The age of entitlement

Note: I had written most of this in early 2010, but never posted it. Have updated for key events of 2011 now.

There was an article by Robert Samuelson in the Washington Post quoting a survey and analyzing how different generations have fared in America. We do not have a similar survey for India. But I, like Hercule Poirot, believe that fieldwork is dispensable. To ferret out the truth, you only need to sit down and think. So, I sat down and put together these tables:

Generational experiences:

Age	Born	Have always known	Experienced the phenomenon of	Saw the rise of	Saw/will see the demise of	Never seen/Mildly seen
< 24	1985 or later	Liberal economy Satellite TV Computers Sachin Tendulkar Nuclear families	Beauty queens Reality TV 9/11	Internet, email and Google Mobile phones Shopping malls Consumer choice China IPL Expensive higher education	Landlines Cheap oil Social support Union labor	License raj
25 - 45	1965 - 1985	Amitabh Bachchan	Liberalization Mandal Babri Masjid Forex crisis Fall of Berlin Wall	Computers Satellite TV Sachin Tendulkar Khans Coalition politics Nuclear family Infosys GSLV; Chandrayan	Doordarshan Cold war Telegraph USSR/Communism Ambassador/Bajaj scooter License raj	Wars Food Shortage
46 - 65	1945 - 1965	Political freedom Cold war	Food shortage Wars Brain drain Green revolution Emergency Nationalization Hippy movement Coercive population control	Indira Gandhi Amitabh Bachchan Cricket Urban Growth Air travel Reliance Industries Ambassador/Bajaj scooter Space program	Hockey Sea travel	Colonial rule
> 65	Before 1945		Independence World war Famines	America USSR/Communism Constitutional rule Tatas	Colonialism

Period of initial impact / Period of domination for each generation*

Current Age	Sports	Business and Economy	Arts & Entertainment	Science & Technology	Politics and Administration
Peak impact at -->	15-35 years	35-60 years	25-45 years	25-45 years	50-80 years
< 24	2000-2005 / 2010-2030	2020-2025 /2030-2050	2010-2015 / 2020-2040	2010-2015 / 2020-2040	2035-2040 / 2050-2070
25 - 45	1980-1985 / 1990-2010	2000-2005 / 2010-2030	1990-1995 / 2000-2020	1990-1995 / 2000-2020	2015-2020 / 2030-2050
46 - 65	1960-1965 / 1970-1990	1980-1985 /1990-2010	1970-1975 / 1980-2000	1970-1975 / 1980-2000	1995-2000 / 2010-2030
> 65	Till 1965	Till 1985	Till 1980	Till 1980	Till 2010

* E.g., Individuals between ages 15 and 35 have the greatest impact in sports. The generation that is currently 25-45 years old first impacted sports between 1980-1985, but their peak impact was between 1990-2010.

The pre-independence generation: Born before 1945:

A generation that saw major wars, famines and colonialism. Phenomena that can be truly considered history now. It was a generation that handled great adversity with fortitude and largely pulled itself out of most of it. There was a sense of purpose in the way it threw off the shackles of colonialism and gave us constitutional rule. It firmed up the idea of India, preserved political freedom and set up the framework for much of the successes and failures of the later years. They are often accused of setting us on the wrong path in the name of socialism and non-alignment. But given the circumstances of that age, it was a very viable and attractive path.

This generation is largely retired and inactive today, except in the political sphere. Those who are impatient for them to hand over the reins to the next generation haven’t done much analysis of what’s really in store once that happens.

The post-independence generation: Born 1945-1965:

A generation that turned Bajaj scooter into a status symbol obviously had something gone terribly wrong. Bequeathed a legacy of freedom and fight for survival, this is a generation that seems to have given up and rested on the laurels of a past generation. It was a generation of half measures – seemingly content with just avoiding or postponing pitfalls. Faced with severe food shortages, they ushered in the Green Revolution, but didn’t take it to the next logical level of commercializing agriculture. They rallied to end Emergency quickly, but failed to push for political institutions for better governance. Despite constant professions of self-sufficiency, national pride and patriotism, this was a generation that seems to have lacked self-respect, drive and a will to succeed. Helplessly watched while other nations made rapid progress – at their peak, India had poorer socioeconomic indicators than even its neighbors in South Asia.

