in mem of ranjan das

POSOOWA NOVEMBER 20091

VOLUME 37, ISSUE NO. 2 :: NOVEMBER 2009

NON-RESIDENT ASSAMESE (NRA) MAGAZINE www.posoowa.org

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India's youngest CEO Ranjan Das of SAP, India, receivedthe top performer award on behalf of his company for

leading SAP, India, to the IT company with highestrevenue in India in 2009.


In memory of Ranjan Dasmy friend, who died so young!

Ranjan Das, President and CEOIndian Subcontinent of the softwaregiant SAP, passed away at the youngage of 42. It is almost impossible todescribe in words his multitude oftalents and qualities. Apart frombeing a brilliant individual and a topnotch professional, Ranjan was awonderful human being with firmfamily values rooted in humility andcompassion.

Ranjan was born to Khagan Das andMalati Das from Hengarabari,Guwahati and completed his earlyschooling at Dispur GovernmentSchool and Gopal Boro School.

I first met Ranjan at my mess in DelhiUniversity in 1987 on a dry and hotsummer afternoon. Havingcompleted high school from DalyCollege Indore, he enrolled in theundergraduate program at Hans RajCollege and had come looking for aplace to stay. Although a few years myjunior, we got along almost instantly,and ended up sharing the messaccommodation for the next 12months. Herein began our 22-yearfriendship that came to an abrupt andpremature end on October 21st 2009.

As we got to know each other, heasked if he could use my single roomwhile I was at class. I agreed and soondiscovered that he was skippingclasses at college. One day Iconfronted him about it and helooked me in the eye and said –“Sanjay da, I want to go to Americaand study at MIT. I also want to studyat Harvard someday”. While I wassomewhat skeptical of this young lad’slofty goals, I remember the steelyresolve in his eyes. Every evening as Ireturned, I found him cocooned in theroom, immersed in a pile of books.We spent the next several months,studying, talking, eating, joking andon hot summer nights sitting on theterrace discussing Carl Sagan’s

Cosmos, extraterrestrial life, or justlistening to Bhupen Hazarika, JayantaHazarika, Jim Reeves and EnglebertHumperdinck. Through our myriadof discussions, one thing remainedconstant – this young man’s resolveto make it into MIT.

At the time all the odds were againsthim. Given his financial situation, thehigh application fees for USuniversities, SAT tests, TOEFL tests,ACT tests were a huge challenge. Hehad no contacts or references, scarcefunds, limited exposure to the USeducation system and virtually zeroaccess to any of the prep resources.All he possessed was an unflinchingresolve to make it into MIT. Duringpower failures, he would setup amakeshift table from bricks and awood plank under the streetlights onRing Road in Delhi’s Derawal Nagarwhere we lived. As the applicationprocess began I remember Ranjanskipping meals to save money for theapplication fee. Soon his test scorescame back – he had scored a perfect1600 on the SAT and a near perfect

is no point in going to the US”.

Four months later, he received a letterof acceptance to MIT. It was a joyfulday, and I remember his smile fadeaway as he was reading through theletter. There was one key elementmissing - there was no mention of anyfinancial aid. Without financial aid,attending MIT was no more than amere dream for him. He insisted thatwe contact the admissions office atMIT. The closest place to make an ISDcall at that time was the GPO atEastern Court in Connaught Place.We both changed three DTC buses toget there from Delhi University thatsame night. Ranjan was so anxiousthat he asked me to make the call toMr. Sam Jones who was the AssociateDirector of Financial Aid at MIT atthe time. As I spelt Ranjan’s full name,Mr. Jones said, “Yes, Mr. Das has beenawarded full scholarship for the entire4 years .” Not only was this atriumphant day for Ranjan, it has beenone of the happiest days in my ownlife.

Ranjan Das with Bill McDermott President andCEO of Global Field Operations of SAP

score on the TOEFL. He submittedapplications to MIT and 4 other IvyLeague schools (Cornell,Dartmouth, Brown, Princeton).When I questioned him why he didnot apply to any of the lesser-knowncolleges, he replied – “If I cannot getinto MIT or an Ivy League then there


Three months later his Dad (whom Ifondly called Khagen Khura) and hismom came to Delhi to see off theirson at the IGI Airport. As simplemiddle class parents this was a day ofgreat rejoicing for them as they bidgoodbye to their son. We all heldhands and said a short prayer asRanjan boarded the British Airwaysjet to London en route to Boston.

During one of his subsequent visits toIndia, he wanted me to meet someonespecial. We agreed to meet at Fujiya– a favorite Chinese restaurant for usboth on Malcha Marg inChanakyapuri, New Delhi. Thisspecial person was Rajashree Barua(Roopa) his fiancée. They had met inMumbai where Roopa was pursuingher Masters and from the start theymade a perfect couple. Thatpartnership and trust grew andbecame stronger over time as Roopacontinued to support Ranjan throughhis many dreams and aspirations.

After excelling at MIT in his B.S.Computer Science and Engineeringhe worked for two local softwarefirms in the Cambridge area. Ranjanthen joined Oracle Corporation andmoved fast up the corporate ladder.Keeping alive his dream he thenattended Harvard Business School tocomplete his MBA program andstarted his own venture named PatkaiNetworks. At Patkai he pioneered aninnovative B2B collaborationsolution. Subsequently, he joined theglobal software giant SAP where heco-founded SAP x-Apps that enabledthe company to effectively address themid size marketplace and therebycatapulted its revenue and client baseto new heights. Throughout all hisendeavors and accomplishments

there was one person firmly rooted inthe ground silently supporting himwhile raising their two wonderful littleboys – his wife Roopa.

Ranjan’s meteoric rise at SAP was notsurprising. He lived, breathed, anddreamed work and was a rising starwith tremendous technical andbusiness acumen as well as amazingpeople skills. His appointment asPresident and CEO for Indiansubcontinent during the worsteconomic crisis since the greatdepression was no accident. This wasan endorsement of his capability, hisinnovation, his genius and hiscommitment. He gladly took on thechallenge, agreed to relocate withfamily from the San Francisco BayArea in the US, and defied theprevalent economic trends to growhis company’s customer base andrevenues many fold.

Despite the numerous achievementsand accolades, Ranjan remained thatsame simple person I came to know22 years ago. Gentle and kind, softspoken and always sporting a smile,he would make every effort to keepin touch. He would remember theminutest of details fromconversations and follow through onthem. During one of my visits to theBay Area, he and Roopa insisted thatI have dinner at their home. Iremember the Shillong style gardenin their backyard that Roopa sopainstakingly cared for and thewonderful dinner we enjoyed whilereminiscing old memories. Whilevisiting the NY area, they made it apoint to stop by our home to havedinner and catch up. He would nevermiss an opportunity to say Hello andmake you feel good and welcome.

His love for hisb i r t h p l a c eAsom, hispassion tocontribute tothe growth anddevelopment ofIndia was hisgenuine desire.I recall hisexcitement onthe phone soonafter he

accepted the position to lead SAPIndia. He was so happy to be back inthe land that shaped his childhood.His contributions are evident fromthe results he achieved in past twoyears while based in India.

At a very young age, Ranjanaccomplished what others struggle todo in an entire lifetime. I only wonderwhat heights he would have soared toin the future. Asom and India has lostone of its brightest stars.

Today I sketchily remember portionsof the Essay that Ranjan wrote as partof his MIT undergraduate applicationin 1987. He had asked me to review itbefore submitting. The applicationinstructions said -If you just finishedwriting a book of 100 pages, pleasereproduce below what would be inpage 81. Ranjan’s book was to be anAutobiography about his work in thebusiness technology area and hissubsequent years as a Professor at aworld-renowned university. He hadenvisioned that Page 81 will detail theday after his retirement at theuniversity - getting up early as usual,workout, shower, dress up and startto knot his tie at the dressing table.Just when he notices through thecorner of his eye a red rose in the vasewith a farewell note from his longtimeassistant at university. It then dawnsupon him that he does not have to goto work again, and becomes restlessand anxious, as he cannot imaginegiving up active work.

Ranjan, I am pretty sure you wouldhave returned to Harvard or MIT asa faculty and how wonderful it wouldhave been to compare Page 81 fromof your essay of 1987 to page 81 of thereal book that we will now never havethe opportunity to read. Ranjan, I willalways remember you as a genuine,honest and sincere friend. While youparted from us at such an early age,we will always remember your smileand your indomitable spirit to nevergive up. Your passion for the pursuitfor excellence in any endeavor andyour qualities as a wonderful humanbeing will forever inspire us. May yoursoul rest in peace.

Sanjay Saikia, New Jersey


Ranjan Das: Wizard of Corporate Sky

Ranjan Das, Managing Director of SAPINDIA LTD is no more ! He was 42 yearsold and considered, by many CorporateGurus, as the ‘Wizard of the BusinessManagement”. His passing away hascreated a void in the world ofinternational business. The obituary ofRanjan appeared in National andInternational electronic & print media allover the world including The WALLStreet Journal to Economic Times toquote a few. Assam remained mutespectator to this sad incident, perhaps,in agony; no Assamese knew how toreact! He succumbed to heart attacksoon after the morning work up on 21st

October, at his residence in Bombay.

Ranjan was an energetic boy fromGuwahati, Assam, with a determineddream in his eyes. He was born andraised initially at Guwahati by his middleclass parent from Uzanbazar. His fatherwas an Assistant Director of Industries.Ranjan had his initial schooling inGuwahati and later studied in Indore andDelhi. He graduated from MIT and didhis MBA from Harvard Business Schoolduring his mid twenties , all onscholarship from both the well-knownuniversity itself.

When he died on October 21st he wasonly 42 years old. Ranjan’s meteoric risewas a story of success of will power, ofAssamese middle class, over money. Healways dreamt big. He was restless toachieve his dream. Rajan was selectedas the Managing Director and CEO ofSAP India Ltd., an internationalcompany, promoted by five Germansworking once for IBM. Today IBM is oneof their licensee in ERM business.Ranjan joined the group eight years agoas its Senior vice president when he wasonly 34 years old. He had a meteoric riseand within four years he headed hisdepartment in USA. On 2007 he wasselected to head the organization inINDIA when he was only 39 years old..A very few Indian has been able toachieve such a distinction ininternational arena of high business. SAPis the world’s greatest ERP company.Today, IBM, Price water house, TCS,WIPRO even Infosys are their licensees.HCL has joined the bandwagon too.

