A long time before independance, Indians were a part of the workforce that was created by the East India Company (at first) and then the British Government. Some of those early sought-after jobs were the Writers (probably you will remember the Writers' building Kolkata) wherein Indians were hired and became the standard of the best job that a middle class or an aspiring Indian can find at that time. The job (people called them Babus, a word that probably originated from the then British Capital - Kolkata), gave these selected Indians an access to a better life and obviously the social status of something that wasn't replicable by anyone else.
So given that was probably the genesis of Corporate Life in India (since no other recorded organnization had any structure that reflects present day worklife before the Britishers brought that in), the very same premise has designed perceptions over the last 60-80 years about job, career, social status, etc into the lives of millions of Indians.
The British Education system took care of the rest - by defining that if you are educated in the english medium schools (then started by the Missionaries), you had a better chance to "good life". For us Indians, a good life obviously meant - owned property, good investments and bank balance, perks like cars and maids, and socially accepted aura that you are the one who "made it" amongst others.
This was also the reason why many of pre-independance rich families always wanted the British to rule since it meant acceptance from the very people who set those standards. If you can remember, some of the well known families sent their sons for learning Law at Oxford or Cambridge.
In the meanwhile, post independance the nearest and easiest way to map the standard of life which can be replicated across the population and available to the then aspiring middle class was - the remains of the British legacy. It defined the way their sons could actually become better in life. Everyone wanted a certain way of life defined by our Masters.
Tne trouble is that some of it still exits today and one can see the DNA of the aspiring classes of India still defining careers, success, ideologies, etc in the same vein. It is the reason we have glorified academic achievements and government jobs for more than 40 years post Independance, and very recently we Indians lived upto the fact that even the private sector is something that we need to now exploit.
So for the government jobs, we had standardized entrance tests (like the UPSC) and parents wanted their children to study on for that no matter what the sons or daughters wanted to do in life. Something similar happened for private jobs - we started producing Engineers for the first phase of companies that were doing good in India (namely Manufacturing, Oil, IT etc) and then resorted to producing MBAs for the remaining of the growing sectors.
So today we produce Engineers who are rushing to join a Business school with "passion" for finance or marketing or some wierd thing. They are "passionate" about "numbers" and have "analytical skills" and therefore they want to dedicate their lives for the MBA program.
It looks like there is no end for the aspiring population of India (mostly the middle class, who need a guarantee for even the Fan they purchase) to create the best clerks again for a companies that reflect almost the same class-structure that existed probably a hundred years back. The difference is that today, the divide is between the same countrymen who want to distinguish themselves by the kind of pedigree they have got (from a certain college), and then engage in creating no value for theselves of their company. It is all about - security, politics, better cars, better apartments, better food, etc.
When will the DNA change? Who will make that happen? What is the cost for making that change happen?
The Call-center industry showed that we can still be trusted to do the dirty work of others at a cheaper price. Are we still the unevolved "babu" inside? Is that the best that we can achieve?
Do we need someone else to tell us about our true worth?
So given that was probably the genesis of Corporate Life in India (since no other recorded organnization had any structure that reflects present day worklife before the Britishers brought that in), the very same premise has designed perceptions over the last 60-80 years about job, career, social status, etc into the lives of millions of Indians.
The British Education system took care of the rest - by defining that if you are educated in the english medium schools (then started by the Missionaries), you had a better chance to "good life". For us Indians, a good life obviously meant - owned property, good investments and bank balance, perks like cars and maids, and socially accepted aura that you are the one who "made it" amongst others.
This was also the reason why many of pre-independance rich families always wanted the British to rule since it meant acceptance from the very people who set those standards. If you can remember, some of the well known families sent their sons for learning Law at Oxford or Cambridge.
In the meanwhile, post independance the nearest and easiest way to map the standard of life which can be replicated across the population and available to the then aspiring middle class was - the remains of the British legacy. It defined the way their sons could actually become better in life. Everyone wanted a certain way of life defined by our Masters.
Tne trouble is that some of it still exits today and one can see the DNA of the aspiring classes of India still defining careers, success, ideologies, etc in the same vein. It is the reason we have glorified academic achievements and government jobs for more than 40 years post Independance, and very recently we Indians lived upto the fact that even the private sector is something that we need to now exploit.
So for the government jobs, we had standardized entrance tests (like the UPSC) and parents wanted their children to study on for that no matter what the sons or daughters wanted to do in life. Something similar happened for private jobs - we started producing Engineers for the first phase of companies that were doing good in India (namely Manufacturing, Oil, IT etc) and then resorted to producing MBAs for the remaining of the growing sectors.
So today we produce Engineers who are rushing to join a Business school with "passion" for finance or marketing or some wierd thing. They are "passionate" about "numbers" and have "analytical skills" and therefore they want to dedicate their lives for the MBA program.
It looks like there is no end for the aspiring population of India (mostly the middle class, who need a guarantee for even the Fan they purchase) to create the best clerks again for a companies that reflect almost the same class-structure that existed probably a hundred years back. The difference is that today, the divide is between the same countrymen who want to distinguish themselves by the kind of pedigree they have got (from a certain college), and then engage in creating no value for theselves of their company. It is all about - security, politics, better cars, better apartments, better food, etc.
When will the DNA change? Who will make that happen? What is the cost for making that change happen?
The Call-center industry showed that we can still be trusted to do the dirty work of others at a cheaper price. Are we still the unevolved "babu" inside? Is that the best that we can achieve?
Do we need someone else to tell us about our true worth?