It is a generation that let hockey fade, and achieved almost nothing of consequence in sports. It is a generation that eventually grudgingly accepted Tendulkar as a great player, but still believes Gavaskar, Vishwanath and the spin quartet were the greatest thing to have happened to Indian cricket. Apart from the ’83 world cup and minor successes in tennis, they had little to show by way of achievement. The fact that Mikka Singh and PT Usha were hailed as a great achievers is indicative of the low standards the entire generation had set for itself.

Faced with dwindling opportunities largely of their own making, many chose to emigrate rather than correct things. Having inherited a socialist legacy, they chose to focus on nationalization and abolition of privy purses rather than land reform and providing equality of opportunity. It was a generation that made corruption respectable, the Ambassador car a national institution, and Indira Gandhi a visionary leader. Shackled by controls, Reliance was their greatest achievement in the world of business – mainly driven by Ambani’s ability to ‘fix’ government policy. Almost no progress was made in science and technology. Their professed mistrust of anything foreign ensured that nothing worthwhile was imported from elsewhere either. The space program saw rockets spend more time in the sea than in space. Art and entertainment was more escapist than aspirational. They were happy to see Rajesh Khanna get all romantic, but loved tragic endings because it fitted with their world view. Amitabh Bachchan drew applauses and a fan following with his angry young man act, but that rarely translated to any kind of action on the street.

They are only now beginning to have an impact in the political sphere, and the results haven’t been terribly inspiring. It is scary to think of what would happen once the Manmohan Singhs and Advanis retire. It is early days yet, but Anna Hazare’s biggest contribution to the nation’s long-term good might be that he has cleared a path for Arvind Kejriwal and his ilk to play an active role in politics, bypassing the traditional hierarchy.

The transformation generation: Born 1965-1985:

A generation that has been spared the worst of war and famine can count itself lucky. Still, it has seen major upheavals, both on the domestic as well as the global front. It can take pride in the way it embraced liberalization and converted globalization into an opportunity rather than perceive it as a threat.

Apart from cricket and chess, the sporting achievement shelf remains mostly barren for this generation too. It did, however, refuse to give Leander Paes the kind of adulation Vijay Amritraj received a couple of decades earlier. The way it approached cricket was instructive. Ganguly will always be a bigger hero than his batting stats indicate because he was NOT a nice guy. He wanted to WIN, and not just perform his duty to the best of his ability. Poets waxed eloquent over Laxman’s artistry or Manjrekar’s technique But Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid and Kumble were the icons – their focus on doing whatever it takes to win struck a chord with this generation. It is heartening to see Dhoni and Gambhir carry the flag today. However, we might be witnessing the beginning of the end. It is hard to see the Rainas and Kohlis display the same level of commitment in the years ahead.

Those who are impressed with the economic growth over the last couple of decades haven’t seen anything yet. The real boom is only beginning. The kids who entered the workforce in the 1990s have tasted success. As middle-aged men and women now, they are hungry for more. They are in an environment that allows risk-taking and encourages bloody-minded pursuit of success. The whole nation would brim with energy and entrepreneurial spirit. Compared to it, the wild west would seem like an idyllic tropical island, the Over the next two decades, India will look at China in the eye, happily walk all over a faltering Europe, and give condescending lectures to America – thanks to this generation.

Winning at all costs might have been great, had it been tempered by the presence of influential thinkers and articulators. People who could have kept the larger picture in mind and had the ability and reach to egg the generation on to better and more equitable social policies. Unless we quickly unearth someone other than Chetan Bhagat, progress for the nation will come at great human cost. The phenomenon, whatever it is called in future history books, would rival slavery and colonialism in terms of misery inflicted by man upon man.

