Unchain me
Monday, March 08, 2010

BSN Network / Mumbai

An industry transforms to higher levels, when there are subtle changes in the prevalent basic ‘belief systems’. It takes time - sometimes prolonged periods, for the decaying ‘collective belief systems’ to look up. Small changes lead to gigantic strides.

The following article by Capt PS Rath, CEO, Econship Marine Pte Ltd is the first in the series he would be writing for Bhandarkar Shipping News.

Unchain me

An industry transforms to higher levels, when there are subtle changes in the prevalent basic ‘belief systems’. It takes time - sometimes prolonged periods, for the decaying ‘collective belief systems’ to look up. Small changes lead to gigantic strides. This is well exemplified by the IT industry, which enjoys pride of place in Indian economy. A handful of Indians in the Silicon Valley initiated those subtle changes. They excelled there and brought home the belief system that – ‘India can’, and successfully translated it into ‘India could’. Fortunately for us, the outmoded government bureaucracy and its restrictive tax policies were slow to understand the dynamics of these knowledge products moving across boundaries invisibly – along with the tunnel of money. This gave enough time for the industry to thrive and create a belief system or collective confidence that Indians are one of the best in new technology. The government benefitted from the outcomes and therefore encouraged its growth.

Indian shipping industry on the other hand started developing contrary belief systems. With the fall of Scindia and many other Indian shipping companies, there set in a general diffidence that still smothers us down. Most of us fully understand the reasons of our bureaucratic processes and misplaced tax systems scuttling our cyclic shipping industry. Even today, the changes introduced are far too cosmetic and out of time. Sadly, no one complains. Its despondency and a decaying belief system.

Indians have the reputation of being good in global shipping for a long time. They are the brains behind many of the global players. India has an immense chronic need for shipping its own cargo - meaning a robust home demand. The talk about the length of the coast line and strategic national need has become a cliché, to the extent that the government is digging up some Sethusamudram to facilitate this, while grossly misreading the real needs. We have the know-how, the brains, and the demand. Capital is not hard to get when the rudiments are so endearing. Yet, some have taken to flagging off or shifting money and employment bases to more conducive countries. As a result, we lose our money and employment to other nations. Some of us notice it, but shrug it off as “Chal ta hai”. However, there is a need to talk. Talk about the problems and solutions in the same breath. I believe that talking with candour only, shall kill this despondency and bring in subtle changes to our belief system. And I would love to talk about the issues, in small incremental steps from my subsequent issues.

(The views expressed above are those of the author and the publishers may or may not subscribe to them.)