Skip to main content

Checkmate China

Want to have hakka noodles? Never. The world is seething with anger, at the sight and sound of anything 'Made in China' - a tag that defined life and living, until it spelt death!

By Namrata Kohli

The Ministry of Home Affairs just issued an advisory to stop the use of Zoom platform for video chat. The tik tok was previously (temporarily) banned. The world is waking up to a new movement and this time it is – "Anti-Made in China".
Once upon a time, anything and everything, from drugs, pharmaceuticals, to cheap smartphones and electronic equipment, plastics and metals, components and machines, apparels, vehicles, to even our Ganeshas and idols were China imported! That’s what defined our workplace, our households and to use the title of my favourite author Ellizabeth Gilbert we did “eat, pray, love” China products and may I add, live and finally die for (pun intended) coming a full circle!

Rely on someone and he will prove unreliable at some point. That is the big lesson we could learn from this historic episode, after what has unarguably been the biggest deception of the century. The question is can we harness our anger more constructively towards building a self sufficient India. Can our mantra now be to just "build, build and build". And here we must look at the Chinese ingenuity to erect a full hospital within days, not months or years, to cope up with sheer numbers of Covid 19 patients. That is the speed of response we need in today's world.
I am talking about indigenous capability – a "Make in India" at an unseen, unheard of, pace as well as scale. We are a nation of so many innovative builders, construction giants, techno-preneurs and can we work collaboratively to build a new India. Forget being constrained by mere niches, our current areas of interest and profitability, core competencies- can we look at stretching our capacities fully actualize self sufficiency. India should become self reliant and not be dependent on China for servicing its basic needs and wants. It may call for sometimes even sacrificing gains, but can we put the national gain over our personal gains with one guiding principle - Service to the Nation. 

The West is already looking at the East – Trump sought India’s help for anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and India responded in time, and so favourably. But now is the time, to seize the time – the opportunity, like never before. China’s loss can be India’s gain. Can we work towards self-sufficiency where we don’t have to knock at anyone’s doors, any longer.

Let’s come to a point where we don’t have to look out for some one. Instead, the world looks out for us.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Telemedicine to the aid of home-bound patients in the time of Covid-19

Telemedicine in covid-19 times: You can get to the doctor almost anytime, anywhere, be it on your screen, via voice or plain text for a lower price than in-person consult Namrata Kohli   |   New Delhi Telehealth is bridging the gap between patient and physicians. The physician can now virtually visit the stay-at-home patient and heal from a distance Telemedicine in covid-19 times:  When 37-year-old Priyanka was down with fever and dry cough, she decided to consult a doctor over a WhatsApp call before giving her blood sample for an RT-PCR test. Based on her symptoms, the physician alerted her that it wasn't a mild Covid infection but a moderate one. His diagnosis was confirmed when the test report showed a viral load count of 20. “The massive benefits of telemedicine became evident during the pandemic,” says Priyanka’s doctor, New Delhi-based consultant physician Dr Arvind Kumar. “Everything is about time and if my patients have complications late at ni...
29 comments
Read more

When Canvas Meets Climate

By Namrata Kohli Can art stir the eco warrior in us? Yes, art has an extraordinary capacity to stir our souls by tapping into deep, often unspoken, emotions and experiences. While beautiful paintings of nature or evocative art forms of mother earth may serve as therapy, sometimes art can reveal uncomfortable truths and shake us, shock us. Take the case of the recently launched Climate-Responsive Art installation at Karma Lakelands, an attempt to create a visual and emotional call to action against climate change. Below2° is an initiative by Karma Lakelands, India’s leading eco-resort dedicated to combating climate change with a commitment to sustainability and has been conceptualized and executed by the Greener Earth Foundation. Speaking about the installation, Ashwani Khurana, Founder & Chief Eternal Optimist (CEO), Karma Lakelands, said- “Sustainability and creativity have the power to drive real change when they come together. Below2° is not just an art installation; it is a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Learning a western musical instrument sees uptick in popularity

From the grandeur of opera houses to the intimacy of jazz bars, and from festival stages to experimental collaborations, Western instruments in India are captivating new audiences in unexpected ways. Namrata Kohli  New Delhi Celebrated musician Shantanu Moitra started his musical journey with piano while still in school. Says Shantanu- “I loved the sound of a piano. I knew guitar and at the age of eleven, I started learning piano while studying at Springdale in New Delhi. It took me around 4-5 years and this is such a beautiful musical instrument.” Ask him why he loved this instrument so much and Moitra says – “To me, Piano is life which comes with black and white notes. It cannot just be the whites- only when you make a melody in white and include the black, there is impact. That’s how life is- you have to embrace the dark moments also.” Western classical music typically features a diverse range of instruments grouped into several families such as String family (violin, viola), wo...
Post a Comment
Read more