Kevin my friend 1.5 2008/01/19 12:27:15 US/Central 2008/01/24 00:52:02.183 US/Central Sunil Kumar Singh sunilkr99@yahoo.com Sunil Kumar Singh sunilkr99@yahoo.com On a Houston road, while speeding on a long over-bridge, I was exchanging views with Kevin who was gracious enough to guide me through the city. Coming from developing world, Houston was an altogether different perspective for me and Kevin was answer to all my benign questions. I was filling him with anecdotes about India even if not asked. I was all out to win a friend in a place so far away from home. I do not recall how it landed but it came all the same. “Is it true that China will be the economic super power by 2030 and India will equal US economics by 2050? Lots of people are talking about this these days”, Kevin was very thoughtful when he finally put across the question. I was relieved to know that I had actually been successful winning him over as friend. The question, however, took me by surprise. This was something which appeared so wayward if we looked at the physical difference. America is 4-5 times (I do not know if I am correct) India and Americans are one fourth of Indians so I calculated America should be 5*4 = 20 times and a factor of 2 for the system and efficiency that puts America 40 times ahead of India. This was the kind of arithmetic that I used to explain why one dollar is 40 times Indian rupees. This was precisely what I told Kevin. But then I realized there should be some truth in what people are talking about. Almost as an after thought I added probably being populous is no more such a negative factor and so it may not be a denominative element straight way. Frankly, I was not sure what I was telling him, but I pressed forward my best educated guess that India could become one third of America. He appeared to buy my argument to the extent economics simplified. He was hoping business to be good this year as people were flocking to do business in the city. It surprised me that Kevin was doing his master in history besides managing a fleet of vehicles for his business. He seemed to have considerable insight into the world shaping around us. Buoyed with the commonality of our thought process, we extended our discussion deeper beyond the business relation we had between us. Exactly at the stroke of midnight, he took me to a rare place where imposing statues of American presidents were lined up. They were meant to be shipped to some place that I do not recall. But the presence of so many of historical figures - albeit their statues - at one place was so overwhelming. Time had stopped to pass by. Then he broke the silence “People say India and US will also be the greatest ally by the time India picks up”. I shook my head in agreement and offered to expand “Democracy and Computers?”. The atmosphere was electrifying among the greatest leaders of democracy as if they were also supporting threads of argument that we were weaving. It was yet another day in the town. We had become very talkative friends. He told me about the city and its culture - the Texan hats and boots, computer giants – HP and Dell, space technology, medical centers and about the building that ENRON built never to occupy. As a petroleum guy I backed up with my share of knowledge about the town which I knew to be the hub of oil related activities. It was exactly the reason I was there in the town. He, however, seemed to ignore oil - more I talked about it. Talking about computers, however, he was appreciative of Indian talents. I told him that I intend to buy a laptop as price tag was about 30 - 40 % less. “HP and Dell guys are making real cheap laptops for markets like India for as low as 500 dollars in six months time” Kevin informed. This virtually ruined my temptation to own the sleek thing immediately. I thought what is there in six months. He had a beautiful wife and a lovely girl child. He told me how much he loved his family and the girl who ran around in the morning as he longed to sleep. I also have a girl child who appears to be so bright. We were tuning fine. I invited to make a holiday trip to India which I do not think he was very interested. I understood his preoccupations, priorities and geographical distance that separated us. In a week’s time, we parted as good friends. It is now almost about six months. My desktop got busted due to some electric mishap. I do not know how many times I have bought computers – almost every two years. It is difficult to explain this crazy investment that returns nothing physical – though it is impossible to survive without one. I needed a plan to fend against the barb for the wasteful expenditure. Just holding on the cue that Kevin offered about the computers I dared enquire about a loptop. I breathed a sigh of relief as I could buy a brand new laptop for Rupess 25000 ($ 600). If I recall correctly I rented a laptop for a whopping $ 250 there in Houston. Thankfully, I could manage a good explanation about the cheap laptop as I okayed my daughter’s school trip to Japan. What is happening? I could not have dreamed such things just two years ago. This brings me back to the more important question. Will India make it as Kevin predicted? I do not know. Democracy is there. However, there are many ifs and buts – leadership, legacy, work culture, social heterogeneity, administration, infrastructure, diversity and so on. I am though happy to share that Kevin was right about the laptop and I could write this piece on a brand new one. It is a tribute to the treasured friendship. I hope his other comments were as good on target as this one.