India's path to leadership in the 21st century is hindered by systemic failures in law and order, a lack of political will, and a disconnect between aspirations and reality, despite its inherent strengths and hardworking population. True progress requires a fundamental shift towards accountability, efficiency, and a focus on essential societal needs over superficial ambitions.
Mind Map
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Okay.
How will India lead in the 21st century is probably the
most generic and broad question one could possibly
start to answer.
I mean, our entire education—at least for millennials
who grew up in the early 2000s—was fundamentally based
on this very idea that India would become a superpower
by the year 2020.
So, how should India lead, really?
And if you think about it, directionally this is
actually a very good question to ask.
Our society, especially our youth, needs to be reminded
of this again and again—
they must be asking themselves the important question
of where exactly are we going to take India as a nation.
If you ever, ever talk to somebody who is closer to
their 60s, and if they are being truly honest with you,
they will admit that we could have done better, perhaps
much better.
And as you age, you begin to realize just how many
hopes, dreams, and aspirations you have for younger people.
The biggest possible change in a society often happens
at the cusp of a new generation.
If a generation is considered to be an 8 year window of
people who are born during that period,
between, say, 1991 and 1999, they have a very similar
set of cultural influences.
They are also born after certain cultural and
technological influences have become established, so
things that were new for the previous generation, or
things that were true for the previous generation, may
not necessarily be new or true for the younger generation.
A generation is the cusp of change in a society, and if
we were to be honest with ourselves, you and I would be
A very pertinent question, a very simple, basic, and
obvious question that we have to ask ourselves is this:
what exactly do we need to do in the 21st century,
especially after the year 2025, in the year 2026, and
after 2026, in the year 2027, for India to truly do
better and progress further?
Because, in certain important respects, we are indeed
very lucky.
We are truly blessed with a land that is full of
abundant resources, a land full of very intelligent,
people, a land full of ambition, a land full of history
and culture.
But in some ways, we are very unlucky.
Facts of luck could be poverty, facts of bad luck could
be lack of political will.
Like, if you look outside, wherever you live in India,
you know what I'm talking about—just look out the window.
So, if I have any influence over young people, make change.
Again and again and again and again, this keeps happening.
And the issue here is, you could easily do a fully
scripted video about all of this, every single part.
You could do a video where I carefully put together
this video with a clear point, with thorough research,
with guilt, and with intent.
Really, and the issue is, you could do a scripted video
about all of this.
You could do a video where I put together this video,
like point A, point B, research, ChatGPT, Gul, botted,
interned, clip, sequence, and...
In a carefully controlled environment, I could answer a
really tricky, challenging question, or I could do this
freely, or we could do this freely together, or we
could simply sit across from each other—you on that
side of the screen, me here on this side—and we could
ask the question.
Oh my god, can we please, please ask the question: What
should we actually be doing in the 21st century in
order to lead?
Because if we have our aim set right, the odds that we
will move towards...
the generic answer to the question, what should India
do, or what should India become, or what should India
aspire to be...?
Where is it going, really?
Lala-sa superpower, twenty...
twenty fifty...
Fact of the matter is, that's complete bullshit, honestly.
If you want to look outside India, if you want to see
what's happening beyond the borders of India...
Now, if you're deluded by these illusions, please come
down from your delusions.
Please be real.
In matters of society, where more people than just you
are affected, your delusion...
is a cost we...
Directionally, I can say, okay, good, we are definitely
aiming towards something very strong—agreed, as an
attitude, the optimism, absolutely, hell yes, I am with
you on this.
This optimism is absolutely, fundamentally important,
but this automatic thought, this almost reflexive
belief, that we are somehow, in some way, going to be a
superpower—you are completely, absolutely wrong.
The real fact is that 5 percent...
of India runs the economy.
Ten percent of India speaks English, maybe a little
more than that is employable in the formal sector.
Everything else is absolute poverty.
A lot of history, a lot of culture, a lot of
aspiration, a lot of hopes, a lot of suffering, a lot
of burden, a lot of pain, and a lot of poverty.
Defense and GDP might be inching closer to European
numbers, but you have to understand Europe is a...
tiny country, tiny and old—they are all old, they don't
want to work.