Ranjan came to India in JULY 2007 andcreated a niche in the business world. It

is an accepted fact that SAP became oneof the greatest success stories of Asiaduring last two years of his leadership.He could defy recession. WHEN MANYCOMPANIES were STRUGGLINGHARD DURING THIS PERIOD HE tookSAP to a great height. Every businesshead were admitting superb businesssense of Ranjan. Ranjan was a fitnessfreak too. He used to run five miles a day,used work up at gymnasium everymorning to keep him fit. He was a fitperson alright. Last year he participatedin a cross country race in Chennai. Alas,his fitness manias brought him down andhe died just after arriving home fromgymnasium down below of hisapartment. Hearing the news, his mother,at Guwahati, was stunned and devastatedin such a way that she could not evenmanage to visit Bombay to attend the lastright of her eldest son.

With his huge success in India, Ranjanwas considered to be the next CEO ofworld wide SAP. If he would havesurvived the heart attack he would havebeen the first world leader of businessfrom Assam. Alas! Ranjan’s death was a misfortune forASSAM nay to Indian middle class rise.He would have taken professional skill toa rarefied height of international success.

I met Ranjan way back in the later partof eighty when he came to see me seekingmy help when his American visa wasrejected due to miss understanding of aclause in his i-20. Ron Lorton was thenthe Console General in Kolkata. Duringour discussion the miss interpretationwas cleared and visa was granted to

Ranjan. The MIT offered Ranjan full feesto pursue his studies leading to bachelordegree in computer science. Ranjanstudied for full four years and came outwith flying colours. After a brief work inOracle he tried and obtained ascholarship from HARVARD for MBA.He came out with flying co lour andfounded a company. He named it “Patakinet work.com.” His dream was notfulfilled. He joined back Oracle.Achieved greater success. GermanBosses of SAP were observing him. Theygave him an offer which he could notrefuse for he wanted to fulfill fill hisdream. Ranjan always felt that a Middleclass Assamese is not inferior to anyonein the world. He wanted to prove it byhis hard and dedicated work. He alwysfelt to be a topper, is not important butsincerity of purpose, devotion and hardwork are vital for success in life or indeath. He strived to achieve that dream.He was successful too. He felt four hourssleep is good enough for a young man.HE hardly slept, mostly dreamt, workedand exercised. Perhaps HE PROVEDHIMSELF WRONG. He needed moresleep to ward off his stress.

Ranjan has remained a symbol ofempowerment to new generation. Froma primary and high school of Guwahti,secondary school of indore he showedhow a middle class boy can get admissionin MIT and HARVARD without havinga penny of his own. In his entire dreamand dedicated work it was his lovely wifeRUPA contributed most. It was Rupa whotook control of entire home affairs raisingtwo boys and agreed to relocate from Bayarea, for the sake of his dream, to India.Behind every successful man thereremains a lady. Rupa fulfilled herresponsibilities with pleasure. She was ajournalist herself. She will miss him most.

Ranjan was a great person who loved hisstate most, named his company in USAwith Assamese name. His dream to makeASSAM known for professional leader-ship remained unfulfilled. Hope someonefrom Assam will fulfill his dream in fu-ture! Once in Boston, accepting his hos-pitality, I asked him ‘who inspired youmost to dream great?’ Without batting aneyelid he replied “It was my Mother whoinspired me to dream and it was Rupawho tried to transform it to reality”. To-day, Ranjan is no more, but his legacycontinues to inspire young boys fromAssam to dream… Today we salute toRanjan’ s indomitable spirit. Let his soulrest in peace.

G P Baroowah, Kolkata


A classic dreamer: Ranjan DasMemorial speech by Monalisa Bora

November 21st 2009, Fremont, California

Who was Ranjan Das? If I posed thisquestion today, I would hear a myriadanswers. Someone who knew him duringhis adolescence would say “Ranjan Daswas a brilliant boy from Uzanbazar,Guwahati who received full scholarshipto do his Bachelor’s at MIT.” Those whofirst encountered him in the SanFrancisco Bay area would remember hiseducation at Harvard Business Schoolfollowed by his meteoric rise up the ranksat SAP, peaking as the CEO of SAP, India.While these are extraordinary milestonesin the life of a brilliant man, there is onecommon thread that ties all of themtogether. And that is the undeniable factthat Ranjan Das was a classic dreamer.

Lofty dreams he always had – only theworld’s best engineering or businessschool would do. It was however not hissheer brilliance alone that got him there.Stories related by Sanjay Saikia, hisroommate in Delhi, about Ranjan-da’sstruggles to get into MIT can bring tearsto your eyes. Back breaking financialdemands of aspiring for a foreigneducation and lack of access to resourcescalled for personal sacrifices that only aperson with a steely resolve could make.In the closed India of the 80’s that manyof us have lived through, Ranjan-dastumbled and fell, picked himself up,persevered and won. This audience isfilled with dreamers which makes him oneof us. But what catapulted him up to thestratosphere was his ability to not limithimself every time he hit a new milestone.

Running a marathon, publishing shortstories, driving fundraisers, scripting amovie all while foundinga new business unit forSAP or taking its Indiaoperations to be labeledthe “Jewel in the Crown”of SAP globally –everything speaksvolumes of Ranjan Das,the eternal dreamer. Hisdepth of knowledge inliterature, fine arts ,movies, politics and anyother sphere of life alwaysmade for greatconversations. He wasAssam’s son and a globalcitizen in the same breath.Bhupen Hazarika andPink Floyd,

Bhabendranath Saikia and AkiraKurosawa equally inspired him. But mostimpressive was his intense curiosity aboutwhat was going on around him, in ourlives and the generosity with which he andhis wife, Roopa Barua, shared theirpersonal resources and talent to serve thecommunity they called their own – be itin Boston, Bay area or Mumbai.

Ranjan da never forgot his beloved Assamand contributed to communitydevelopment projects ranging fromprimary education, tackling the menaceof floods to media fellowship programswith India-based NGO’s like C-NES toimprove the image of northeast India. Asthe CEO of SAP, India, he had grand plansfor Assam and the entire northeast togenerate employment opportunities andget the region out of its economic morass.

Yes indeed - Ranjan da was the pride ofthe global Assamese community and arole model for many who aspire to reachthe heights he did at such an incrediblyyoung age. His fans range from youngsterslike Pritam Sarma to women in their 30’slike me. Strange but true. In summer 2007,when I learnt from Roopa ba that Ranjanda was going to lead SAP’s Indiaoperations, I felt as though a matchstickhas lit up an oil field. The fire inside meburned intensely and every grain of doubtwas sealed and locked away. If anAssamese boy from a regular middle classfamily could overcome all barriers and doit, I can too. This very thought convinced

a mother of two kids in her mid-30’s witha full-time job to pursue an MBA.Although I don’t have his brilliance, I canstill get somewhere, I thought. Wheneverthe frustrations were high, I looked up toRanjan da and pinched myself every timeI read about his success as the CEO ofSAP, India. “I know this guy”. And myheart would swell with pride and getinspired to continue struggling.

Ranjan da had so much more to give.What a tragic loss for his young family,all who knew him and were yet to knowhim !! People like him do not come byoften. There will never be anotherRanjan Das – the first global corporateleader son of Assam. The void hisuntimely demise has left will take years ifnot decades to fill. We were all fortunatethat his brilliance touched our lives. Andif he were here today, he would ask all ofus to keep our options open, work hardand never stop dreaming.

We will miss Ranjan Das at many levels –as a friend, an uncle and a mentor - andon many occasions - during Rongali Bihucelebrations, birthdays and futuregraduation parties of our children. Hebrought glory to our community and forthat we will forever remain indebted tohim. The best tribute we can offer is tofollow his example and live life to its fullestpotential. Our thoughts and prayers arewith Roopa ba, their children and theentire family in Assam.

Rest in Peace, Ranjan Das.

In bereavement, shock, fond remembranceand celebration of your extraordinary life,Jonaki - The San Francisco Bay AreaAssamese Community

Ranja Das with his friends in California in April 2003. Ranja Das is standing in frontof the open door. The author Monalisa Bora is second from left in front, holding a baby.


It is indeed a sad day in the history of SAPand in the lives of the people Ranjantouched with his warmth and pleasingpersonality. Though I never had a chanceto work with him directly, I am sure thepeople who did learnt a lot from him -about his vision, his discipline, thebusiness and about life in general awayfrom work.

I remember distinctly the first time wemet in our old office and we exchanged ahandshake – it was not of a MD meetingone of his employees, but more of afriendly and warm exchange between twopeople who would have met throughcommon friends at an outing.

I came to know him much better whenwe played cricket together at the SAPmatches played in Mumbai. It was reallygreat to see someone play so well in spiteof not holding the bat for 22 years. He waslike a 22-year-old cricketer on the fieldand played like the champion he was atbusiness as well.

It is truly a deep loss to all the people heinteracted with and brought a smile to. Agreat leader, a visionary, a truly people’sperson and like what Bill McDermott saidin his call today, a LEGEND.

I pray for the well-being of his family, thekids with whom I played a little cricketon the day of the SAP matches and for hissoul to rest in peace.Ranjan - you will always stay alive in ourhearts.Amen…..

Behzaad Devadhvala

Messages from SAP ColleaguesWhat a tragic and shocking loss of awonderful person. Words cannot expressthe sadness I feel upon Ranjan’s suddendemise. Ranjan was brilliant, energetic,creative, a great leader, and truly awonderful human being.

I knew Ranjan from when I worked in PaloAlto and also saw him several times herein India. Every time we met he was veryfriendly and would take time to talk andcatch up on things despite his busyschedule. Each time I was struck by howhe was extremely warm, caring andfriendly. I was really touched that hewould take time out of his schedule to talkand I still vividly remember his friendlysmile and the sincere interest that heshowed during our conversations. He wassuch a wonderful person and truly a rolemodel for all of us.

It is hard to believe that Ranjan is nolonger with us. I think that one way thatwe can remember Ranjan is to aspire tobe like him, not only with regards to hisfamily life and professional achievements,but also in his warmth, friendliness anddown-to-earth and caring nature. Ourthoughts and prayers are with his familyat this time of sorrow. May God grantthem strength at this time of tragic loss.

Rohit Gupta

What a tragic loss! My heart goes out toRanjan’s family. My deepest condolences!

I recollect how we got to know each otherwell. I was reading Steven Pinker’s “TheBlank Slate” on a flight to Walldorf,

standing near the galley and Ranjanwalked up to me and said he loved thatbook and the ideas presented there (andPinker was at MIT, Ranjan’s alma mater,then). We spoke for a long while aboutevolution, linguistics, creative writing andwe found that we shared beliefs andcynicism about quite a few things we bothheld important. He made me promise toset up a meeting with him every now andthen and to not talk shop but chat aboutPinker, Gould, Chomsky and all ourcommon favourites. He sent me his shortstories to read.

We used to do that over lunch till he leftfor India.

Death snatched away a good friend. Verysad. And what a tragic loss!

Suresh Babu

I still remember the day well that Ranjanand I had the career discussion about hisinterest in an MD role and when wediscussed India, his face “lit up”.Passionate and customer-focused arewhat come to mind when I think aboutRanjan’s career. On a personal basis, hewas a devoted husband and father. He willbe deeply missed by all of us. My thoughtsand prayers are with his beautiful family,close friends and his team in India.

Terry Laudal

It was during the Goa FKOM. I sawRanjan taking his son onto the hillocksadjacent to the beach. They were on a rockand Ranjan was guiding him gently toclimb down. It was nice to see the dotingfather taking out time from his hecticschedule to show the child the naturearound. Again in the evening he was backin the auditorium cheering the crowdsduring the entertainment events. He hadto don many roles! But he was there doinga fine balancing.

He was a fitness freak telling all of us theneed to maintain fitness. You could seethe importance he attached to this andhow he religiously followed the fitnessregime.

Someone told me that consultants shouldnot be referred to as ‘resources’ in frontof Ranjan. Such was the respect he hadfor the Consulting community and heabhorred treating them as machines.

In one of the meetings he said, earnmoney, get richer and do what pleases you- whether you want to start a business onyour own or take up some voluntary work

Ranjan Das attending a session on the development of IT Industries in NortheastIndia, held during Assam-Manipur Month in San Francisco, California, in 2003.


or any other thing you have in your mind.He was clear for himself and others inpresenting the current hard work in thecontext of long term goals in life.

In many ways he was one most of uswould aspire to be - in balancing work andfamily, leading teams, treating others withrespect and in setting higher goals in life.He always led others by setting anexample himself - whether telling us inone of his initial mails on the need to sendthank you notes or in one of the last mailstelling us to enrol in the compliancetraining. He would always practise whathe would preach. We are deeply disturbedat missing this inspirational figure inperson but will continue to live in ourthoughts because of the impression hecreated in such a short span of time.

Girikanth Avadhanula

I met Ranjan Das for the first time inChennai earlier this year on a Sundaymorning when we had assembled to runthe 10km race in the Chennai Marathon.There were seven of us from SAP Indiawho were running and he went on tofinish first for the SAP Team. I guess hewas used to leading from the front and Igot to see it firsthand that morning.

It was a rude shock when I heard aboutRanjan’s passing away. I cannot imaginehow hard it must be for his family andfriends to come terms with this tragic loss.My heart goes out to them.

May Ranjan’s soul rest in peace.

Ramkrishnan Balakrishnan

My sympathies to Ranjan’s family,especially his two young boys who had solittle time to know their father.

As a tribute to Ranjan and to all our Indiancolleagues, here is a beautiful verse fromthe Vedas which I read for the first timerecently. It is 7000 years old and filled witheternal beauty and wisdom.

Indra’s Net

There is an endless net of threadsthroughout the Universe.The horizontal threads are in space.The vertical threads in time.At every crossing of threads there is anindividual.And every individual is a crystal bead.The great light of absolute beingilluminates and penetrates every crystalbeing.

And every crystal being reflects notonly the light from every other crystalin the net,But also every reflection of everyreflection throughout the Universe.~ from the Vedas of ancient India, 7000years old

Anthony Walmsley

Ranjan and I founded a K-12 educationsoftware start-up during the pre-Internetdays, along with another friend fromBoston. The software helped studentsunderstand simple to complexmathematics using storyboards of naturalphenomenon found in India and the East.He used to leave us awestruck with hisinsights on the symmetry and sciencebehind everyday objects and the way hetied them to explain math principles.Besides the business and technologyaspects of this initiative, it helped meunderstand the intense passion this guyhad for promoting math education amongK-12 community.

I fondly remember the days we used totake a moment to enjoy our bagel andcoffee before we jumped into our dailyroutines. I have lost a great friend inRanjan. My heart goes out to his family.

Durai Appadurai

I had the distinct opportunity to meetRanjan on his first day in the offices ofTopTier back in early 2001, where I wascalled in to demo to him personally somestuff we were working on.

Over the next few years as we were bothworking in the xAPPs group and I sat in acube next to his office, I had theopportunity to have a chat with himalmost on a daily basis. It was in thoseyears that the admiration for Ranjansimply grew, both on a professional andpersonal basis. Being a Mumbai residentmyself, the last time we talked, I wasinquiring if he had the chance to try outall the fun places to eat in the city and hesaid he was just loving and enjoying lifethere.

Of the many super achievers that weencounter in our lives, to me, Ranjan hadit all.

Mayank Mathur

You taught us to be proud andunbending in honest failure,But humble and gentle in success;Not to substitute words for actions,Not to seek the path of comfort,But to face the stress and spur ofdifficulty and challenge;To learn to stand up in the storm but tohave compassion on those who fall;To master ourselves before we seek tomaster others;To have a heart that is clean,A goal that is high;To learn to laugh, yet never forget howto weep;To reach into the future yet neverneglect the past;To be serious yet never to take yourselftoo seriously;To be modest so that we will rememberthe simplicity of true greatness,The open mind of true wisdom,The meekness of true strength.

You gave us the temper of the will,A quality of the imagination,A vigour of the emotions,A freshness of the deep springs of life, atemperamental predominance ofcourage over timidity,Of an appetite for adventure over loveof ease.

You created in our hearts the sense ofwonder,The unfailing hope of what next, andthe joy and inspiration of life.

You showed us in this wayTo be a better person, a good humanbeing;To innovate, To be Bold,To Live, To Love, To Play, To Work;To Dream, beyond our wildest dreams!

You were like the strong young man ofthe rising sun,You stood with us in our circle,Giving, Feeling;When the bell tolled and there was aquestion,We could see by the shine in your eyes,The answer had been found.

We miss you, as you move toward theTemple of the King;Thanks for all the wonderful things!

Venky Sundaram


In MemoryI first met Sunil da at ASSAM 2005Assam day celebration in Orlandoand since then we kept in contacttill his serious illness. Sunil daalways had smiling face andparticipated in all Assameseactivities in Florida. He was verycaring and took excellent care ofAbha baideo who washandicapped. They both loved tovisit different Assamese familiesand I and Mallika enjoyed hiscompany a lot. We were still incontact with him though we leftFlorida two years ago. We miss youSunil da and may your soul rest inpeace.

Sunil Nath with the Assamese residents of Florida in 2007. Sunil Nath in black shirt and pants sitting infront. To his left is his wife Abha Nath. Ganesh Bora is next to Abha Nath in the front row.


Uddipana Goswamipublishes a Book of

PoetryUddipana Goswami’s poetry collection titled “WeCalled the River Red: Poetry from a ViolentHomeland” was recently published by Author’sPress, Delhi. This publishing house has also earlierpublished poetry by Jayanta Mahapatra.

Uddipana has been talkingat various forums – mostrecently at the ICRC-WFSseminar on ‘Women inConflict Zones: Survivorsand Peace Makers’ on 22September 2009 at IIC,Delhi – on poetry beingboth personal andpolitical and on the needfor more politically conscious literature. This isUddipana’s contribution in this regard.The poems in the collection have been strungtogether to represent a narrative of the coming ofage of a poetic conscience in exile. Each poem speaksof a different stage in the development of politics,personality, and perception of its author. Together,they tell the story of how the poet has learnt to cometo terms with her identity, the ‘mainland’ mentalityshe is confronted with everyday, and the fears andconflicts besetting her peripheralized homeland.

Uddipana Goswami is from Assam in NortheastIndia, a region of rich indigenous cultures but alsoof insurgency, ethnic conflicts and consequent

militarization, all of which informs her writings. She isAssamese literature editor of ‘Muse India’, a literary e-journal.Her creative works have been published or are forthcoming inthe journals ‘Brief ’ (New Zealand), ‘Pratilipi’ (India), ‘Etchings’(Australia), ‘Chandrabhaga’ (India), ‘Muse India’ (India), ‘TheOther Voices International Project’ (online), ‘Geometer’ (UKonline), ‘XCP Streetnotes’ (online). Her poetry has also appearedin ‘Tonight: An Anthology of World Love Poetry’ (South Africa).When not writing poetry, Uddipana is a media consultant,researcher and translator. For more: www.jajabori-mon.blogspot.com.

Jugal Kalita, Colorado

Attend Assam 2010 in Omahaduring the July 4th Weekend.

We are planning to organize an academic conference on North-east India in conjunction with Assam 2010, with academic pre-

sentations and papers.Contact Dr. Jugal Kalita ([email protected]) or Dr. Ganesh

Bora ([email protected]) if you are interested.


Soles for Tots

During one of our annual visits toAssam, our young son, felt verydistraught when he noticed rickshawwallas and poor children without anyfootwear. He was saddened andsurprised that there were people whocould not afford some of the very basicthings in life. From then on, he found itvery difficult to ride rickshaws, andexpressed his wish that if he had all thewealth in the world, he would make surethat the less fortunate amongst us,would, at the very least, have the basicnecessities of life.

