One of the greatest drawbacks of the Indian economy is the vast gulf that separates Indian academia and India Inc. Whiling away hours in ivory towers, the country’s academics, most of them brainwashed by Nehruvian socialist propaganda that all successful businessmen are crooks and cheats, have little respect for manufacturers of goods and providers of services. Most university dons teach obsolete, mediocre curriculums and churn out 9 million graduates every year totally unsuitable for industry. On the other side of the equation, most Indian corporates are insular reverse engineering enterprises that haven’t been able to produce a global game-changing product or service for 75 years — and have little time for academics or academia.

In light of this national divide, one of the prime objectives of EducationWorld since it was launched 25 years ago has been to build bridges between the academy and India Inc. Without success. Because India Inc and academia are led by petty-minded individuals unwilling to cooperate in the broader national interest. Last month on the eve of the 25th Anniversary issue of this upstream swimming publication, your supplicant editor wrote to Chandrajit Bannerjee, Director-General of CII (Confederation of Indian Industry), requesting the tiny favour of his  issuing a circular to CII member companies — comprising most of the country’s high market value companies — advising them to take a subscription (Rs.2,500 per year) to EducationWorld, India’s #1 education magazine, in the cause bridging the academy-industry divide.

Banerjee’s advice: Purchase the members directory of CII and write individually to each company. According to this myopic worthy’s Wikipedia profile, as Director-General of India’s most powerful industry representative organization since 2008, his duty is inter alia to “lead and contribute to many policy level dialogues and discussions to enhance the competitiveness of India Inc and towards the development of India”. With India Inc lumbered with leaders of such petty-minded density, it’s unsurprising that while CII member companies are whales by Indian standards, they are minnows in international waters.