Bharat

I read this post on Twitter. It hit a nerve because this is one of the key value differences between India and the West—maybe even the East and the West. Read it carefully. It is a gem.

We broke Modi’s ego by not voting for BJP in Bengal, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra. This is not the first time we have done this; similarly, we have broken the ego of many big personalities by not supporting them in the past. A long time ago, the ego of the Hindu king Dahir of Sindh was shattered by the Hindu kings of then Afghanistan and Rajasthan. Dahir wrote for help, but no one came. Dahir had a lot of ego about his valor and was killed. Now, it is a different matter that after that, the continuous decline of Hindus started in Sindh, and today Afghanistan is a completely Islamic nation. In the same way, we broke the ego of Prithviraj Chauhan by not supporting him during Mohammad Ghori’s invasion. The people of Mewar also had a lot of ego about their bravery. When Khilji surrounded Mewar, no one from the entire Rajputana supported them, Rawal Ratan was killed by deceit, and Padmavati had to commit jauhar with 16,000 women. Padmavati also had a lot of ego about her beauty, which was shattered. When Rana Sanga had captured Lodhi, the dacoit Babur was called to break their ego. In the battle, no one supported Rana Sanga, and his general was killed along with thirty thousand soldiers. Sanga’s ego was shattered. But the Lodhis had to endure the Mughal slavery, temples were destroyed, women were looted by the Mughals, but Sanga’s ego was shattered. The Marathas were very powerful; they had decimated the Mughals. They also had a lot of ego. When the Mughals were defeated, Abdali was called from Afghanistan to stop the infidels, and armies were set up in the battlefield of Panipat. Abdali’s army kept receiving supplies, but no one sent supplies to the Marathas, as their ego had to be shattered. The Marathas kept fighting on empty stomachs, kept dying, and were defeated. There is no house in Maharashtra where a son wasn’t martyred, but the ego was shattered. Countless times, we have shattered the egos of our own by not supporting them at the right time, and we will remove Modi from power as well. Even if we have to take help from the Goris, Mughals, Abdalis, or even Italy, Pakistan, and mortgage the country in their hands… We will break Modi’s ego, and in the future, we will break Yogi Ji’s ego too. Because we are only fit to live under the slavery of foreigners, non-believers, leftists, etc. Remember, we also broke Atal Ji’s ego and then endured ten years of suffering, but we are habitual of forgetting… We will break Modi’s ego. Jai Hind

https://x.com/JoshiGargiGoyal/status/1805463176156188940

This has been my typical experience, too. People will only support you once you have ‘made it’. In fact, there will be attempts to pull down someone who seems to have too much power.

This creates a weird trade-off.

My theory: We fear absolute power. If we fear too much power in the hands of one person, we pull down anyone who gets close to achieving it. This means no one can take the boldest of bets like Elon Musk. It also means no one can claim that tobacco is safe for pregnant women.

The easiest way to see this is from stock market circuit breakers that are employed much more frequently than their US counterparts.

In the US, the Iron Man is supposed to be egoistic. Ayn Randian thinking that they can act arrogantly if they are creating enough value.

But in India, even the superheroes will display more humility than they need to. You may have created immense value for the society, but if you feel you are above everyone else, you would be pulled down by the incompetent crowds.

The entrepreneurial side of me has wished for an American environment for a long time. I would often know clearly that many people around me are duds with certificates, lazy, incompetent or straight-up leeches. But I cannot press my competence, hard work, or the value created directly. It will be seen as arrogant even though I might say this in the most humble, matter-of-the-fact way. Anyone who has built anything knows this to be true.

My citizen side doesn’t want anyone, especially a politician, to have too much power like a typical American President.

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This dilemma needs to break if India has to become a superpower. I do not know the answer. If you do, tell me.

I will figure this out. Our heroes must be stronger, and our collective judgement of ego vs. competence must be clear. We have to send in reinforcements to our chosen heroes. Abandoning them in battle is the most cowardly thing to do.

I don’t think Modiji is being egoistic at all. I think he is just hastily achieving his desired outcomes—which are also the outcomes his core voters want. But if this is the example India sets, no one would want to be a hero.

We basically got him to clean up our mess for ten years and then tried to discard him. I am sure such stuff exists in our mythology. We need to change that. A person’s PoW should not go away, no matter what.

Like a hero owes to the society, the society owes to it’s heroes as well. If society doesn’t deliver, our heroes will rather play in a different team where they are valued.

This comes from Metrics of success determine the culture.

In terms of the Indian culture, we know we should disown the success metrics driven by consumerism.

We should definitely not consider opulence as a marker of status. The number of cars, how expensive the shoes are, or how big the private yacht is should not weigh in on the person’s ideas, knowledge, or opinions.

What should be revered is a person’s curiosity, their humility, their integrity, their hard work, and their risk-taking ability. We should value a person based on how much they have contributed to society. And even punish those who are actively adding negative value to the society at large. The top management of companies like Coca-Cola should not be admired for their money. Their wealth is as ill-gotten as that of someone selling an addictive substance. It is net negative for the society.

On a macro level, we should question metrics like GDP, and arrive at a wealth metric instead of a spending metric. We know strong economies are created on production, not consumption. Consumption was a narrative that was sold to us. We want a wealthy population, not a debt-ridden one.

I would go to ridiculous amounts of lengths to question every metric right from peer reviews on research to cultural success markers like ‘dominance mindset’.

We should also understand that we have to move beyond the material plane. There has to be a time when the entire population is engaged in intellectual and spiritual pursuits. We should not just aim to catch up but leapfrog to the next dimension (New Worlds – three planes).

When we were young, a friend and I would play crickets every free minute of the day. Once upon a time, we got good at it. When we started playing with teams from other buildings in our area, our team tend to beat some of the strongest.

One day we arrived at a rival’s pitch. It was a leg-side box pitch, which, in Mumbai gully cricket terms meant a specific hook could give you immense power and a specific kind of fielding was needed for defense.

Being the overconfident lot, we thought we would beat them. I don’t think I will ever forget that match. The humiliation was total. I started practicing my leg-side for months after that. Of course, I couldn’t hope to beat them because the conditions were against the style I’d practiced. I lost motivation. In the hindsight, I believe the cost of winning that match was too high for me to pay.

This is what I call Lagaan Syndrome. When the game is set by someone else and we are trying to beat them, it is hardly a matter or skill or motivation. It is mostly a cost-benefit trade-off. And in most cases, it is not worth the cost.

Lagaan is a Bollywood movie where a bunch of Indian villagers play the British soldiers in a match of cricket (before cricket was introduced to Indians). They practice, learn, jugaad and of course, since it is a Bollywood movie, they win.

Lagaan syndrome is when i see Indians (or any other culture) “aspiring” to beat their rulers at their own game.

There is a testosterone rush in it I think.

But in most cases, it is not worth the benefit.

Instead, we should have invited them to play Kabaddi. That is how we beat Lagaan Syndrome.

By questioning every game, every success metric, and every goal laid in front of us. If it doesn’t align with our internal, we do not need to bet on it.

In community building, Metrics of success determine the culture.