There is no such thing as a demographic dividend, there
isn't a huge, enormous ocean of young people who can
change the destiny of a land.
They have to import labor, they have to import Indians,
Nigerians, Africans, these kinds of people, Middle
Easterners, to do the labor.
Those are good numbers to chase, but they are not great
numbers to chase for a country like India, with the
aspirations that we have.
We're fooling ourselves.
If we keep talking in this generic, almost imaginary
fantasy land of being a superpower, when in reality,
you and I—who are listening to this right now, who are
able to understand and process what's being said here
in this conversation—you are already, believe it or
not, in the top 5 to 7 percent of India, boss.
You're already, as it stands, in the top 5 to 7 percent
of India.
So just imagine, really try to picture, how incredibly
steep it gets from there, how much more challenging and
competitive it becomes as you try to move up.
This idea that—,
India is the next China—I hope that's true.
But if you're ready to be honest with yourself, we—I'm
not saying that India would do well under a Chinese
authoritarian dictatorship model.
I'm not saying that India would do well under a Chinese
authoritarian dictatorship model.
Now, we don't know.
Even if we make a lot of changes, it won't be a
complete, total transformation.
But China—China is a constant and ever-present threat
hanging over our heads.
If we ignore that, we're just being truly, absolutely
foolish, and your stupidity will definitely cost you.
There's a big misconception that things don't happen in
a country like India, because it's a diluted democracy,
where there is a
a sea of people to manage, all with different
interests, and all with different levers they can pull
to collapse systems.
In something like this, one of the key issues that
people bring up is, 'Nothing ever happens.' Let me tell
you something frankly—from my experience of 5 to 7
years of being around enough political situations,
being in the power matrix of this country—things do
happen, things really do happen.
But the vote counts—whoever you vote for, that's what
will happen, that's the outcome that will be decided.
But we'll come to that in just a second, so please bear with me.
The second area where India really needs to do
something about itself, to improve and progress as a
nation, is law and order.
If there is no punishment for anything, if no law is
actually enforceable in practice, if at the bottom the
policing system is broken and ineffective, in the
middle the judicial system is broken and inefficient,
and at the top the executive system is broken and
unaccountable—are you and I just joking with each
other, or are we actually serious about wanting change?
If something wrong happens in our country—and you can
read about this anywhere—and if you want to test this
out, go ahead and test it.
Maybe it's already happened in your life.
If somebody is ever a victim of a small or big crime,
whether it's meaningful or meaningless, the person who
is the victim is much more afraid of going to court
than the person who committed the crime.
Pay very close attention to this sociological inversion.
This is tearing apart the fabric of Indian society.
Here, the question isn't simply about individual moral
will or personal responsibility—it's not merely a
question of education or upbringing.
Rather, it's a systemic failure, a breakdown of the
three fundamental pillars of our constitution—namely,
the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary.
In other words, it's a system-level failure that
permeates throughout the entire structure.
If you take a moment to think about all the issues we
face—actually, let's play this game out together.
Suppose, just for a moment, that I am the genie and you
are Aladdin, and I tell you, boss, you are allowed to—
ask for one wish, one thing that could change and
should meaningfully change the trajectory of this
society, what would it be?
Don't worry about the complexity—if this one thing
could magically change overnight, then twenty years
from now, this country would be in a completely
different place.
And you might have answers like, 'Please, let's get rid
of corruption,' or 'Please, let's have this.' But I'm
telling you, the single most important thing, the
single point of access, is: please, law and order,
please resolve the cases, please let the person—
make them fear punishment.
For the establishment of society, the foundational
thing is the social contract theory: I trust you, you
trust me, because the government manages and negotiates
that trust.
And there are eleven sets of political bodies.
Everything from the— Instill fear of punishment.
For the establishment of society, the doctrine used is
the social contract theory: I trust you, you trust me,
because the government manages and negotiates that trust.
There’s nothing more convenient in our daily lives than
the time we spend with our mobile phones, especially
when these devices offer us such unchecked power and
freedom—there’s truly nothing else quite like it.
The number of ways we use them is vast, and this is
mainly because there are no strict laws or regulations
in place to control their use or the industries that
support them.
