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I was born in the ’70s and brought up in a village with no electricity, no water pump, no roads, and no hospitals. Less than a dozen people in the entire village graduated, and only five people were privileged to have a government job.
The best part was everyone was bootstrapped entrepreneur. They were plumbers, carpenters, gardeners, weavers, and mostly farmers. Despite no formal degree, most people were intellectually fit, mentally stable and wise.
No one was worried about the economy because people did not know it. No one was worried about the job loss because there was never one.
Everyday evening village people will assemble at a bazaar in the village. People will buy from each other or exchange goods based on their needs. Plumbers, carpenters, gardeners, weavers, farmers and some banyas (traders) will come with their products. Only banyas will deal in cash.
But, gradually, everything changed. Few people left the native for greener pastures in big cities. They did pity jobs in Kolkata, Mumbai and other places, but when they returned home, they would wear neat clothes, buy a bicycle, apply scented oil on their hair and comb it, wear a watch and listen to music on their radio.
It started fascinating young men like us to look outside for a better life. By the ’80s, the rate race was in full swing – India started losing its bootstrappers and craftsman. We are now part of a larger global mess — worried, sleepless, distracted, and confused.
The only way to get out of this urban living mess and ruts is to hone your craft and reclaim the bootstrapper in you. It’s in your gene. It’s in every Indian gene. Wake up and reclaim yours to live with peace, positivity, and prosperity.
Stop wasting your time living worried, stop stressing yourself to trolling other people and stop being the victim creatively. It’s your nation. It’s your society. It’s your family. It.s you. The time is now to be the bootstrapper! If not, when?