Fighting for mediocrity!

India - and its fight for mediocrity!

I have often found that amazing how India has been so liberal in bringing down quality and standards over time; so much that it has become a practice and now akin to a unique Indian indulgence.

My son Somaditya was keen that we traveled to Kolkata by Rajdhani Express, as he loves seeing the countryside by the window through the journey, being served a range of meals at regular intervals and finally retiring in a long double tier sleeper berth.

So we decided to take the Rajdhani Express, the fastest long journey train from New Delhi to Kolkata, and one considered India's best over 50 years.

However the journey had only just begun!

Amidst the winter fog of Delhi, the train was delayed by 5 hours from its scheduled time. I still cannot believe how if the foggiest of cities worldwide can have the aircrafts and trains run in more severe winters and fogs, why it is only in India that journey during 1-2 degree Centigrade can upset all transportation.

I recall the mid seventies, when the Rajdhani Express had red carpets clean, neat and fresh. The upholstery was of the finest quality, with top quality leather, steel, plastics or other material that made the sleepier berths, windows, shelves or ever other piece in the coach and the adjoining toilets plush and truly luxurious.

In its mystical mission to lowering costs, and reaching out to the masses, those standards were obviously severely compromised upon. Perhaps for reasons of making foul money by permitting lower quality stuff at not so lower costs.

The floor now has terrible tiled mats, steel that either rusts or can have rough edges, extremely poor upholstery and leaking toilets.

As the food got served, one wondered if that would be healthy at all. Brands one had not heard of - Vimal Butter, Suite Heart Pepper and similar strange names for Ice Cream, sweets, ketchup or tea were served on a platter.

Why is India so passionate about reaching out luxuries to poor who cannot afford a daily meal? Why is India so obsessed by feeding the unemployed free? Wouldn't the longer term goal be to provide those who cannot afford an opportunity to make lives better? Or, wouldn't it be wiser to work on plans or ingenious ideas to identify opportunities for engagement of the unemployed.

In a country that is quite lazy by character, it is almost as good as making laziness an ethical practice by promoting privileges for the poor; and further allowing the more evolved or earned to imbibe mediocrity and succumb to the fashion of living the ordinary.

It was an appalling experience to see a country move down the ladder of standards so characteristically and eagerly.

No wonder then even in the private sector, and otherwise enterprising Indian business community we dont have a soap, car, home appliance or any other product that matches the quality standards of the best global brands. Quite obviously then, Indian brands remain stuck in the gullies of Bihar, as those from Philippines, Korea or Bangkok find their shelves in the European or American stores.

In a country with a billion people, it is ever so easy to make a good business by delivering products that are affordable for the masses.

If you wish to work for higher skills, knowledge or success, I wonder if that is a worthy route for liberation.