Of 5f, 3s and from snake charmers to mouse charmers

It is not very often that you read about someone spanking the ball out of the field in the very first ball. Narendra Modi did just that, when he addressed at SRCC in Delhi recently. Unlike other “iconic” speeches of recent times, Modi’s speech was not old-school. It focused on today and a better tomorrow. It talked about how we can leverage our existing strengths to move to a bright future and achieve Vivekanand’s vision for the country.  

Here are some key takeways from the speech. You could argue that he said nothing new, but what is new is the speed and scale of the implementation of the ideas. These are thoughts that have seen the light of the day and not just on paper:

The 3 pillars of our economy: We keep talking about inclusive growth, without really understanding its meaning or significance. Modi spoke about the economy comprises of 3 pillars viz. agriculture, services and manufacturing. There is a need to strengthen all three. Only then true inclusive growth can be achieved. In this objective, there is no mention of any caste, creed, color, language or religion. And the idea is to balance growth in each pillar; in the event of an economic downturn in one of the pillars, the remaining two can support the other.

Technology upgrade: I would generalize this and include anything we do today. The most fantastic discovery may become commonplace in no time. There is a need to keep re-discovering and updating ourselves. Modi provided an example of how the old textile industry of Ahmedabad got wiped out due to lack of technology upgrades. The most innovative companies are the ones that understand the trends and use technology to provide better customer and employee value.  

Education: Indeed, Modi spoke a lot about education, Forensics University, special university for the police force and train the teacher concept. However, as Modi pointed out, merely opening a university doesn’t change the equation. We need good teachers. Bill Gates frequently talks about the need for good teachers in our system. I also touch about the need to bring good teachers to our rural areas in another blog 


The 3s – skill, speed & scale: I think this was the icing on the cake. Modi spoke about the 3s linking his vision to its implementation. India being a young country, needs adequate support in skill building. There is no fun just in numbers, but it is fun to have a high quality number. His vision and some of the work he has initiated on skill building are very scientific and provide the youth with multiple options. Secondly, it is good to have ideas. However, more important is the speed of implementing such ideas. We all like “quick wins” – there are always low hanging fruits and speed is achieved by quickly grabbing them to deliver quick wins. And finally, the scale of implementation has to be big. The world is our market. Having the skill to build something new, the speed or velocity to deliver in quickly and the scale of the world as a market to service/deliver – this will help the nation stand out and progress rapidly.    

Hope and Change are the new buzzwords in the political arena. Remember, they were used and practiced to perfection by Obama in his 2008 and 2012 elections. And Modi’s speech, too, was laced with hope and change to an aspiring nation. 

We may all have various degrees of opinion about the man, but you can't deny that he is the only leader in Indian politics today that has established sufficient credibility in inclusive development. He didn't deliver a speech, he simply shared his experiences on good governance and provided examples of how his governance model has helped the state achieve significant growth and why his model is the new benchmark not only for the other states, but also for the nation as a whole. 

Indeed, he came, he delivered and he conquered!