That was when he was a young child of11 years of age. Those were the utopianwishes of a young child immersed inidealism. But today, as we look back, wetry to see the world through our son’seyes and as his parents, we would liketo take the first step in fulfilling this tiny,cherished dream of our son. We believe,our son taught us to look at the worldwith a different perspective, to be morecompassionate and to try and make adifference in the lives of those lessfortunate than us.

We have been toying with this simpleidea of providing footwear for childrenfor some time now. This December, weplan to launch this project, we that wehave dubbed as “Soles for Tots”.Providing shoes and footwear for thepoor is not a new idea. There are anumber of international organizationsthat already have successful projects inthe US, Latin America, and in Africa.The successes depend on a few factors.The sincere involvement of, andcontributions from the local civicassociations, businesses, and individuals

are often the key ingredients to acontinuous success in such operations.

Footwear has become one of the basicnecessities of modern life. However,shoes or sandals are a very low priorityfor many of Assam’s poor. This projectaims at providing shoes to youngchildren. Today, we realize andunderstand that lack of footwear canoften lead to diseases and illnesses indeveloping countries. Further, youngchildren may be exposed to injuries thatcould lead to serious complications liketetanus. Proper footwear often helps inpreventing diseases that becomepronounced in later years.

It is with in mind, we propose to start asmall shoe or sandals project in Assam.This December, we are planning tolaunch the “Soles For Tots” project inAssam. Towards this end, we earnestlyseek the generosity and involvement ofthe Assamese residents outside Assam.

We have already made some contactswith some outstanding people inAssam, like Mr. Kaushik Das.

Mr. Das, in spite of having a full plate, iswilling lend us a helping hand incoordinating this effort. As some of youmay be aware, Mr. Das runs the AtmaNirbhar - Ek Challenge a home for thephysically challenged.

We are committing $1,000 for now. Ifeverything goes well, it will be anongoing project. We are hoping toattract additional contributions fromsome institutions in Assam, like Lions

Club and the Rotary Clubs. We wouldalso like to invite Assamese residentsoutside Assam to contribute if they can.US residents could send contributionsthrough ASA Foundation or AFNA.

Residents in India could, of course, sendtheir contributions to Mr. Kaushik Dasor Uttam Teron of Parijat Academy. Tosend money to the Soles for TotsProject, one can send money to ICICIBANK, Account Name: ParijatAcademy, Account Number:054301001492, Branch: Fancy BazarBranch, IFSC code: ICIC0000543,Address: OHIO Shopping Complex,M.G. Road, Fancy Bazar, Guwahati-781001, Assa, India. Please mentionclearly in terms of notes that the moneyis for the Soles for Tots project. Theaddress for Uttam Teron is ParijatAcademy, Pamohi, P.O. Grachuk,Guwahati-781035, Assam, India.

The main distribution point will beParijat Academy, Guwhati. There mayalso be some other distribution centersin rural areas. If successful, we plan toextend the project to Pragyalaya inUpper Assam.

We are expecting to distribute thefootwear in late December.

Thank you,

Alpana & Ram SarangapaniHouston, Texas


India Rising:The Role of Indian Diaspora in accelerating India’s

transition as a Global Power:Background Paper prepared by the Foundation for Critical Choices for India

1. Introduction: Purpose of this background paper is toscan the subject area of the theme of the Conference, anddrawing the characteristics of India as an EmergingGlobal Power, spell out more specifically the role whichthe community of NRI/PIOs in Europe can play inrealizing some of the objectives of India in this area. Thecontents of the paper are not comprehensive butconcentrate more on the contribution of Indian Diaspora.Our starting point is that already Indian Diaspora hascontributed considerably to India’s economic and socialdevelopment through remittances, philanthropies,through NGOs, etc but we feel that the potential scopeof its contribution is tremendous. Paper tries to spell outsome of the instruments and mechanisms which can beused by the Government of India and the StateGovernments, in realizing this potential. The paper willbe revised further as a result of discussion and suggestionsmade by different speakers and those attending theConference.

2. India as An Emerging Global Power: Right from theIndependence, Late Jawaharlal Nehru and otherprominent Indian leaders and people of India, have beendreaming of joining the club of “Developed” countries”,as early as possible. With this in background, India hasbeen playing a major role in international sphere, as aprominent and active member of the United Nations, amember of the Group of 8 and Group of 20, a member ofthe Group of Four Emerging Countries (BRIC) (JustineFox, 2009), and a frontline leader of the Group of Non-Aligned Countries. Though, it has not yet become one ofthe permanent members of the Security Council, manyleading nations support its claim, and in actual practiceit is already counted as one of the major global powers ofthe world. Its active participation and advice is soughtafter by the world leaders in analysis and solution of majorworld problems. Its economic, educational and politicaldevelopment in a short period of 62 years afterindependence has attracted the attention of many politicalactors on international scene. Many experts in economicdevelopment and strategic studies are commenting onIndia as an Emerging Global Power, as a Super Power,and as one of the four major economies of the world.

3. Dr. Steven P. Cohen’s study on: India Emerging Power:In a more or less mono-polar world at present, muchdepends upon what the major super power United Statesthinks about other claimants for the place in the Sun.

Many think-tanks in America engaged in strategic studies,defense studies, studies of war and peace, have beenfocusing attention on India, since the end of the cold warera. In the wake of this, the rise of new problems likeinternational terrorism, and the need to share the costsof making peace prevail on the earth, BrookingsInstitution, a well known think-tank specializing on Asiaand South Asia particularly, brought out in 2001, a studyby Dr. Steven P. Cohen, a South Asia Expert on India,projecting it as an emerging power in Asia and the worldat large. Cohen’s critical and well documented study hasled to a number of other reactions and world leaderslooking at India seriously from this impendingperspective. Documenting precisely how India has grownconsiderably in all spheres which are characteristics of aglobal power, he has indicated how it is in the interest ofthe United States and the world, that India realizes thisstatus as early as possible. He concludes that already afterJapan and China, India is the third Asian Regional Powerand, the strategic planning of world powers need to takenotice of this. Admiral Robert, Commander of U.S. PacificCommand, stated in his confirmation hearings that,“India’s growing economic, diplomatic and military powermakes them a key player, not only in South and CentralAsia but globally as well.” “India’s Growing Power Makesit a Global Player”, Times of India, 10 July, 2009.

4. What it means to be a Global Power? Steven’s book andwritings of many others on international relations mainlyemphasize the apex position of India with regard toeconomy, political governance, military power, visible andinvisible influence on world and regional strategicdecisions, superiority in space, science and technology,relative abundance of natural and other resources, etc.Advantages of being a leader in economy and militarygive rise to large amounts of state revenues which helpthe country in acquiring leading positions in other spheresalso, such as sports, art and culture, medicine,environment and climate change, interfaith dialogue,international tourism, etc. One indicator of this is thenumber of gold medals won at International Olympics.India got only one at the last one at Beijing, while Chinascored over United States in the tally of gold medals. Inother words, attributes of a global power are many andnot all countries may fulfill all criteria. But they cancompensate lack in one by almost monopoly in the other.Against this background let us look at India at the presentand the foreseeable future.


5. India as a world economic power: Economy of a countryis the main barometerof its overall strength. GDP and GDP per capita indirectlyprovide a ranking of leaders, followers and those who alsoran. Some observers state that India was already a leaderin the world economy at the end of the 1st Millenniumand its GDP then was half of the world known then.Subsequent invasions, occupations and colonization ofthe country led to exploitation of its wealth, and at thedawn of independence left the country with a warshattered economy, frequent famines, low farm outputs,little development of infrastructure, health, educationfacilities and a big population. However, sinceindependence India has made tremendous progress in theeconomic sector. Famines have been eliminated, andthanks to the Green Revolution the country not onlybecame self sufficient in food but was also able to keepthe biggest buffer stock of food grains in the world - notonly for its own people but also to help other countriessuffering from crop failures.In a comprehensive and objective analysis of the Indianeconomy fromIndependence to date, Aravind Panigaria in his book“India the Emerging Giant” (Oxford University Press,2008), has sketched the “surge” and march of Indianeconomy towards becoming a world economic giant, ifthe policies of economic liberalization, poverty alleviationand governance reforms are continued. Some observerslike Goldman Sachs also see a distant possibility of Indiasurpassing China by 2050.

6. Economic Development in Planning Era: The Indianleadership was very much impressed by the liberaldemocracy of the West and the economic and socialplanning approach of the Soviet Union. In fact, initialplans were prepared by the economists who studied underHolland’s famous economist, Prof. J. Tinbergen. In viewof the limited development of the private and voluntary

sectors during the colonial period, state was forced toenter into some of the highly desirable activities foreconomic development, such as heavy and strategicindustries, major infrastructure, higher education, etc.Planning in India never followed the rigid, centralisticSoviet type of planning and implementation. For greatpart of the period after independence, India followed itsown version of mixed economy and a comprehensiveplanning system with involvement of the states(provinces), much decentralization and use of experts intechnical and economic decision-making on projects, etc.As Gurucharan Das observes, “Despite Nehruviansocialism, three fourths of the economy has been inprivate hands (India Unbound, 2002, p. 317). Despiteoccasional fluctuations, India attained an average growthrate of 5% consistently. One should not forget that it wasonly that this planning era had already prepared arelatively more advanced and comprehensive economywith a balanced development of different sectors, that theera of economic liberalization starting in 1990s helpedthe country to attract much foreign and local investmentand started the process of increased exports, resulting inincreasing growth rates of 6,7, 8, 9 % which have nowbeen interrupted due to global economic crisis andquantum drops in growth rates everywhere. However,actual drop in India has been much smaller than in Europeand United States and as Prime Minister ManmohanSingh emphasized in his speech from the Red Fort on15th August 2009, that he is still hopeful that the rate of9% can be achieved already this year and that 10% is nottoo far. 7. Can India join the 10% Club? Taking advantage ofglobalization, and introducing timely economicliberalization, Asian “Tigers” like Japan and following the“Look East” policy, other countries like China, SouthKorea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, all increased incomingforeign investment and realized

Arrival of Special Guests - Welcome by the Organising Committee (from left to right first row):1. Mr. K. Mohandas, the Secretary, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India, 2. Guest of Honour H.E. Mr. JanPiet Hein Donner, Minister of Social Welfare & Employment, former minister of Justice, The NetherlandsNetherlands., 3. Mr.

