As I walk out of Barnes & Noble with a coffee in my hand after spending an hour there reading books, it starts raining. Unexpectedly. My first instinct is to run towards my car and get home quickly. But then, suddenly I just stop. Something made me stop. It was the smell of wet earth, probably. Or may be it was the sight of the grey clouds hovering above me. May be it was the drenched look of the surrounding. Or it was the touch of water drops on my skin. It could also have been the fresh whiff of cool air that blew past me. Whatever it was, it made me stop. And I just stood outside drinking in the magic that nature was weaving around me.

It was funny. I had gone to Barnes & Noble just to relax myself. I spent an hour there reading Calvin and Hobbes, my favorite comic strip, hoping that it will pep up my mood. But surprisingly, it did not. And as I walked out, the rains caught me by surprise. The entire atmosphere was, however, so magical that it gently washed away the layer of smugness that had covered my mind – in a matter of few seconds. The fresh whiff of air blew away the cobwebs of thought that had crowded my mind. I felt light again. The passersby looked at me quizzically as I stood in the middle of the rain gettting drenched with a hint of a smile on my face.

It is amazing how nature affects our mood, isn’t it? It strikes a chord among all of us. Have you ever listened to the waves playing catch up with each other on a quiet evening? It is music that you won’t get tired of listening. Or have you ever smelled the grass after the first rains? The smell will invigorate your mind and body. Try to hear to the birds singing in the morning. Or be a witness to the sun’s journey as he wraps up the day in the evening. May be you should also try staring at the stars in the sky on a clear, cool night. I have. It is amazing. I always get the feeling that someone is smiling at me from beyond the stars… and tenderly caressing my forehead. I don’t know why I feel that way. It is the feeling that I used to get when I used to sleep in my mother’s lap and she would gently move her soft hand across my hair. I feel very little in their presence. I feel nice. And I feel safe. It makes me realize that no matter how bad a day I had or how big a mistake I made, it is OK. It will be fine. Nothing in life can be too overwhelming. I mean, what can be more overwhelming than the vast stretch of the sky above me? Or the huge expanse of the ocean? Or the endless stretches of land that you see from a mountain top?

I find it funny how we human beings think that we have the solution to all our problems. I think it is just too presumptuous or even foolish of us to think that way. In this rat race to become “strong”, “independent”, “self-reliant”, etc. we sometimes probably become so egotistical that we don’t want to admit our fears to anyone – not even to ourselves. When the stress gets too much, all we need is probably for someone to say that its fine, but we fear to expose our “weakness” to someone else. Even if we do, who has the time in today’s world to be there for you and comfort you? I always take the recourse of Mother Nature when I feel like that. When I look at the huge expanse of a starry sky above me, I feel “little” or insignificant. I think it helps to feel like that sometimes. It makes you feel it is alright even if you are not the best, even if you fail. The world is not going to end or the stars won’t stop shining because you failed or had a bad day or are inundated by grief. It puts things in perspective…so that you don’t get too overwhelmed by your weaknesses, failures, or even, for that matter, successes.

It has now stopped raining. I am refreshed and have a pile of work to do. And I can’t be more eager to have a crack at it!

So Mumbai was rocked by bomb blasts…again. 150 people died, at least officially. 150 people. Mr. Malhotra lost his wife. The 7 year old Sonu next door just became an orphan. Savitri, the kaamwali bai, lost her only son. The Mishras will never reach their son’s home to see their new-born granddaughter. The Narsimhan family can’t stop crying because they lost Swathi, their 16 year old chirpy daughter who was the light of their lives. Aslam bhai won’t be seen at the paan ki dukan. Some brothers will never come back for Rakhi, some fathers will not be there to give away their daughters in marriage, and some will not ever see their mother again.150 people...150 stories. They could go on and on, but the only thing that will remain behind after all the wailing and crying and cursing will be a big void… in the lives of hundreds of Indians who lost their loved ones today. The only thing these wailing people will ask is “Why?”

Why did it happen? Why me? Why do they want to kill innocent people? Why do they think God will give them a place in heaven if they kill His children? There are no answers. I cannot understand what kind of an animal, no I cannot call these entities human beings, can think of perpetrating such a despicable and lowly act. I cannot understand how do these lowly beings sleep in the night when they know that within a matter of minutes they have robbed hundreds of innocent people of their lives…and left the remaining to rue for their lives that they have to lead without their loved ones. The sad part is that these lowly criminals will walk free. The politicians and the long-drawn out trials will ensure that they live most of their lives as free men enjoying the perks of their ill-gotten wealth. They will be happy that they succeeded in their plan. But one thing is for sure...they will not win.