The post liberalization generation: Born after 1985:

A former boss whom I respect a lot once wistfully remarked that when he joined the workforce, he was glad that someone was willing to actually pay him for whatever little he could do. He contrasted that with kids entering the workforce nowadays with a million expectations. Welcome to what I like to call the Entitlement Generation.

A lot has been made of India’s expected demographic dividend over the next few decades. For the uninitiated, it refers to the phase in a nation’s demographic change where the proportion of working age population is very high. Apparently all these people would be super-productive and the nation would be transformed into a land of milk and honey. Even more has been said about how we might fail to reap the fruits of this demographic dividend. After all, productivity is not just a function of age. Health and education also counts. By failing to invest sufficiently in health and education of our populace, the theory goes, we will lose this golden opportunity of going one up on the decadent West forever.

But what really worries me is the other side of the equation – the post-productive youth, or the spoilt brats. If the demographic dividend is to be reaped, our healthy and educated young men and women need to be hungry for success. They need to be willing to put their heads down and work hard to achieve something. They need to be willing to sacrifice some of today’s pleasures for greater gains tomorrow. Now, every generation has some people who feel entitled to receive benefits without having to earn it. These are the spoilt brats who refuse to grow up. But it is usually a small proportion and are quite irrelevant in the larger scheme of things even if they get away with it. That might be changing.

A typical software engineer expects to be paid 4-5 lakhs yearly – because that’s what he or she thinks they should be getting. And then the cribs start. How could you refuse me a transfer to Pune? Can anyone explain why the gym is not open during working hours. How am I expected to spend the mandated 9.15 hours in office and still maintain a work-life balance? 24-year old men and women complaining about lack of work-life balance would be hilarious if it were not so symptomatic of a larger malaise. Apparently people entering other industries are like that too. It might be a generational thing. A whole generation that wants to piggy back off others’ success is scary.

So, we’ve got a social mess that my generation is busy creating, followed by whatever mess the next generation creates. Sia, you and your friends have a lot of clean-up to do. Hope you are up to it.

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26 years on - still living on the edge

Most memories blur over time, but some remain as sharp as ever. My dad had already left for office by the time I woke up at 6:00 AM or so. That was weird in itself because he had moved to the 'general shift' a year before. My mom said there was some problem at the factory and dad had been summoned to help fix it. I shrugged and started getting ready for school.

Akashwani report that 15 people had died in a gas leak at Union Carbide. Oh, so that's the problem my dad had been called up for. This was well before the days of 24-hour tabloid TV or mobile connectivity. News filtered in gradually. It soon became apparent that the accident was much bigger than it initially appeared to be. Hundreds could die. The ten year old mind doesn't quite grasp the tragedy of death, but can count. Hundred is a big number. It was a huge accident by any yardstick. It was still an accident though - the words tragedy and disaster hadn't been associated with it yet.

We smelt the gas, as the wind blew it across Arera Colony where we lived - 15 kilometers away from the factory. It has a pungent, ugly odor. The kind of odor raw insecticides have. Insecticides. Yes. It is supposed to kill. It is supposed to be very efficient at it. To get anything deadlier than that, you need to break into defense laboratories. There was a good reason why the factory was initially located very far from human settlement. The city had gradually crept closer to it, though.

My dad returned home the next day. His account of what happened in those 30 hours was fascinating. It was an account of brave men covering their faces with wet towels and going towards the factory, not running away from it. It was an account of men working relentlessly to fix the leak - with no success. It was a story of how a potential leak of 80 tonnes of chlorine was plugged in time. It was a story of how the company and its employees struggled to contain the damage, when the only government presence was Arjun Singh's helicopter circling above the affected area, ostensibly to assess the damage.

Life changed for me too. Six months later, my dad was transferred from a city I loved to a hellhole called Chennai. You say 'gas' and the letters M-I-C immediately form in my mind. Every time I work late with my team trying to fix a production problem or to meet a release deadline or to get a proposal out on time, I think of the 30 hours my dad and his colleagues spent handling a real crisis. It sort of numbs you.

You don't need Amnesty International to tell you that the verdict is too little, too late. Union Carbide got away lightly. It should have gone bankrupt paying compensation claims. But there is a larger issue of safety regulations being insufficient and poorly implemented. Of poor disaster management. Of zoning guidelines being flouted.

Some of the victims of the disaster got a measly compensation after several years of waiting, most got nothing. Some people have been convicted for negligence after 26 years. But how long will it take for us to beef up our regulatory framework, compliance and disaster management?

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Farewell, dear Infy

A few months back, Sachin and Ilango came into my cabin to check if I had done anything about an urgent issue they had mailed me about. “Umm…I was kind of hoping that it would go away if I sat on it for long enough”. Ouch. Apathy had well and truly set in. That was the last straw. It was time to move on. Else, Sachin and Ilango would. Infosys needs them a lot more than it needs me.

God knows I have more flaws than can be listed in one blog. But sitting on problems or decisions has never been one of those. Nor have I ever had this sense of apathy towards outcomes. A bit of superficial analysis pointed to a hundred excuses – external excuses – that led to this apathy. Yeah right. If you are honest with yourself, you know that each of those excuses points to within you. You need to fix it yourself. But how exactly do you combat apathy? Do you really need to? Would it make any difference? Who the hell cares anyway?

You need to shake things up a bit. You need to shed baggage accumulated over years. You need to get rid of security blankets you’ve been clutching. You need a change in environment. A mere vacation or break would not do. It has to be the real deal. A far smaller organization, and even a start-up were fair possibilities. But stability is something you’ve really been craving for of late. A fourteen year long journey that has taken you through eight cities across three continents has pretty much satiated your appetite for adventure. You want to settle down. You want to grow roots. You want to know what timings you would be working on most days. You want to spend time with your daughter. You want to plan outings with your wife. You want to get down to the business of living life.

Career success still matters. After all, that’s what defines your sense of self worth. Stagnation is not an option. You need to keep growing. You need to keep learning. You need to keep pushing your envelope. You still crave for appreciation from your bosses, acknowledgement from your peers, and applause from your teams. You still want to build something new; you still want to improve upon whatever works. You want an environment that lets you do all this. Like Infosys did.

It was never an easy decision to make. I had grappled with a similar decision six and a half years back. But the contrast couldn’t have been more striking this time round. Back then, it was a rebellious teenager leaving home in a huff saying he didn’t like the new furniture. He craved to see what the world outside looked like. He resented the constraints imposed at home. He wanted to taste freedom elsewhere. Deep in his heart, he knew that he could return if the going got too rough. I’ve never regretted that decision. Kanbay was a great place to work too. But when things did get rough on the personal front, Infosys is where I sought to return to.

It is a lot more considered this time. There’s a realization that you have to let go if you really want to grow up. There is a desire to throw those blankets away for good. A firm decision not to look back however stormy the weather gets. A hope that the seas would be mostly clear. The knowledge that the occasional tempest can be navigated. Above all, a quiet confidence that I would be valuable elsewhere too.

Goodbye, dear Infy. I’ll miss you. I’ll continue cheering you on as you scale greater heights. Wish you all the best. UHG, here I come.

---

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Why, Harsha, why?

Dear Harsha,

Most of us chose to play it safe. We dutifully completed our engineering courses; many got MBAs degrees as well. We then chose the anonymity and safety of cubicle farms and eventually moved into offices. We mostly did well. Earned decent money and settled into our routine humdrum lives. Deep in our hearts we knew that we’d rather be writers, journalists, rocket scientists or hockey players. But those vocations were either fraught with risks or with limited opportunities. So we made our compromises. We have largely been happy with the compromises we made. Happy in a numb or deluded sort of way.

