I will use this space to highlight how Japan can assist India in its quest for “Make in India” and how these two nations can form a partnership that could define the 21st century. I will write snippets about Japan, its people, its socio-industrial culture and compare those with India. For now, I will just start with the following snippet. Contrary to what one might expect, the Japanese and Indian DNA varies a lot. Of course, the DNA I am talking about does not refer to the biological one, but the socio-cultural DNA. This is a fact which is rooted in geography and history, and I shall share some of my thoughts on this subject here. I was once on a plane from Delhi to London and happened to be sitting next to a young Indian gentleman. He was very driven and was trying to change the Indian educational system. We were having a glass of nice red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon from South Africa) and during our conversation he asked me many questions about Japan and wondered how Japanese are different from Indians. Having spent considerable amount of times in three very different cultures (India, Japan and North America) I gave him the following simple explanation in context of the nice wine we were having. If the wine we are having tastes very good, an Indian would immediately think of how he could translate it into a business opportunity.He would surmise that many Indians would like this wine and if he was able to import it from South Africa he could make a lot of money. He would think like a TRADER. A Japanese would wonder why that wine tasted that good, what quality grapes were used, what was the climate it was grown in and how could he or her replicate it or even make it better. He would think as an ARTISAN. An American would sense an opportunity in a wine that appeals even to Indians and Japanese and would think of taking it global; franchising. An American would think as an ENTREPRENEUR. This in essence summarizes the socio-economic DNA of Japan, India and the USA. Why the three nations ended up like this probably has a lot to do with the geography and history of our nations and I recommend everybody interested to read the book “Germs, Guns and Steel” by Jared Diamond to get some perspective on the subject.
More to follow. Cheers for now.