National Characteristics-India

This is a new theory of the world. To be debated, before accepting it or rejecting it. The theory is that each nation has some unique characteristics. You could call them core competences, if you wish. These a nation is naturally good at. Other things, it struggles with.

On to the first case study, one we know best. India. We are good at things that do not need us to work with our hands. But we are good at things that move through the air. Like talk. Notice how we can solve every problem (our own and that of the world) through talking about it. Yak, yak, yak. We are damn good at it (The Bongs have raised it to a fine art, but the rest of us are not too far behind). But if it needs work- read plumbing, carpentry, road building- we are downcast, and would rather avoid it. Or do it half-heartedly. Not for us the hard work involved in laying roads, maintaining them etc. etc..

But get into the air, and we are a different country. Look at telecom. While it was wired, with BSNL, and all the digging of roads to lay cables, we were terrible. But the moment we went wireless, telecom boomed, and aided by our propensity to talk, we are one of the largest occupiers of airwaves in the world. Our national song should be 'Hawa mein udta jaaye', or maybe 'Hawa Hawaai...'.