All through it, we followed the rise of one man who could have had a better corporate career than most of us. That man, instead, chose to follow his heart and got into sports commentary. Your rise, Harsha, has been the source of endless coffee table or bar room conversations. We were proud that one of our own chose to follow his heart and did well. You probably have been the source of more vicarious pleasure than any other man in recent history. At least amongst those of us who took the education-to-success route.

I’m not so sure now, though.

I can’t imagine you actually enjoying commentary now. There’s no way you can enjoy it when you are required to extol the virtues of a gas balloon while Tendulkar is playing an exquisite cover drive. Your brilliant turn of phrase has now given way to describing citi moments of success and karbon kamal catches. Your analogies and descriptions are now more Sidhu than Benaud. All this puts you in same league as insurance telemarketers or chit fund hawkers.

If your commentary has become a compromise of career success over job satisfaction, your columns have become a compromise of job security over values. Did you really not know that dealings in the IPL were murky at best? Did you really not realize the importance of being clean before the current scandal broke out? Can’t you really do no better than writing what is at best an apology for Modi’s brashness? Would I be right in inferring that you’d rather Modi were more subtle so that the dirt weren’t stirred up to raise a stink?

Please don’t do this to us, Harsha. Tharoor is a politician. Modi is a sleazy businessman. They are expected to roll in mud. They are expected to throw it on others. They are expected to revel in it. But you are one of us. You can do better than cheering them or commenting on the quality or texture of the mud. Come back to the corporate world. With your talent and ability, you’ll probably make as much money anyway. And your compromises will be nicely tucked away beneath layers of anonymity.

Or prove it to us that the grass over there is indeed greener.

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Life goes on

74 CRPF personnel were killed on 6th April. The markets barely acknowledged it – the Sensex actually went on to breach the 18K mark the next day. On 9th April, borrowing rates in Greece touched 7.5% and the Sensex tanked by 250 points (before recovering). Let’s get this straight. A key indicator of the country’s economic performance remains unmoved by the most serious challenge to the state we’ve seen in decades, but quivers when a fringe nation on another continent threatens to default.

The reaction to the crisis is Greece is easy to understand. An increase in borrowing rates increases the risk that Greece would default on its debt repayments. This could undermine the Euro and the larger European Union, spark off a credit crisis in the rest of the world and eventually impact the global economy. India could be affected too. A series of ‘coulds’, but the markets need to factor in all risks. All perfectly understandable.

What is less understandable is the lack of reaction to what happened in Dantewada. The tragedy of 74 deaths and grieving families apart, it is also a challenge that undermines the authority of the state. It is evidence that the state is ineffective in some regions at least. It is evidence that governance could collapse in these regions. This could spread to other regions, threatening the political and social fabric of the nation. It could impact the economy as well. Again, a series of ‘coulds’, but with a real chance of all this happening. How come nobody noticed?

Four possible reasons.

Analysts are dumb and short sighted
Specialization can be a terrible thing. All our hot shot finance MBAs most likely never learnt any social sciences. They have impressive models and tools for analyzing financial markets. They know how to apply these to economic data from across the globe. But are left clueless when risks hit them from elsewhere.

I don’t like this argument. It is too simplistic, and counts on too many people to be dumb.

The challenge can be met with little cost
Maybe the government can handle this easily. Chidambaram knows exactly what to do. He has drawn up a plan of action, lined up funds and resources, got all parties on board and is all set to implement the plan. The insurgency will be quelled in all the 150 odd districts where it is active now. It would be quick and efficient, and there would be minimal social or economic cost.

Excuse me while I laugh.

The challenge is irrelevant
Maybe places like Dantewada and people living there don’t count for much. The cliché about two Indias. One includes businessmen, politicians, professionals and the like. And market analysts. The other India includes the farmers, laborers, tribal people and other such insignificant people. A minor portion of the populace operates on the boundary. They include domestic help, auto drivers and shopkeepers. And government forces and officials in far flung areas. It is only the former India that counts for anything in economic calculations. The later is mostly irrelevant. Except maybe for their mines.

