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Honestly I think so much of the negative bias towards India (from the US at least) comes from some unfortunate American practices. A lot of our customer service

Honestly I think so much of the negative bias towards India (from the US at least) comes from some unfortunate American practices. A lot of our customer service organizations here in the states have a really bad habit of outsourcing the labor to the cheapest bidder, and due to economic differences, the cheapest bidder is often Indian. This means that a large portion of Americans are being exposed almost exclusively to one tiny segment of the Indian population, and usually those that are the poorest (cheapest bidder is cheapest for a reason) and not actually representative of the culture at large. It colors our expectations, and the bias is hard to throw off sometimes, even when we're aware of it. There's some real technical talent within India, and I've had the pleasure of working with some of that talent during my day job. Even though this mission was ultimately a failure, that it got as far as it did is a testament to their accomplishments. Space is hard. Bravo team, continue learning as much as you can about where things went wrong, and may your future endeavors be even more successful!

negamax 7y ago
I hugely admire working with my American colleagues. They are indeed far more talented and it has always been a great learning experience. In fairness, if America wants it can cut India off. And the country will be many years behind without these opportunities. I always thought that investment in India is to integrate it into the world better and give people chance to be self supporting. And there's a hope that it will pay off on the world level to everyone. I do understand many Americans suffered from global pressures. But their sacrifices and continued persistence to add value is a great model for all of us. Well, at least for me.
- mayankkaizen 7y ago
  Actually US tried to cut India off many times. It actually supported Pakistan during 1972 war. After India tested second nuclear bomb, US tried to pressurize India by way of restricting many technology transfer but India actually came out stronger. It developed most of those technologies on its own. US even denied the service of GPS system following which India developed its own solution. Unlike China (and Japan in the past), India's economy doesn't depend much on US.
  - negamax 7y ago
    Yes and those embargos indeed put India many years behind. I do think it's quite admirable that the country developed these things indigenously. But we should take the existing good and advances from all around us and leapfrog. And build upon it. Instead of getting into the trap of developing our own. American capitalism is indeed a great example in this regards on economic expansion. They leveraged the global imbalance and came out stronger despite job losses. SpaceX, Tesla, Calico, Boston Dynamics and many others are well footed into the future because of that.
  - gumby 7y ago
    As is often pointed out, a big weakness of India's economy is the poor interconnections with the global economy. In addition, as you have pointed out, this is also a source of, or at least opportunity for, strength. I am not sure the balance is correct (it's absurd that as a PIO my investment opportunities are better not only than other foreign investors, but citizens too), but it's arguable and worth thinking about.

negamax 7y ago

I hugely admire working with my American colleagues. They are indeed far more talented and it has always been a great learning experience. In fairness, if America wants it can cut India off. And the country will be many years behind without these opportunities. I always thought that investment in India is to integrate it into the world better and give people chance to be self supporting. And there's a hope that it will pay off on the world level to everyone. I do understand many Americans suffered from global pressures. But their sacrifices and continued persistence to add value is a great model for all of us. Well, at least for me.

mayankkaizen 7y ago
Actually US tried to cut India off many times. It actually supported Pakistan during 1972 war. After India tested second nuclear bomb, US tried to pressurize India by way of restricting many technology transfer but India actually came out stronger. It developed most of those technologies on its own. US even denied the service of GPS system following which India developed its own solution. Unlike China (and Japan in the past), India's economy doesn't depend much on US.
- negamax 7y ago
  Yes and those embargos indeed put India many years behind. I do think it's quite admirable that the country developed these things indigenously. But we should take the existing good and advances from all around us and leapfrog. And build upon it. Instead of getting into the trap of developing our own. American capitalism is indeed a great example in this regards on economic expansion. They leveraged the global imbalance and came out stronger despite job losses. SpaceX, Tesla, Calico, Boston Dynamics and many others are well footed into the future because of that.
- gumby 7y ago
  As is often pointed out, a big weakness of India's economy is the poor interconnections with the global economy. In addition, as you have pointed out, this is also a source of, or at least opportunity for, strength. I am not sure the balance is correct (it's absurd that as a PIO my investment opportunities are better not only than other foreign investors, but citizens too), but it's arguable and worth thinking about.