There’s no requirement for any environmental guidelines
to be followed, so this means that all the factories
producing phone components, all the construction sites
using technology, all the farmers applying modern
tools, and all the drivers depending on navigation apps
will end up polluting the environment, right?
Who’s stopping them from doing this?
So, does that mean everyone will just throw garbage and
litter on the street—who’s actually stopping them from doing that?
What’s really going to happen if they decide to throw it?
Who’s watching, who’s paying attention?
You have to truly understand just how incredibly free
your citizens are.
Indian citizens are, in fact, the most free—American
citizens do have freedom, but it is always within
certain rules, boundaries, and guidelines.
Indian citizens, on the other hand, don’t even have
rules—there’s no fear of God, no fear of society, no
fear of the constitution, nothing at all holding them back.
If we are not able to provide proper and reliable legal
safety and security for our citizens and for companies
that wish to operate here, why would somebody, whether
an individual or a business, want to come and invest in India?
Why would I or you, or anyone else for that matter,
want to invest in India under such circumstances?
It's such a huge and significant problem that cannot be ignored.
Why is it that every sensible Indian's dream holiday
destination is always outside India, rather than within
our own country?
Why is it that when Indians go abroad, they don't like
to go to places where there are other Indians?
What kind of society do we live in where we want to run
away from our own people?
Why can't my home be that beautiful?
I'm not saying this is a simple problem to solve.
This wish—looking at things in India, it's not always possible.
There's so much political chaos all the time.
Fundamentally, a society progresses because of two things.
Look, a society moves forward when money comes in, and
more than that, when it becomes competent.
With us, all of this gets heightened with more money—as
far as we can tell from the history of the modern
world, with more money come more problems.
Salt and money are both created, but primarily, what
happens is that problems get systematically generated.
Issues—there is all this: better hygiene, better
consumption with more money.
As far as we can tell from the history of the modern
world, with more money, problems get solved, and money
is clicked through to promising ways—
but if you say so, there is an opportunity here and you
know we should organize for some growth to ac—
all other major countries, they look at China's
innovation like, "Yeah, maybe they do it, but who knows
what they're actually doing." China has won the war on
efficiency, on supply chains, on production alphas—on
how to make even the most basic things in the best
possible way.
And if you look at, for instance, BYD, which is
probably one of the most innovative companies—
When it comes to this, it is probably not as well
marketed as some competitors, but it is still fairly
well recognized.
I think they are very innovative, especially in battery
technology, which is crucial for electric vehicles.
In the car genre overall, it is a highly innovative company.
It started by mastering batteries, coming from a
battery technology startup background.
Eventually, after gaining expertise in batteries, they
said, "Let's put a car on top of this." So, one
important thing to note is that directed growth like
this, where a company can focus and evolve in such a
specific way, isn't really possible in India because no one—
No one really allows for directed growth in practice.
For any kind of directed growth, the political
incentives simply aren't aligned;
politicians, in general, do not really have any special
interest in pursuing it.
There's a deep and persistent lack of political will.
Anyone who's spent enough time around the political
business, or has observed it closely, will tell you
that you eventually realize they don't even want it to happen.
And even if someone does try to do something beyond
that, the next government that comes in just pulls it
back, because by then, it has already become a lobby for them.
If any policy is framed at the national level, and you
look at its actual implementation on the ground, you'll
cry just reading through all the paperwork and documentation.
Out of the ₹100 that were supposed to be spent, by the
time it gets down there, it's stripped bare and only ₹1
actually reaches, and even that is split 3 ways among a
few people.
And then, there is no innovation, no creativity, no new ideas.
The 2nd way in which an economy grows is—,
Nuclear defense—if India did not have a robust and
reliable nuclear defense system, just imagine for a
moment where we would be today.
If there hadn't been a certain ambitious program, a
determined political will, if the governments of that
time, in the late 1980s and late 1990s, hadn't shown
enough courage and resolve, if we hadn't stood up to
America and said, 'Listen, we are going to do our
tests, regardless,' just imagine where we would be now.