The interaction between the two Indias will comprise largely of minor skirmishes of the Dantewada kind, and exchange of labor for some money. Darkly reminiscent of the Eloi and Morlocks from HG Wells’ Time Machine. This may very well happen, but it is still a few decades away.

Risks have already been factored in
Maybe the markets have already factored in the risks. They have made allowances for the state not having complete control over its territory and population. They have also assumed that this situation is not likely to change significantly in foreseeable future. There will continue to be skirmishes and challenges to the state. But no challenge will be strong enough to overthrow the state itself.

If we rise as a nation despite this, it will probably a first in history. I can’t recall a single instance of a nation having risen to the top before the state gaining complete control over its territory and population. More likely, we’ll remain a middle-rung nation, with pretentions to superpowerdom. We’ll always talk about past glory or future potential, while stumbling through the present.

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The Singapore Tour Diary

There was a question posed for discussion in TOI. “Is it worthwhile to send corporators on a trip to Singapore for efficient civic governance?”. Of course it is. Those Singaporewalas need to provide more corners for spitting paan and more walls for you-know-what. They could definitely learn a thing or two from our corporators.

Wait. I’m missing something here. Apparently, “Corporators from Lucknow have left for a visit to Singapore to learn about efficient civic governance from the South East Asian country, acclaimed to have one of the world’s best municipal infrastructure and policies”. Ah. They want to improve upon what we already have. Seems they have been asked to maintain a diary so that they can submit a report on what they learn. Here’s one.

April 6th
We landed in the afternoon. It was sweltering. God knows where we have come. Earlier plan was ki we will visit London. But our missuses wanted us to do some shopping for them. Thank god the car had AC. On the way, the car stopped. We asked the driver if there was any accident or juloos. He said red light sir. That’s when I realized ki we didn’t have any laal batti on our car. Is this how you treat visiting dignitaries? These Singapore fellows don’t know how to welcome guests. We eventually reached our destination and checked in. Since it was a five star hotel, there would be no problem of light going off.

There was a pamphlet advertising some kind of intimate Thai massage. All of us went for it. It was awesome. You have to experience it to believe it. Later, we had a few drinks of Johnny Walker and went to sleep.

April 7th
We were supposed to meet the Singapore councilors today. They had sent a chaprasi to come and get us. Even chaprasis are pretty well dressed here. Hard to distinguish them from bada sahibs. I’m sure he’ll expect a lot more than five rupees if a normal citizen wanted to meet his boss. We went down, but there was no car. The chaprasi said the council office is just across the road, within walking distance. We were outraged, but didn’t want to create a scene. At the road, the chaprasi pressed a button on a pole and a tick-tick sound started coming from somewhere. Suddenly all traffic stopped for us. Nice of them to have installed it for us, but I still prefer my laal batti wala car.

I looked for a government office across the road, but there didn’t seem to be any. Instead, we were taken to another hotel-like building that turned out to be the government office. Arre, we can make our office like this in Lucknow also, but then everyone will come and camp there. The chaprasi rushed ahead muttering that we were fifteen minutes late for the meeting. I didn’t understand what the big deal was. I assured him that that those guys wouldn’t have reached yet. It was only a little past 11 o’clock.

But they were already in office. Must be because they knew we were coming. There were two of them, and the chaprasi also joined us at the table. What strange customs these people have. I was offended, but didn’t say anything. We had to be good guests after all. I even spat my paan into a spittoon they had kept in a corner. It had a plant as decoration. The meeting began and one of the fellows asked us what our agenda was. Not much, we said. We wanted to see some nice places and do some shopping. We had only three days, so we wanted to take it easy.

They looked a little uncomfortable. One of them suggested water supply, waste management, traffic management, urban planning and a few other things that I don’t remember. We weren’t very keen, but said ok.

April 8th
Had too much Johnny Walker last night, so was sleeping when the phone rang. It was the same chaprasi-cum-councilor. Said he was waiting downstairs. Arre yaar, it was not even 10 o’clock. How was I supposed to learn things if I was not even allowed to sleep properly. Anyway, since I wanted to be a good guest, I said I’ll be there in an hour.