Vayalar Ravi , Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India, 4. Mr. Jasbir Singh, Chairman of the Organising Commit-tee & President of Foundation for Critical Choices for India.

Second row: 5. Mr. J. van Aartsen, the Mayor of The Hague, former minister of Foreign Affairs & former minister of Agriculture ,6. Chief Guest of the session, H.E. Prof. Dr. Ruud Lubbers , the Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands and former United,

Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 7. Dr. Mrs. Sharma wife of Counsellor, Embassy of India, The Hague.


the magical 10% increase in GDP per annum. Leaving outChina, the increased growth in other South East Asiancountries survived on the basis of increased exports andoutsourcing. All this was based on stock exchange sharemarket which collapsed in 1980s, India and China arefortunate that they have very big internal consumermarkets and also possibilities of more foreign directinvestment. Both India and China have a big Diasporawhich came to the rescue of their motherlands duringfinancial crisis at different times.

6.1 Much Optimism about India: pre and post GlobalBanking Crisis: Before theonslaught of the Banking Crisis, political leaders,economists, trade specialists were very confident of Indiajoining soon the “10%” club, and many investors,industrialists and forecasters were very optimistic aboutIndia’s economic development galloping fast and joiningsoon the club of Global Powers also.China which had an early start with economicliberalization and advantage of a one party system,suffered a lot also as a result of slow-down in worldeconomy. Moreover, many European and NorthAmerican investors started feeling the increasingconstraints in China, its not so good human rights recordand limitations as a world knowledge economy. Oncomparison, many investors would prefer India due toits open, democratic process, use of English language, alarge pool of well trained scientists and technologists, alarge and diverse private sector of its own, and increasingefforts of the Government to improve economicinfrastructure and introduction of still more liberalizationin economic decision-making, legal processes, etc.Already the Indian entrepreneurs are showing theirhunger to takeover some of the big enterprises in Europeand elsewhere. At present India is one of the big foreigninvestors in the Netherlands. Some Indians are regularlyfiguring in the list of world economic and political eliteslike the Forbes List and Time’s The World’s 100 MostInfluential People (Nilekeni and A.R. Rahman, (TIME,May, 2009) etc. Observers, both inside and outside thecountry are forecasting that Indian economy will emergestill stronger after the banking crisis. Time Magazinestates that out of 15 world’s large economies, only twonamely China and India will have positive high growthrates, in the immediate post banking crisis era. The samemagazine while locating India at No. 50 in the table ofcompetitiveness, in its study of 3000 companies fromdeveloping countries, suggests that 20 Indian companieshave the potential to be global players in near future.(Time, October 27, 2008). Economist (London) alsoobserved that India is likely to come out more successfulfrom the present economic downturn, as it was hit lesshard by global recession, its industrial production hasperched up and the domestic spending has bounced back(Astonishing Asian Rebound). EU Trade Commissioner,Chris Patten, is of the view that “India is unstoppable‘heavy weight’, ready to take the world by surprise”. Mr.Vyacheslav Trubinkov, Ambassador of Russian Federationin India thinks, “post-globalization India has oversteppedits role as a regional power and is now emerging as a globalpower”.

7. Indian Scenarios and Visions of a Developed India. Inaddition to Indian Planning Commission’s official LongTerm Perspective Plan of India, there have been also otherlong term visions of India in the new Millennium. VisionIndia 2020, authored by the former President of India,Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Dr. Rajan not only consists ofthe overall vision of the country in 2020, but also analysisand targets of the specific sectors of the economy. Theauthors argued that if the Government and others accepttheir analysis and targets set by them for different sectors,India will be a developed nation by the year 2020. But

this scenario has become irrelevant for two reasons: oneit was based on the assumption of continuing the planninggrowth rate of 5% per annum and second, it ignorescompletely the possible multi-faceted contribution ofIndian Diaspora (Foundation for Critical Choices forIndia: A Quarter Century of Service to India, 2008). We,and some other keen observers of India feel that if therate of foreign investment increases faster, the requiredeconomic reforms are introduced soon, economic andphysical infrastructure is updated, the backlog whichIndia has with regard to basic education, adult literacy,girls education, environmental sanitation is tackled onwar footing, India can achieve the status of a Developednation earlier than 2020, may be by 2015. Based on therecommendations of the Knowledge Commission,chaired by Dr. Sam Pitroda, to the Prime Minister,Government of India has already put theirimplementation in the fast track with acceleratedpresentation of many legislative measures like right toeducation, establishment of a large number of new worldclass universities, reform of the legal and trade system,etc.

7.1 India’s advantages in the Run to Global Status inEconomy: India had been very fortunate in inheritingat independence, a well developed system of politicaland economic governance (Pavan K. Verma, 2004). Fewpeople know that the second Stock Exchange in theworld was established in Bombay (Mumbai), the firstone was in London. Mumbai was also the second cityin the world to have electricity after Paris and London.Private banks and Reserve Bank existed for long incolonial period also, already more than half of the seniorAdministrative Cadre was Indianised, a number of wellorganized local ownership enterprises existed in majorsectors like textiles, sugar production, iron and steel,bicycles, tractor and auto industry, tea, coffee and otherplantation products, paper and pulp, basic medicines,film making, cement, etc. to which, were addedengineering, aircraft, heavy chemicals, fertilizers,aluminum, copper cables, etc. Already in 1980s, Indiawas considered one of the top 12 industrializedcountries of the world. India has a tremendous labourreservoir of unskilled, semi-skilled and highly skilledlabour, a large fleet of engineers of all types, India ranks3rd in the world for number of graduates in science andtechnology, next to USA and Russia. India’s largestmiddle class has also been commented upon by westernexperts. The impact of increased consumption of highprice, high quality goods is already seen and withincrease in purchasing power of the rural masses, Indiawill also be able to sustain the level of economy mostlyon the basis of consumer spending, as in the USA.Although many industrialized countries in the worldhave to face increasing problems of sustainingexpenditure on old age pension and health problems ofaged, India is very lucky that for a long period theincreasing labour market of young and the middle agedpersons, will take care of it without burdening the statefinances too much. Already, India ranks as the 4th biggesteconomy in the world using purchasing power criterion.The strength of Indian Rupee has also been more or lessstable, and foreign exchange reserve is very high.Possibilities of outsourcing in manufacturing, servicesector, education and training, research anddevelopment, maintenance of aircrafts , areconsiderable, with further economic liberalization, bothindirect and direct foreign investment can increasefurther and possibly its status in the world economy canmove to the 3rd place after US and China by 2050 (McKinsey Study 2003). Instead of speculating further whenthis will happen, we will move to other sectors of global


power leadership such as, political governance, militarypower and what is typical to India the Soft Power.

8. Political and Diplomatic Power of India: As futureglobal power, attention is often focused on India’s politicalsystem and process. As already stated in the introduction,all concerned appreciate India’s status as the largestdemocracy in the world. Despite the divisions of religion,caste, language, economic status, India has beensuccessful in maintaining the democratic and secularnature of the country. Except for a brief period in mid-1970s when parliamentary system was compromised, inall its 62 years of Independence, it has taken pains toobserve all requirements of a democratic system.Elections are held periodically, power changes hands onthe basis of people’s verdict. There exists an IndependentElection Commission, independent judiciary, freedom foranyone fulfilling minimum criteria to contest electionsto local, regional and national legislatures. Executive isaccountable to legislature and to people at large. There isconsiderable decentralization of power at sub-state levelto the districts and panchayats. There is a reservation ofseats for the disadvantaged groups like Scheduled Casts,Scheduled Tribes, minorities like Anglo-IndianChristians, women, etc. In this context recently India hasreserved 50% of the seats in panchayats for women. Atmost national elections observers from other countries,researchers and newspaper correspondents, have freeaccess to the process and its outcome.

8.1 Maturity of Indian Democracy: Everyone is aware thatdemocracy as anideal itself is not perfect but that is the best we know.Also that democratic maturity is a long drawn process.Even in Europe in some countries women have beengiven the franchise only recently. In parliaments of someof the European countries one sees occasionally thesame scenes of disruption, throwing of chairs bymembers against each other, as is considered a commoncharacteristic of legislatures in developing countries.The process becomes more difficult for a country likeIndia in the context of its being a secular country, with4-5 major religions, hundreds of ethnic groups, 15 mainand many other languages and dialects, contrast of somevery rich people and the biggest group of people livingunder poverty line in the world. Nevertheless, Indianshave taken to democracy and politics as a fish to water.At the last general elections for the central parliamentthere were more than 1500 candidates for 530 seats,there are 7 national and 40 state level registered and730 unrecognized, registered political parties publishedby the Election Commission in 2005. Thirty-five yearsafter independence the Congress Party, and soonthereafter the opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party,lost their hold over the electorate. Since then the countryhas seen now two successful Coalition Governments ofNDA and UPA with, one of the two major partiesforming the government with the help of number ofregional (state) parties and independent candidatesrepresented in the Lok Sabha. In India the CommunistParty was recognized as the Opposition party in the FirstLok Sabha, though now it is split into CPI (M) and CPI, their appeal to voters has been restricted to the Statesof Kerala and the West Bengal. They have functionedall along within the constitutional and legal framework.They participated also in the Congress led CoalitionGovernment of the UPA, but towards the end withdrewtheir support. In India all political parties needrecognition by the Election Commission and allcandidates have to provide in advance a statement oftheir assets and take an oath of holding up theConstitution and in particular the secular nature of thecountry.