This was truly an asymmetric bet, one that has existed
since the year 1945—,
Governments around the world realized that, boss, we
need this, otherwise we'll get crushed, otherwise we
won't be able to fight, otherwise we are not
sufficiently equipped.
If you look up the history of how nuclear weapons
spread, you'll realize how much espionage, how much
stealing, how many closed-door deals went on, how much
effort it took to go out of your way to make something happen.
And if I ask you, what is the most asymmetric bet of
our time, then the most asymmetric bet of our time—
What is that thing, Himanshu?
That is artificial intelligence, or AI for short.
And you know, that train has already left the station,
which means the world is already moving forward with AI
at a fast pace.
Just pause for a moment and really think about it—think
about it carefully—the group of Indian engineers, who
are known for their talent and expertise, are leading
the way in AI development and innovation in almost
every country around the world, except in their own country.
Look at the irony here: Indian engineers are at the
forefront of artificial intelligence everywhere else,
but not in India itself.
This video is not meant to depress you or make you feel
down, it's actually meant to clearly explain to you how
to think about the question, bro.
This video is not going to make you feel hopeless or
leave you feeling lost.
Instead, it is here to help you gain a better
understanding of how to tackle things in a practical,
realistic way.
Remember, no one else can come and save you from your
challenges, and you should not expect that this country
will do anything for you, especially when the economy
is struggling.
When you notice that the economy is facing difficulties
and things seem uncertain, keep in mind that—,
Certain areas, for instance, if you can tell that
there's a trust deficit with China, how can we import
as much manufacturing as we can into India, and where
do we place it?
So, for example, if you can tell there's a trust
deficit with China, the question then becomes, how can
we effectively import as much manufacturing as possible
into India?
Where exactly should we place these new manufacturing facilities?
Should it be in areas that are rich in natural
resources, or should it be in regions that are abundant
in labor?
These are the kinds of important questions they
consider, and they think carefully about these things and...
think about the problem statement of why the top one
percent of Indians would much rather work in
Clickinvali than in Bangalore—sorry—because it's so difficult.
If you want to talk about this, and specifically about
the child in question, it is important to point out
that there is a greater sense of trust present in Bangalore.
People in Bangalore tend to trust each other more,
which can be very helpful for the child.
After considering this, it is also necessary to mention
that there is a need for Brazil as well.
agencies.
But then the question is, how does India grow then?
Because India does undeniably grow.
Anybody who has any sense.
can tell you, India has grown.
I mean, if in 1947 our average life expectancy was 37
or 34 years—Manju, check what the life expectancy was
in 1947—now we are at 77, 78, we've almost doubled our
life expectancy.
Our GDP is already ranking number 3 or number 4 in the
world, right?
We have the largest demographic dividend, the largest
number of people under the age of 25 who will soon
become employable and productive.
We have a very strong defense situation going for us,
where we can hold off certain enemies and
At this point, we are an economy large enough to
negotiate with the biggest players, even if we may not
be the biggest ourselves.
There is a certain way in which India grows, and one of
those things is you'll find good people in the mix,
people who actually want change.
There's a lot of hard-fought inching forward in the system.
It takes struggle and hard work, but this progress is
always prone to relapse, to things like the government
or narrative changing, or a bureaucrat getting transferred.
Nobody even voted on that particular issue, that's
something that's always there, present in the background.
And then, in addition to that, there are wind currents,
which, to explain further, is something similar to what
happened with the IT sector, for example—a large
English-speaking population was present, there was an
abundance of cheap labor, a trend was initiated, and as
a result, an IT industry was created.
Disposable income started to come in, and then,
following that, a coffee and protein industry sprang
up, and that, in turn, got added to the GDP as well.
there is a wind current that blows, and with that,
something or the other happens, work gets done around
essentials, those industries kind of work, and then
there are some asymmetric bets that happen—undeniably,
some asymmetric bets that happen—that generally cater
to the top 5% of India.
All those are convenience bets, from Blinkit to Zomato
to Lenskart, whatever you look at, all these big
companies, they are basically about buying at home,
chilling at home.
When we talk about tech in India,
Unfortunately, the truth is, when we look at the
current landscape, the largest tech situation that
exists in India is, in fact, a convenience tech situation.