Mumbai won’t let them win. She will rise again, like she always has. They can kill people but cannot kill Mumbai. I was proud to read that slum dwellers, passersby, and people on streets were going out of their way to help complete strangers. Who needs emergency workers when every Mumbaite can become a worker during times of emergencies? People were dropping other affected people home. The injured were being taken to hospitals in make-shift stretchers. Riksha-wallahs and Taxi-wallahs, that species who hassles customers for athanas on a normal day, were dropping injured people to hospitals free of cost... Mrs. Kulkarni can’t stop thanking Kareem Chacha who abandoned his chai ka thela to take her son to the hospital. Raju from the slum near Jogeshwari is refusing to take money from Mr. Shah for getting Mrs. Shah out of the train rubble. Sagar does not know that he has just saved the sole bread-winner of the poor Kumar family that lives in the Chawl behind his college. Mrs. Singh decided to cook extra food so that she could take it to the relatives of the injured who are admitted in the hospital next to her building. The stories will go on and on. 150 people...there will be 1500 such stories. That is Mumbai!!

I am currently reading "The world is flat" by Thomas Friedman - a book that talks about how the world has become "flat" because of outsourcing. Something that I read in the book made me think about the implications that outsourcing may have on the future of Indian economy and society.

The masses in developed nations such as the US - nations that are primarily involved in outsourcing jobs to India, China, and other South Asian nations - are concerned about losing their jobs to foreigners. Their concern is natural and understandable. The perspective that one of the Indian (a person in charge of a BPO in India) offers to their concern is, however, very interesting. He says something to the effect, “Outsourcing is here to stay and if anything, will grow more with the progress in technology. The Americans have to realize that they are being challenged and they have to rise up to the challenge. However, they should also realize that not ALL jobs from the US are being outsourced. Only those LOW-END jobs that don't need a high level of expertise, essentially number-crunching type of jobs, are being sent outside the country. The important jobs that need more expertise will stay with the Americans."

So what does this mean to India and her future? Well, in my opinion, we Indians have to be very careful about the long-term effects that outsourcing can have on the Indian economy and indeed, our society.

Think about this. Today in India, a normal person with a decent education (read 12th standard or B.A., B.Com.) who can speak reasonable English gets a job in BPO with a start salary of about Rs. 15-20000. Plus there are bonuses, extra time pay, pay increments, etc. Many young people with Bachelors in Engineering or even Masters degrees also get attracted to the lure of the BPO industry because of the high pay. BPO is a better option (at least monetarily) also because of the high competition and low pay environment that exists for engineering jobs. So, for the normal youth of the country a BPO job is a very good option not only because of the high pay but also because higher education is not a requirement for these jobs.

So what is my point? My point is that if the situation remains the same then there will not be any motivation for the Indian youth to go for higher education. Why go for higher education and struggle if you can get a high paying job at a young age and gives you a better chance of settling down early in life? Therein lies the problem. Highly educated and qualified people - and loads of them - have been the main strength of India that has attracted the Western world jobs in the first place. If the BPO culture keeps on growing we are going to lose that edge because there will no longer be any need for highly educated people. Even if you have a reasonable amount of education you will get a high paying job. And once that kind of a culture sets in, it will not be long before Indians start losing the “brain” edge that they have over the rest of the world. The problem for India becomes even worse if you think about how outsourcing is going to affect the American economy/culture.

If all the low-end, easier jobs that require less education are going to go out of the country, then what will the American youth do? Well, they will have no option but to go for the higher end jobs i.e. jobs that need higher education and training. Such a situation is obviously going to prompt the American youth to concentrate more on education and training so as to secure jobs. So what will be the outcome? The American society will eventually develop more of the "brain" that really drives the world. So their dependence on the intellectual talent from the south Asian countries like India will decrease. With the more alluring jobs in the US disappearing, Indians with higher education will then have to rely more on the low-end jobs that are more easily available in India. This situation will lead to a vicious cycle that will further prevent Indians from going for higher education and hasten the rapid decrease in the "brain" advantage that Indians today have.

I can foresee a situation where the Americans are telling the Indians what they should be doing because Americans will now be the "bosses" who will have the important knowledge and control over who does what. Indian economy will also get more dependent on the American economy because the jobs in India will now be more dependent on the American markets thereby making India more vulnerable to US manipulation. You might think that I am being too cynical and paranoid. May be. But I believe that it is better to be safe than sorry. While enjoying the short-term gains of the sudden increase in the money-flow because of the outsourcing phenomenon, we should not turn a blind eye to the problems that the outsourcing culture might bring in the future. I do not know when, and indeed if, such a situation will arise but if we Indians do not think long-term about the impact of outsourcing on India, then we won't have anyone but ourselves to blame for the hole that we might be creating for ourselves.