Friday, August 15, 2008

Nice guys finish second - part4 - connections

As i grew up in life i realised the vital role connections can play. In fact we are taught at our management school that MBA is all about making yourself more presentable and forging connections. Even BK admits this fact in his book.
e.g. he clearly mentions how connections of Nehru family ensured that their stay in jail was very comfortable despite them demanding so.
Connections work silently.

Those people who lament rote learning prevalent in India and or pressure to score more should have a look at admission process of foreign universities which is highly subjective. In fact BK also used his connections to get his son admitted in UK university but I guess this is norm there.

No where the connections are more important than in Finance and diplomacy and his stint in USA and associated experience where he puts a claim to be very close to to John F Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson gives a proof to it.

Another interesting theme in this book is BK's unhappiness over Anglo Indians dominant position in Indian life completely disproportionate to their numbers or intellect. One can understand this if one looks at people in different professions such as air force, sports,administration etc in 30-60s period.
Similar resentment is felt today by powerful peasantry and rich people from towns towards city folk many of them occupy high positions solely because they are good in English or had a privileged background or right connections.

No comments: