I was talking to somebody yesterday, who recently returned from US, and he said that he expects to see more startups in India than in US, because it is so damn easier to survive here without earning.
That comment brought back to me something that happened on the last day of my job... I was retuning back in office sumo, and I saw people lined up for buses. I saw the typical long shirts wore on saggy pants, faces tanned by having to roam around in intense sunlight, and the sweat... I had the feeling I had when I talked to my parents about my decision to leave my cozy job. The feeling of being "ungrateful".
Our parents never saw jobs that paid you so well, appreciated your work, and also gave you a raise every year! They are the jobs that separates you from all those people standing in the queue. People in the US never have to see those queues, so they do not realize what they are being protected from.
In Indian minds, the fear of falling back into that line is greater than the desire of being above it.
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I think it will take a generation to overcome that fear. You and me have stood in the queues and know how it feels. Our children won't, so, they won't have this year.
I am sure. One generation!
A lot of this fear is actually non-real, and actually reflection of what others feel. I am sure you yourself are not really worried about getting into that queue. Afterall, before that situation comes, you can always join back in a job. Also, when you talk to people like you in Pune, leaving job for startup does not seem like a big deal. But when you talk to somebody who has never or rarely heard about anybody doing such a thing (like our parents), their natural fear bodes upon us. In US, leaving a secure job for what really interests you (like a startup or even random stuff like rafting) is fairly common, and so if you tell someone you are sitting home out of job, trying to do something on your own, the more common reaction will be OK, or even WOW!, which will encourage you. The situation is quite different in India.
Hmmm, there are two things. One, a natural fear for uncertainty that we have developed because of the hard times some of us have seen ourselves (Manas, you talk about this I think). And, second is the fear that you get when you come across sights that humble you.
I am talking about the second one, and, yes, even the generation of our children will not be able to completely avoid it, unless, condition of India as a whole improve, and most of the Indians are well to do. Of-course, because this is the fear imposed by your surroundings, it does get overcome in a different surrounding..., one of the reasons (apart from more opportunities etc.) why NRIs are percentage wise (may be in absolute terms too?) more active in taking the plunge than Indians living in India.
Oh, come-on! I am sure you don't really have to worry about standing in those long queues! :-)
Ummm.. I have different thoughts..
I think more than feat, its ambition..
People do lack ambition ..they have very casual attitude..."Chalta he na..kaun karega business ye vo" type..
Of course fear is there..( or shall we say lack of confidence? )
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