8.2 Political Leverage of India as a Democracy: Mostglobal powers and othercountries also, hold India in awe, and its moral leveragevis-à-vis other countries, particularly other developingcountries, is high. Often the Indian ElectionCommission is invited by some of the African countriesto help them in holding elections there. The ConstituentAssembly of South Africa looked extensively at India’sConstitution and process of making it. Like parliamentsof many Western countries, parliamentary debates aretelevised; there is a fierce reporting and commentingon parliament’s handling of important, sensitive issueslike terrorism, nuclear power deals, and/or major lapsesby state institutions, etc. The recent act of Right toInformation (RTI) has put all government institutionsand political leaders on their toes. It is gratifying to notethat in the present Cabinet, Prime Minister ManmohanSingh has not allowed anyone with a criminal record tojoin the Council of Ministers. Although, Indianlegislation does not require any specific educationalqualification for a candidate, it is heartening to notethat the proportion of matriculates and higher educatedhas increased visibly in the 15th Lok Sabha, so alsorepresentation of women and youth. Although, thereare still some lingering problems of governance,particularly at the local level, but there is nothing whichtakes away the mature nature of its democracy. In thiscontext it is important to note that someone who wishesto join the club of global powers, need to conform tothe highest demands of governance for a global leader.Failure to do so stood against the OECD membershipof some South East Asian countries. Already someprominent Indian political leaders have become globalicons like Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, IndiraGandhi, etc.

9. Military Power of India: Even during the colonial periodthe Indian Army played an important role in the SecondWorld War in the European war theater. Right from theindependence, India provided and observed meticulouslythe subordination of military to civilian leadership, andit goes to the credit of the Indian military establishmentthat they have also observed it very meticulously,participated extensively in India’s development process,and extended help in the national calamities. In all itshistory, India never tried to add any territory by externalconquest. In general, it follows Mahatma Gandhi’smessage of non-violence and moral protest. However, ithas been compelled by some of its neighbours, and thechanging world order to develop its defense againstinvaders from outside the border (this has happened afew times since independence) and changing internationalscene. Today, probably India has the third or fourth largestmilitary power, next to US, Russia and China. It is one ofthe 7 space powers, and also one of the countries withnuclear weapons (Chellany, 1999). As regards the nuclearweapons, India on its own accord, announced that “It isnot a first strike country”. Besides that, the use of its armyoutside its borders, this has been mostly on UnitedNations Peace Force Missions in some of the warringcountries. In view of the considerable increase in thedefense expenditure and acquisition of modern cannons,fighters, frigates and submarines by its neighbours, andthe increasing threat of terrorism from air and water, inaddition to land, India is strengthening its preventivepower. All global powers at present recognize the crucialand strategic role which India can play in preventingregional and, if need be, also global militaryconfrontations. It is in this context that India’smembership of Security Council is justified.10. India’s Soft Power: What distinguishes India’s claimto global leadership is its unique, unobtrusive, persuasive“soft power”. Steven Cohen calls it “Reputational Power”.


This word was coined by Professor Nye of HarvardUniversity, which refers to not really “power” or“authority” but an “influence” over other people, theirbehaviour, habits, tastes, way of life. He defines it as “theability to get what you want through attraction rather thancoercion or payments” (Joseph Nye, 2004, p. x). Further“Soft power” rests on the ability to shape the preferencesof others (p.5). In the context of globalization, Nyeidentifies three main sources of soft power of a country,namely its culture, its political values, and its foreignpolicies. All Major Global Powers also score higher onsoft power and Nye includes both India and China alsowith considerable potential soft power, with a higherprobability of success for India due to its granddemocratic experiment. You do not see it, you cannotascribe it to any specific source, a person or an institutionbut it is a sum total of how other people see India as anancient society with world wisdom, tolerance and moralauthority derived from its culture, history and its worldview. In his path breaking book TRIBES : How Race,Religion, and Identity Determine Success in the NewGlobal Economy(1993), Joel Kotkin includes Indians andChinese, along with Anglo-Saxons, Jews and Russians,which have shown attributes of becoming global force.Indians living abroad are considered by some people as“real global citizens”. Since the days of Swami Vivekanandwho mesmerized the American people with his messageof peace, tolerance and personal development, there hasbeen a lot of proliferation of various Indian institutionsabroad.

10.1 Public Diplomacy: The concept of Public Diplomacyfollows from the concept of soft power. Internationalpolitics is competition in credibility in which every nationtries to project an attractive image to others throughinformation, diplomatic representations and other means.However, there are often limitations to these and hencethe need for other cultural, educational, recreational,unobtrusive means for image building and imageprojection abroad. Striking examples are institutions ofworld fame and global icons, such as Fulbright Fellowship,Hollywood, Bollywood, CNN, BBC, Oxford, Harvard,Yoga, Kungfu, Hamburger, Pizza, French Champaign andScotch Whisky, Shaharukh Khan, Ben Aflek, AishwaryaRai, Kate Winston, etc. Realizing the potential of publicdiplomacy as a strong supplement to diplomatic means,the State Department of US has a special Division ofPublic Diplomacy. Nye and some others also see a bigand effective role for non-state actors and Diasporas inexercise of public diplomacy (Steven Vertovec, 2005). Inthis regard note this comment from Shashi Tharoor: “The

most important asset for India in Afghanistan does notcome out of our diplomacy but from one simple fact: Don’ttry to telephone an Afghan at 8.30 in the evening whenIndian opera “Kyunki Saas Kabhi Bahu Thi” dubbed intoDari, is telecast on Tolo TV, and no one wishes to miss it.”(Times of India, 28 Jan. 2009). It is in this context thatcountries with sizable Diaspora have started looking attheir potential, not merely for much needed remittancesbut more importantly as a partner in development in acomprehensive sense.

11. Religion: Many westerners find Hindu religion a very open,peaceful and a faith tolerant of other religions. Unlike inJudaism, Christianity and Islam, there is no One God andno One authoritative institution like Church; Hindus canbelieve in any One of the thousands of gods. Increasinglythe ritual part is getting reduced and the morals,principles part is increasing. What appeals to foreignersis that Indian temples are open to all, even to the followersof other faiths, and Hinduism basically does notencourage conversion. Some state that the only secularreligion is Hinduism. There are different groups and cultsin Indian religion and some of them have their presencein other countries also. Famous among them areRamakrishna Missions, Arya Samaj and Sanathan DharmTemples, Gurudwaras in countries like USA, UK, SouthAfrica, Canada, Caribbean, etc. Some of the male andfemale Gurus who regularly visited countries abroad forlectures are: Rajnish, Swami Ramdas, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,Guru Ma, Nirmala Devi, etc. The emphasis of most ofthese visitors abroad is on spiritualism, rather than onreligion per se, on yoga, vegetarian food, meditation,mental peace. These unobtrusive messages appeal to alarge number of young and old people in the West whofind it a good respite from the daily work, family andhealth worries, inability to concentrate, etc. Recently inan article in Newsweek (Aug. 24-31 2009) entitled “WeAre All Hindus”, American writer Lisa Miller states: “Amillion plus Hindus live in the United States, a fraction ofthe billion who live on earth. But recent poll data showthat conceptually, at least, we are slowly becoming morelike Hindus and less like traditional Christians in the wayswe think about God, our selves, each other, and eternity.In support, she further states that “thirty percent ofAmericans call themselves ‘spiritual’, not ‘religious’, and“more than a third of Americans now choose cremation”.

12. Yoga: Interest in the Indian Yoga system of mental andphysical development is increasing all over the world.Training institutes/centres for Yoga are to be seen inalmost all countries of Europe, in United States, manynations of South America, in Africa, as well as inAustralia. A large number of ordinary people as well ashighly accomplished elites have adopted Yoga routinesin their lives. Many people visit India to attend well knowninstitutions of Yoga to gain peace of mind, putting bodyin shape and learn how to meditate and concentrate one’smind power. The emphasis in genuine Yoga training ison “spirituality” and not on religion. Hence, followers ofYoga are from different religions. In the West some ofthe leading politicians, f ilm stars , industrialists ,musicians, physicians, follow Yoga. It is entirelyindividual, non-violent and least costly system of physicalfitness. Association with Yoga leads to discovering moredimensions of Indian society and culture, politics, music.

13. Bollywood: Indian films and increasingly Indian TV serialsare getting popular in many countries in Europe, Africa,Middle East and USA. Indian Film industry with its maincentre in Mumbai (Bombay) is very old. Films werescreened in Mumbai since July, 1895. Today Indiaproduces more than 1,000 films in Hindi and otherlanguages, per annum, more than what Hollywood does.For Indians, wherever they are, in India or abroad, Indianfilms are the most popular means of entertainment. In

Address by Mr. Manbir Singh, the Ambassador of India


many Middle Eastern and African countries, Indian filmsare dubbed or shown with local language under titles.Indian male and female film stars like Amitabh Bachhan,Shahrukh Khan, Hritik Roshan, Amir Khan, AishwaryaRai, Shilpa Shetty, Shabana Azmi, are invited as judgesor as prominent guests at international film festivals.Recognizing the important role which the film media ingeneral and some of its icons play in projecting Indiaabroad, some of them like Amitabh Bachhan, ShahrukhKhan, are bestowed honorary doctorates by well knownEuropean/American universities. In addition to providingemployment to a large number of people in India andcontributing significantly to export earnings, Indian filmshave become also a representation of modern India, itsjoys, sorrows and social problems. Increasingly, there isa trend to make some Indian films in English languagefor both internal and external market. Many showbusiness people in Europe and Hollywood have startedinvesting in Indian films and TV Serials. Selection of thefilm Slumdog Millionaire, and grant of many Oscars to itincluding for the best fusion music by A.R. Rahman,finally recognized the hidden, soft power of Bollywood.

14. Indian Fashions: Interest in Indian clothing, textiles andfashions is not new.Even in 50s and 60s, Nehru Sherwani became quitepopular in Europe and America, many European touristsvisiting India got for themselves male and female officesuits, silk garments and delicately embroidered clothing,made.Some of the Indian fashion designers set up theirstores in Paris, London, New York, Dubai and/or AbuDhabi. Many famous Hollywood personalities weardresses made by Indian designers at their marriage, atOscar and other events. Some of the Indian Diasporamembers in Europe have also popularized their designslike the House of Mexx. A recent special issue of Time on“Fashion’s New Attitude” (April 2009) hinted at moredemand in luxury market for African and Asian designsand materials to sustain economic downturn. At the levelof general population also, the Indian Pashmina Shawlsand richly embroidered male long shirts are becomingpopular. Also selection of a relatively large number ofIndian beauties as “Miss Universe” or “Miss World” etcin international competitions, is another example of thebrand India products.(Rangnekar, 2005).

15. Indian Cuisine: The way to the heart of people is throughtheir stomach, theysay! Indian cuisine, both vegetarianand non-vegetarian is becoming popular very fast. The“curry appeal” is irresistible. Number of Indianrestaurants in major cities of Europe is increasing rapidlyaccounting for employment of a large number of people,considerable import of Indian grains, lentils, condimentsand other ingredients from India. Many social, economicand political elites in Europe are often seen at some ofthe posh Indian restaurants along with their families. Itis not a surprise that “Chicken Tikka Masala” has becomeBritain’s main dish. Many Indian restaurants displaypaintings by famous Indian artists and often the guestsare treated to a display of Indian music and dance.Recently, a famous “Kabab” specialist in London hasannounced a franchise for his recipe, (Mc Donald beaware!). In America not only that they have monopolizedthe Motels and Donut chains, but now a Dosa-IdliFranchise can also be seen in some cities of USA. If pizzahas already replaced Hamburger as the most popularglobal dish, can Masala Dosa be far behind!

16. Indian Music: Both Indian Classical and Pop Music isbecoming very popular in Europe, America and nightclubs in some African, Middle Eastern countries. RaviShanker’s Sitar music is very popular in America, there isalso a big following in America and Europe for ZakirHussain’s percussion themes; for Bhangra Music, Rythemand Dance. Increasingly the Indian film artists’ shows andmusic concerts are attended by many non-Indians. Atmusic and dance schools run by Indian artists formembers of local Indian community, increasinglychildren and youth from other communities can also beseen.

17. Indian literature: Knowledge and command over Englishlanguage have

given Indians a head start vis-a-vis other immigrant groupsin America and Europe. Both in England and USA, Indiancorrespondents of influential newspapers and periodicalslike New York Times, Time Magazine, are prominent, andalso anchors of CNN, BBC News Service. A relativelylarge number of Indian writers, who have received theMan Booker and Pulitzer Prizes, has also, added to themany facets of increasing appeal to India at internationallevel. Indian media is among the oldest in the world also.

Chora Desh, Sanskriti na Chori” musical play by dance company Madhoeri, led by Ms. Aartie Jagmohan (extreme left)


Part IIIndia emerging as a Global Power:

Role of Indian Diaspora19.1 Stephen Cohen in his book Emerging Power India, pays a

glowing tribute to Indian Diaspora in USA, in effectivelobbying for India and in improving considerably thedialogue and discussion on India in US politicalinstitutions. Of course Indian Diaspora in US is not only2 million strong but also consisting of highly educatedand experienced professionals. This is also applicable toIndian Diaspora in England, Australia, Canada (and allother countries with English language at the local levels).That in other countries, despite language and otherproblems, has equally been active in improving image ofIndia at popular level, making relations between the hostcountry and India more diverse and fruitful, andcontributing to India’s development through differentchannels. However, as stated in the introduction, thepotential scope of Indian Diaspora’s contribution,particularly in India becoming a Global Power can beconsiderable, but a very little of this potential is beingused at present. The Indian Diaspora are very appreciativeof a number of diverse activities which the Ministry ofOverseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) has undertaken sinceits creation , such as bringing together members of world-wide community of NRIs/PIOs once a year in India atthe Pravasi Bharatiya Divas and also now in countriesabroad where there is a greater concentration of them(America, Singapore and now Europe – the Netherlands),creation of an Insurance Programme for Indians workingin the Gulf countries, publication of a periodical onDiaspora Affairs, setting up of India Development Fund,creation of Data base for Overseas Indians, a FacilitationCentre in New Delhi, etc. We also appreciate Governmentof India’s facilities and incentives for investment,introduction of PIO card, grant of Overseas Citizenship,announcement by the Prime Minister of the grant ofvoting rights to NRIs and setting up a High Level AdvisoryCommittee of NRIs/PIOs to advice him on importantDiaspora policy issues.

19.2 Indian Diaspora in Europe: The size and variety ofIndian Diaspora in

Europe is increasing fast. Today, there are more than 2million of them,

spread over 18 countries. On the one hand there is theold Diaspora group of 1.6

million in the UK where the Diaspora members haveachieved great success in

all sectors of the of the country; on the other hand thereare also small groups of

few thousands in countries like Finland, Italy, Spain andPoland, where due to recent arrivals and languagedifficulties, achievements have been relatively limited.However, amongst them are senior politicians, leadingentrepreneurs, scientists, doctors, academics, attorneysand lawyers, skilled workers, religious and spiritualleaders, community leaders, media specialists, etc. Theirpast performance through remittances, transfer ofresources, technology, promotion

of Indian exports, contributions to charitableestablishments, support to small projects through NGOs,etc., is no less than that of Diaspora from other regions.

Indian media started in 1780 and radio broadcasting in1927. As of 2007, 79 million copies of newspapers arecirculated daily. India is the second largest newspapermarket in the world. In 2008, India had 60,000,000internet users, and the country ranks 8th in the world bynumber of TV stations.

18. Conclusion: In 62 years after Independence, India hasmade tremendous progress in all most all sectors of thesociety. In comparison to its immediate neighbours andmost other developing countries, India has alreadyestablished itself as a worthwhile member of the GlobalCommunity.

Also, the future scope for their contribution istremendous, provided some institutional measures areundertaken to bring them together and pool their sources.

19.3 Potential Contribution of European Indian Diaspora: “Remittances are not the only instrument of Diasporacontribution. They can be a major source of Direct ForeignInvestment (FDI), market development (outsourcing),technology transfer, philanthropy, tourism, politicalcontributions and more tangible flows of knowledge, newattitudes and cultural influence.” (Kathleen Newland,“Beyond Remittances: The Role of Diaspora in PovertyReduction in Countries of Their Origin”, Migration PolicyInstitute, Washington, July 2004). There is no up-to-dateestimate of Indian Diaspora resources but an estimate in2000 stated that “The economic output of NRIs/PIOs wasestimated US $400 billion, almost the same as total GDPof India.” Today’s estimate may be US $600 billion. AsPavan Verma observes, “Indian Diaspora in USA hasemerged as that country’s richest immigrant community,with nearly 200,000 millionaires”, (2004, p.200).At the international level also, there is a trend now forsocial remittances connoting Diaspora contributions inwider fields of health, education, environment energy,municipal management, traffic management, etc.Canadian Indian Diaspora also emphasize the need for“diasporic transition to a Cultural force and “establishingIndian Heritage in Global Space” (Sushma Verma andRadhika Seshan, 2003).Recently, there have been some country wise andcomparative studies of different Diasporas, specially inthe context of their contribution to the development ofmotherland, by World Bank (Role of Diaspora Networksas Development Springboards), social science teachersand researchers and Special Commissions set up by themother countries. Probably Diaspora can also play a roleto fight the present global economic downturn (SunilPrasad “Indian Diaspora can help India fight the globaleconomic downturn”; June 5, 2009 address to GOPIOMeet, Brussels, July 7 2009). Recently, there has beenconsiderable rethinking world wide, about widening thecontribution of Diasporas in development. In mostcomparative studies, India and China are singled out forcountry comparisons but otherwise Diaspora policies ofother countries like Mexico (more than 5 millionMexicans in USA), Philippines, Nigeria, East Europeancountries (like Poland and Slovenia), Bangladesh, etc. arealso examined in this context. Although the main focusin all of them in the beginning has been on regularremittances to motherland which often are not sentthrough official channels, they end in conspicuousconsumption, on housing by the families of Diaspora, andthe impact of remittances, though very high in amount(total remittances by Indian Diaspora more than US $6billion) on development is limited. As a result, WorldBank and some of the donors started thinking of waysand means of involving the Diasporas more substantivelyin the development process of their countries, throughtheir involvement in the planning and implementationof various projects. Mexico organized City Oriented


Groups of Diaspora in US and other countries who hailedfrom a particular city or a region. Some countriesassociated Diaspora of a particular country to accompanythe Head of State or other important political leaders, onofficial visits to countries of their origin (During PresidentClinton’s visit to India, there were quite a few IndianDiaspora members accompanying him), developmentassistance ministries/agencies used the Diaspora on someof the major projects in their countries), well knownNGOs also used them as consultants, and also to seekfinancial support. Based on some of these experimentsand ideas, an analysis of the Indian Diaspora, its strengthsand weaknesses, and the ways and means in which theirinvolvement can be increased, are given below:

20. Suggestions and recommendations:

(i) Diaspora Advisory Committees for crucial Ministries inDelhi/States.

We think for greater involvement of Indian Diaspora indifferent economic sectors and in different parts of India,Advisory Committees in crucial Central Ministries suchas Foreign Affairs, Education, Health, Water Development,Law, Science and Technology, and agencies like PlanningCommission should be established to which specificindividuals can be appointed in consultation with the localIndian Embassy. Also, on the pattern of the PrimeMinister’s Advisory Committee at the Centre, in the statesalso a Diaspora Advisory Committee to Chief Minister,with substantive number of Diaspora abroad as membersshould be appointed. Procedural, financial and otheraspects can be worked out later.

(ii) Diaspora Councils abroad in countries with greaterDiaspora presence:

At the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, in January 2009, FormerAmbassador of India to Canada and at present permanentresident of that country, Mr. Kant K. Bhargava, made asuggestion to set up Diaspora Councils whose mainobjective will be “to facilitate sustained and tangibleprogress in India’s relationships with host countries thatwill lead to mutual benefits. Through it, the Diaspora canplay its dual role of advisory and advocacy”. Another rolewhich they can perform is to optimize their potential tobuild bridges between India and various regions in the

world. One example of such a body is that of the AmericanCouncil. Care should be taken to have representation of differentprofessional fields, women, and regions of India in its membership.Such Diaspora councils can initially be established on anexperimental basis in countries like the Netherlands, Spain,Sweden, Switzerland with a dynamic chairperson. Setting up of aCountry or Region Internet Network of Diaspora, will be helpful invirtual interaction.