We were taken to a water desalination plant. Since the city doesn’t have any fresh water, they filter sea water. He said it cost 60 million dollars to set up. That is around 200 crore. Mishra-ji asked him how much his cut was. He pretended he didn’t understand the question. But now we know where his suit-boot comes from. Sharmaji-said we should also set up a desalination plant in Lucknow. We got into a discussion of where to procure salt water from. I suggested we’ll set up two plants – one to add salt into Gomti, and the other to desalinate it. That way, we can get cuts from two projects. My cut will be bigger because the idea was mine.

The guy suggested that we go to the sewage treatment plant next. We explained that we don’t need it in Lucknow because we have a river and we can just dump it all there. Besides we were eager to get started on the lists our missuses had given us.

April 9th
Today’s plan was to discuss traffic management and urban planning. A new guy took us to his office and started giving a presentation. Thankfully they had darkened the room and I was able to nap without offending him. But once the lights came back on, I had to appear interested. I asked him for a solution to one of our most pressing problems – how to maintain the statues. He didn’t understand. All of us finally managed to explain to him that we were looking for a solution to prevent vandalism of public property. He said they have strict punishments that includes caning offenders. Great! We’ll also pass a law to cane pigeons. Behenji will be pleased.

We broke free after lunch and finished our shopping. Packing everything now because we have an early flight to catch tomorrow. Hope we go to somewhere more exciting next year.

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Year 2020 - How Lalit Modi saved the world

What does a man need? Roti, kapda and makaan. And something to keep him occupied.

Jairam Ramesh’s calculated gamble of introducing Bt crops had paid off spectacularly, with yields tripling from what they were before. Food prices plummeted, causing large sections of the population to quit farming and move to urban areas. The million odd farmers who remained true to their vocation now make pots of money.

Manmohan Singh’s nuclear deal brought in much needed technology. Combined with typical Indian ingenuity, this led to the development of cheap, clean and reliable reactors that run on Thorium. Quillon has become the new Gulf.

But the biggest change was brought about by a decade of growth in the Indian Premier League that is now played all through the year. There are 33 franchisees – 25 domestic and 8 international, with a combined net worth of over a trillion dollars. They play 1115 matches every year among themselves. That’s over 230,000 minutes worth of direct ad revenues. IPL matches are now telecast as a continuous stream of ads, with the score scrolling at the bottom. The ads are occasionally interrupted so that commentators can scream about DLF maximums or Rupa comfortable catches.

It is estimated that the IPL and its dependant businesses (Cricket coaching, advertising, broadcasting and cheerleading) account for 62% of India’s GDP. More importantly, it accounts for 83% of leisure time. A typical Indian today spends 8 hours working, 8 hours sleeping, 2 hours for other essentials, and 5 hours watching IPL or its highlights. You might think that it is a bad thing. But it isn’t. It has created a whole lot of mindless but well paid jobs that don’t cause people any stress. And the youth is too busy watching IPL to indulge in communal riots or agitations for separate states. Why, even incidents of mugging and eve teasing have come down drastically over the last few years. Wasteful consumption has dwindled because no one has time to go out and flaunt their stuff.

Since pretty much everyone lives in the 25 cities with franchises, need for long distance travel has come down drastically. Roads and railways are used only to transport food into the cities. Vehicle sales have dropped big time. Plans are afoot to convert large swathes of countryside back to forest. The world is going truly green. Given that Shanghai and Los Angeles are two of the international franchisees, we’ll hopefully export this model to other countries soon enough.

Technology development came easily enough, but the impetus for social change came from the IPL. Studies show that if we can maintain this level of progress, climate change will be permanently reversed. In due course, world climate will be back to what it was before mankind started messing with it. Be prepared to run into dinosaurs the next time you visit the countryside. 

Hot off the press: Mandira Bedi has been bestowed with a Lifetime Achievement award for a decade of writing truly insightful columns on cricket.

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