to terrorize or wage a war, but for its ability to help human progress. The number of Nobel Prizes from a country is one of the good indicators of a super power, since they are awarded as recognition of scientific advancement with respect to innovation and contribution to human progress.

In the next section, we will discuss on ‘why India needs to improve research and innovation abilities’ and ‘why we need to focus on achievements of substance rather than priding ourselves on some superficial things such as a rupee symbol’.

India Needs to Improve Research Standards and Innovation Abilities >>

This happened during World War II, when Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime governed Germany from 1933 to 1945. Nazi Germany is very infamous for its deliberate and systematic killing of about 60 lakh European Jews. It maintained extermination camps (death camps) in all the territories it controlled.

Environment at extermination camps
Extermination camps were built to systematically kill prisoners. Majority of victims in these camps were Jews imprisoned without any reason or judicial process. Lakhs of Jews were killed in the extermination camps through deliberate mistreatment, starvation, overwork, or were executed as unfit for labor work. Execution was done in a systematic or factory-like manner by poison gas in gas chambers (rooms filled with poisonous gas to kill those inside). Many of them were also killed in mass shootings and hangings. Lakhs of bodies were burned or buried in mass graves.

These extermination camps were managed by SS. The SS (Schutzstaffel), initially a small paramilitary unit grew as one of the largest and powerful organization due to its extreme loyalty to Hitler and its strong commitment to Nazi ideology. It was a sub-organization of regular paramilitary forces. They were chosen to implement the Nazi ‘Final Solution’ on Jews. SS guards were responsible for many crimes against humanity including torture, enslavement and mass killings.

The SS was declared as a criminal organization post World War II unlike the other branches of German military.

Kapos characteristics
These German extermination camps were administered by SS and they used to appoint some inmates to supervise the prisoners. Known as Kapos, these leaders carried out the will of the Nazi camp commandants and SS guards. Though these Kapos were Jewish, they inflicted harsh treatment on their fellow Jewish prisoners.

Kapos were often prisoners convicted on criminal charges, who used to be physically strong men. These criminals enjoyed extra privileges such as better food, housing and clothing. In return, they tyrannized the Jewish prisoners with cruelty equal to that of the SS guards. Kapos used to get motivated by SS guards and in order to impress SS guards, and of course because of their sadistic inclinations, they used to torture their own people.

However, Kapos were usually murdered and replaced with a new batch of prisoners at regular intervals of time. After the war, many of these Kapos were declared as war criminals. They were successfully prosecuted and punished for the offences committed by them.

Selection of Kapo leaders
Nazi camp commandants used to select people who were sadistic, pervert and ready to do anything in order to keep their position as Kapos. They were often as brutal as the Nazi guards. The only difference is that Nazis hated the Jews – Nazi ideology – Nazis believed that Germans represent a superior race and considered everyone else as inferior race including the Jews. Jewish Kapos tyrannized their own people, though they were from a close-knit culture, where people are are loyal to their community and are proud of their community’s values.

Kapo leaders were selected by uncaring foreign rulers. There is no benefit to the people they were leading. A real leader is someone who leads to serve. They are superior and guide their people to better situations making their (people whom they serve) life, better. We will cover this aspect of leadership separately later.