Why India Doesn’t Have Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs

When you talk to lot of youth about what they want to do in life, what are their professional goals? Lot of them will tell you that they want to get educated and be placed on a proper job. If you ask after that, they will say foreign deployment or very few will say they might start their own business. Few of them will join their family business and that’s it. The thought of doing something on their own first of all comes to very few individuals. Out of those only handful of them will actually try and rest will live their life just dreaming.

 

When we look at today’s financial scenario in India apart from few names no Indian has been able to make a name on global business front in last few decades. That actually made me thinking why India doesn’t have Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs. There are many factors to this sad reality.

Risk – Whenever you want to start something new out of the league there is a huge risk involved. Not everyone has guts to take that risk and do something new. The fear of failure comes before the thought of success. If you will think about failure you can’t do it. It’s good to be practical but you have to trust yourself, your calibre and instinct.

Society – I hate Indian society mentality. What is your son/daughter doing? What she will do after studies? Oh why she joined such a small organization? She should work in MNC? What he wants to do his own business? Is he mad and why are you not guiding him right? These are the typical questions which almost every parent and child face. People have such a bad habit to probe in our lives.

Parents pressure – Lot of Indian parents have a lot to say regarding personal or professional decision of their children. Ohh you want to opt commerce? No, no you should opt for medical. Why you don’t want to do engineering or medical? How you will get a good job? What you will do in your life with a normal graduation degree? Trust me I have seen lot of kids giving up their passion just because their parents want them to do something else. Parents never speak to their kids about getting education and run a business. They want their kids to get better jobs. For lot of them if you want to start business you don’t need to be educated. This is the worst thing that can happen to any country. Parents should give space to their children. I feel very lucky in this case that my parents have never interfered in my decisions. Me and my sisters were allowed to do whatever we want to do in our lives.

Work – There is no surety that if you start a business and it will work. Suppose an engineering graduate starts his own business. Devotes two years and somehow he failed to succeed. Now he wants to join a job he won’t get job interview call. Because he is not a fresher that has recently graduated. Lot of interviewers look down upon you if you tried to do your own thing and failed. This is what we call sick mentality. Again this fear that if I fail I won't even get a decent job refrains lot of youth not to take risks. We don't even have social security system that will support us if we are job less. 

I know and understand that all these problems exist. But if you are determined just take a leap. Even if you fail you will never regret that you didn’t even try. 

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Megha Gupta