And these two, three, or even four different things,
when considered together, along with some of the old,
traditional manufacturing situations, as well as
agriculture—the world's oldest profession, which is
agriculture—these sectors are the ones that truly carry
and support India's economy.
That is precisely where India's economy kind of grows
and finds its strength.
Otherwise, the,
Tourism, tourism, tourism as a simple and
straightforward fact—what could possibly be more basic
or fundamental than that?
Tourism.
We, we as a nation, are able to make absolutely no
money, no profit whatsoever, on tourism, no money at
all as a country.
So, what exactly are the problems of modern India?
Number one, there is absolutely no fear of the law.
That's a complete and total collapse of the social
fabric of India, effectively.
No industry, no individual civilian, no corporation, no
rule, no guideline is enforceable.
The civilian, who is on the receiving end of these
equations, if a business, who is setting up a business...
No individual, civilian, corporation, rule, or
guideline can be enforced.
If the civilian is the victim, or if a business acts
fairly but others do not...
This is, as you can see, the implicit.
The loss of going into a business is so high.
If your workers destroy your factory and you can't do
anything about it, then why would you set up a factory?
And if your boss makes you lose your hand at work.
But you know, if there's no compensation for it, then
why would you give work, or all or even half of yourself?
Why would you treat that work as proper work?
The second thing is, there is no political or civilian
will for hygiene and—
As a country of aesthetics, you have to understand—your
country is one of aesthetics.
If you go back to ancient Indian art, and if you go
back to ancient Indian philosophy, and the requirement
for philosophy to be in poetry, and the art to be so
detailed, you are a—
country of aesthetics.
Forget your own history—anything that is not
aesthetically pleasing will just never do, whether it's
the world at large, societies, individuals, or all
visual creators.
And I'm not just talking about the outside world, I'm
talking about internally as well.
Why would you want to step out of your house and go to
a cinema?
If the entire place is crowded and filled with animals,
and it smells like it?
Why would you want to go to a park if it is completely destroyed?
Why would you want to eat at a stall if you can't trust
the hygiene?
How would you go to work?
If you're constantly coughing?
Why would you send your kids if your kids' lungs aren't safe?
Aesthetics have everything to do with it.
From how your biology functions in the environment to
your psychology being off.
You can't even see the sun because of the smog.
Are you kidding me, man?
There's a running joke I often crack with my
friends—ten people in the show—I say the best country,
the best city in India is Dhobi.
What a joke, everyone laughs, because they all
understand the premise and the single reason.
Dubai is better because it's bloody clean, bro.
Sri Lanka is clean, bro.
Their economy isn't doing well.
They don't have much in the name of defense either.
Even there, there's probably not much political will.
When it comes to politicians doing good for people...
People have so much civic sense that if everyone just
drove in their lane, so many accidents could be avoided
if cars started driving in their lanes.
What's the need for horns in this day and age?
Why is the Indian person's mood always bad all the time, man?
This is abuse of power.
It's not just that.
The weak person just speaks up.
The big shots use their power—from top to bottom, it's
all abuse of power, man.
Wherever someone has power, they end up abusing it there.
Who here is mine?
I'll throw a banana peel in the street.
If I pass someone without taking money, the work is over.
Where there's a connection, that's it.
...they assert themselves there.
Who does this person have?
So if he's the boss, he scolds his employee.
If the employee has someone else at home, he hits his wife.
The wife has someone else too.
She goes to school and yells at the kids.
Because there's just no semblance of beauty anywhere.
We run off and dirty the Himalayas, and...
...just to see a little bit of beauty.
We create so much mess.
If there's a park with a perfectly flat, green lawn...
...a person looks at it and then looks again, thinking,
'Wait, am I in the wrong place or something?'
If you take away a person's sense of beauty from within...
I know that this isn't India's biggest, society-wide
problem—I know that food, clothing, and shelter still
aren't solved in India, I get that.
But what I'm saying is, even if you solve food,
clothing, and shelter, then what?
Even after getting past that, they'll still be living
in filth.
You've taken away from a person...
...their right to live safely.
That's a different issue altogether.
But when you take away a person's psychological sense
of history, their future sense of aspiration...