(iii) Increased foreign direct investment by Indian DiasporaOften comparison is made by researchers and others between Indianand Chinese Diasporas and surprise is expressed why foreign directinvestment by Indian Diasporas is merely 5% of FDI, whereas thatof Chinese is much greater both in percentage and theabsolute amount. Our view is that this is not due to lack of potentialof Indian Diaspora, which is quite great. Though, it is difficult toestimate investible funds of Indian Diaspora, many Indianentrepreneurs have invested in other countries extensively, and thereis no reason, given the necessary climate and opportunities theywould also invest much more than the present situation. Some ofthe barriers which deter other foreign investors may also be thefactors why Diaspora entrepreneurs are not coming forward.

Other reasons why comparison with China is not realisticis that China started process of economic liberalization two decadesearlier than India, China has a large and wealthy Diaspora inneighbouring countries who, taking advantage of liberalization,invested heavily in small, medium and even heavy industries inChina, Chinese Government provided representation to the

Diaspora in its parliament where they could safeguard theirinterests. In comparison Indian Diaspora consists of all categoriesbut a large number, specially in Gulf countries are workers andlower/middle level service personnel. However, Diaspora in America, Canada, Europe are differentwith a large number of professionals (doctors, engineers, scientists,international finance, marketing experts, academics) with highsalaries and their wealth is substantial. One indirect measure ofthis is the fact in the USA, that for financial support to thePresidential candidates of both the Republican and Democraticparties, not the first, but the second group of financial supports areAmerican Indians! India need not have an inferiority complex. MostDiaspora owned business enterprises of China are fromneighbouring countries, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, whereasIndians have managed to set up a number of firms in the mostcutting edge, knowledge based industries (software, Infosys, Wipro,and in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, Ranbaxy and Dr. Reddy’sLabs). In 2002, World Rankings of Forbes 200, (an annual rankingof the world’s best small companies) included 13 Indian firms, butjust 4 from mainland China. China has suppressed its own privatesector and boosted its big public enterprises. But China has beenbolder with external reforms (Huang and Khanna, 2003). On a longterm perspective also, Indian growth can be sustained on personalconsumption which is 67% of GDP, only US is higher with 70%, butChina’s is only 42%.

(iv) Increased Diaspora involvement with theMinistry of Finance and India Investment Centres abroad:

It will help in analyzing the reasons why moreFDI investment is not forthcoming. Also, Indianentrepreneurs/investors could be consulted in the processof privatization of public enterprises. So far, Govt. ofIndia’s interest has been mostly on bulky, majorinvestments in new or existing enterprises. An interestinglesson from China is that initially, the Chinese Govt.allowed Diaspora investments in small local levelactivities for which decision-making was decentralizedto local governments.(v) Diaspora Involvement in some major problemareas of India:

The high level knowledge, technical expertiseand practical experience of many members of IndianDiaspora can be useful to India in some priority sectors/problem areas such as Energy, urban infrastructure(megaprojects), water development and poverty alleviationprogrammes.

We would like to suggest that to start with thismay be done in two sectors/areas, namely energy andpoverty alleviation. In both these areas already there arenational and state plans but the Indian Diaspora shouldbe given a chance to make a visible contribution to this,based on their experience in other countries, theirfamiliarity with the Indian scene, and innovation andcreativity which comes with different experiences. Thiscan take shape by Diaspora in a specific country selectsitself or GOI allocates to them a sector and a region wherethey can visibly show their value added. For example,the Diaspora in England and France may be allocatedEnergy Sector in UP/Bihar, those in the Netherlands,Switzerland, may be allocated Poverty Alleviation inMaharashtra, Gujarat.

(vi) Major Diaspora Associations for Big Cities:Based on what has been a big success in Mexico, City

Associations of Diaspora for big cities like Mumbai, Bangalore,Chennai, Lucknow, Amritsar, Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Srinagar,Gauhati, etc. should be encouraged to mobilize their financial,intellectual and professional resources for betterment of theirmetropolis. One can identify with his city/town much more thanthe entire state/region. Also, problems of coordination with localauthorities are simplified and visible results can be seen in a shorttime in areas like reduction of traffic accidents, improvement of


environmental hygiene, improvement of water supply, safety onroads, etc.

(vii) Utilization of expert advice and experience ofretired members of NRI/PIO community:

The number of retired members of the community isincreasing in most countries of Europe. Many of them have higherqualifications, and considerable international experience in areasvital to India’s economic and social development. Many of themare in good health and able to spend longer periods of time onimprovement of specific policies, work on projects, renderconsultancy advice, provide on the spot training in new techniquesor in ways of doing things. This happens now but on a very smallscale and not in a institutionalized way. Here in the Netherlands,the Dutch Government has created a special organization “PUM”,which makes available to developing countries Dutch retired expertsat a very small cost. A similar organization can be created in MOIAto tap this vast reservoir of knowledge and experience at a nominalcost.

Data base for this can be created by Indian Diasporaorganizations in different countries and made available t oMOIA.

(viii) More visible involvement of Indian Diaspora inthe planning and

Development process in the country:We think to leverage the Diaspora factor effectively, it is

desirable to make their involvement more regular and visible. Tothis effect, following suggestions are made:

(i) A separate chapter in the Five Year Plans of India andthe states on contributions of Diaspora in different sectorsthrough government, private and voluntary organizations

(ii) Where relevant appointment of Diaspora experts asadvisory members of high level committees/commissionsestablished by the Government of India/States

(ix) Representation of NRI/PIO Community inlegislature:

Foundation had already in 1980s made specific proposals toappoint some representatives of the community in Lok Sabha andRajya Sabha to deepen their involvement and commitment (FCCI :A Quarter Century of Service to India, 2008). Mexico is leader in“Diaspora option” and provides representation to them in thenational legislature. Both the PRC and Taiwan have representationof their Diaspora in their national legislatures. Some of the EastEuropean countries have also followed this practice. Croatia hasallotted 12 out of 120 seats to overseas Croats, more than thoseallocated to other ethnic minorities, so alsohas Armenia.

References consulted:

1. Amaratya Sen, The Argumentative Indian : Writings on IndianCulture, History and Identity, Penguin Books, 2005 (Chap. 4 “Diaspora and the World, pp. 73-86).

2. Arvind Panigaria, India the Emerging Giant, Oxford UniversityPress, New York, 2008.

3. “Bridge Builders”, The Broker, 14 June 2009, p.314. “Can India fly?” The Economist, June 3, 2006.5. Carlos Gonzalez Gatierrez, Fostering Identities : Mexico’s

relations with Diaspora, (www.ikndiana.edu/injah/mexico/c.gutirrez.html)

6. Diaspora : A Journal of Transnational Studies, New York,USA.

7. “Fashion’s New Attitude”, TIME, April 2009.8. Foundation for Critical Choices for India : A Quarter

Century of Service to India, FCCI, The Netherlnds, 2008.9. Gene Sharp, Social Power and Political Freedom,

Extending Horizon Books, Boston, 1980.10. Gurucharan Das, India Unbound, Penguin Books,

London, 2002.

11. Harold L. Sirkin, “Global Competitiveness : New WorldDisorder”, TIME October 27,2008.

12. Huang Yashang, Tarun Khanna, “Can India OvertakeChina?”, Foreign Policy, July-August, 2003.

13. INDIA TODAY (International), Transforming India :Great Ideas, Great Minds, October 6, 2008.

14. “India’s Growing Power Makes it a Global Player : TopUS Admiral’, Times of India, 10 July 2009.

15. “India To Surge As A Great Power : Pentagon”, Press Trustof India Report, 4 February. 2009.

16. Jennifer M. Brinkhoff, Diasporas, Skills, Transfer, andRemittances : Evolving Perceptions and Potential, PromotingKnowledge Exchange Through Diaspora Networks, 22.05.08(http://cc.mnscache.com)

17. Joseph N. Nye, Jr. Soft Power : The Means to success in WorldPolitics,

Public Affairs, New York, 2004. 18. Joel Kotkin. Tribes: How Race, Religion and Identity

Determine Success in the New Global Economy, RandomHouse, N.York, 1993.

19. Kant K. Bhargava, Reflections, on “The Diaspora Factorand India’s Emergence as a Global Power, Centre for the Studyof Democracy, Queen’s University , Kingston, Canada, January1, 2009.

20 Kathleen Newland, Beyond Remittances : The Role ofDiaspora in Poverty Reduction in their countries of origin,Migration Policy Institute, Washington, USA, July 2004.

21. K. Kesavapany, A. Mani, P. Ramaswamy (eds), RisingIndia and Indian Communities in East Asia , ISEASPublishing, Institute of South East Asian Studies, Singapore,2009.

22. Lisa Miller, “We Are All Hindus”, NEWSWEEK, Aug.24,31, 2009.

23. Mahubani, K, “Future of India”, Lecture delivered atCentre for Advanced Study of India, University of Penn. NYCity, Nov. 3, 2006.

24.Pavan K. Verma, Being Indian, : The truth about why21st century will be India’s, Penguin, London, 2004.

25.Shashi Tharoor, “Making the Most of India’s Soft Power”,Times of India. January 28, 2007.

26 Steven P. Cohen, Emerging India, Brookings Institution,Washington, 2001.

27.Steven Vertovec, The Political Importance of Diasporas,Migration

Fundamentals, University of Oxford, June 2005. 28.Sumit Ganguly, India as an Emerging Power, Frank Cass,

2003. 29. Sunil Prasad, Indian Diaspora Can Help India fight

the global economic downturn, Address to GlobalOrganization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), Brussels,Jun3 5, 2009.

30. Sushma J.Verma, Radhika Seshan, Fractual Identity: TheIndian Diaspora in Canada, , New Delhi, Rawat, 2003.

31. “Surinamers in Diaspora willen ontwikkeling meebepalen”(Surinamese Diaspora will like to jointly decide ondevelopment issues”, DREAMNEWZ, June 2009 (in Dutch).

32. Thomas L. Friedman, The World is Flat : The GlobalizedWorld in the Twenty-First Century, Penguin, London, 2005.

33.”The World’s 100 Most Influential People”, TIME May 11, 2009. 34 Trubinikov, Vyachaslav, Ambassador of RussianFederation in India: “India is now emerging as a globalpower”.

Prepared by Dr. Vasant Moharir for Foundation for CriticalChoices For India, the Netherlands. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas –Europe was organized at The Hague, The Netherlands, On 19th

September 2009 by Wahid Saleh, originally of Jorhat.


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