...and then you expect that person to give productive
labor, to put in hours—
What are you going to lead?
The third big problem that India still faces is that
there's no reason for the top one percent of India to
stay here.
The best among us leave.
The truth is, everything is harder here.
There are more rules, more punishments, and more flimsy
regulations for everything here.
Let's sit down and talk about the OTP economy for a moment.
Just think about how many labor hours, how much
productive time is wasted because of OTPs.
And the only reason we have OTPs is because our society
is low-trust.
A person is sending money from his own bank to
somewhere else.
If you didn't send it, then you didn't send it, right?
You get a call—
"Oh sir, did you send it yourself?"
How much manpower, how many man-hours, how much
productive time, how much energy cost is spent just to
make sure that no one is fooling anyone else.
How many extra rules are put in place just to make sure
no one is fooling anyone else.
How many extra punishments are imagined.
Every year, in the finance bill, about 25%—25%—of the
laws that are made are just to address what we did last
year, and this time, how we’ll plug those gaps.
Then, the whole year, chartered accountants and company
secretaries sit and figure out how to make it disappear next time.
Then the bureaucrats sit down and get to work from their end.
They think, 'Let’s add this in now.' If they have to
give this to them, then nothing will work out.
They’re all sitting across the table, cutting each
other down.
How much of India's productive time, how much of
India's aspiration, how much money, how much sense of
security—what are the psychological and material costs?
Why would anyone want to stay and live in India?
Top one percent.
If you want to understand India vertically.
Democratically, one way to think about it is also that
the top ten percent is held hostage to the bottom
ninety percent.
So the top ten percent actually has no reason to live
in India, so what do they do?
They build their castles and live inside their castles.
They'll stay inside, not go out.
If they do, it means they'll take their roles.
They'll go in their Honda, get in an accident, and the
problems of the ninety percent are huge.
Real problems—their problems are survival.
Votes are cast on that, on caste, on religion.
So how will things improve, then why would anyone do it?
See, people are, people are a function of their incentives.
It's not like that, one of the easier fallacies to
discuss in this is—
That the people in power there, they're bad—
People are a function of the system set around them.
You go to a certain school, you become like that school.
You go to a college, you become like that college.
There are certain systems and ways of doing things there;
those become your norms and standards.
If
political will is tied to fundamental survival issues,
then why would any politician look beyond that?
In fact, if your desire is only for a hundred rupees,
not more than a total of a hundred rupees— Forget it.
If you want to build a company like Apple, forget it.
All these are just pipe dreams, forget about them.
Everyone should have a hundred rupees in their pocket.
Even if your voting hinges on this theory, on this
fact, you'll still only end up with seventy rupees in
your pocket if you're lucky, because there will always
be a hunger for the remaining thirty.
That's why next time you'll vote,
for that missing thirty.
I can accept that.
If it's a mistake of ninety, it's the politician's fault.
but the mistake of asking for a hundred rupees is ours.
If.
There is absolutely no disincentive for the police,
then there is simply no way of finding out about the police.
as work properly
then why would somebody actually do it in the first
place, do you think,
Then of course corners will be cut, right?
Then of course there will be issues, right?
If judges have no incentive to finish cases,
then of course they'll keep dragging them out, right?
And then you know, the thing is...
In such cases, if you imagine it—and I'm telling you the truth.
Every year, how many people become IAS officers, how
many become judges, how many young people enter the
general system?
Out of them, maybe fifty percent join with the
intention,
'I want to do good, money doesn't matter to me.' I have
nothing to do with this money, I just want to do good.
And they genuinely try to do good.
It's just by mistake that they try to do good.
But they make a mistake, and then they're quickly made
to understand.
That, look son, this money you're getting on the side,
either take it and live your life.
It's a good life, just take it.
Use this money to enjoy yourself, travel the world, buy
expensive things, educate your kids wherever you want,
settle them wherever you want—this is a golden ticket
to set up their careers and give them a great life.
Otherwise, they'll eat you alive.
Everyone else gangs up and takes it all, man.
The system eats it up, or it becomes an existential
threat for them.
So, it's not that simple that I'll just go and clean
