Ever since I started studying Economics, I have always wondered why some societies/communities are more developed than others even while existing within similar constitutional and legal boundaries. The conventional factors of 'poverty' or 'development' given by text books and professors are like 'endowment', 'opportunities', 'saving/ investment', 'skills', 'infrastructure', etc. But none satisfied me.
My understanding changed completely when I started living in Gujarat. It was in late 2005 I came to Gujarat for the first time. I saw relative development everywhere, even in villages in tribal areas. The tribal villages of my state Odisha and those in Gujarat are completely different- income levels, livelihood options, roads, electricity, water....everything. Why? I wondered.
Then I saw the law and order situation. On the very first morning, I saw motor cycles and cars parked outside houses all night, a thing that is unthinkable in Odisha and many other states. 'Theft' and 'murders' are rare events; in my 8 years in Gujarat I have hardly come across a street fight or fight in the public. Girls and women can roam around in the cities late in the evening all alone without fear.
So, why are people prosperous and peaceful in Gujarat?
I think I have got the answer- 'entrepreneurship'; it is in their genes, in their culture, in their tradition; entrepreneurship is a way of life in Gujarat. A common farmer, a carpenter irrespective of the occupation, the Gujarati knows how to start a business and flourish. It is this spirit that makes the Gujaratis apart from others. They neither have the need nor time for criminal activities. When one can create wealth, one would hardly be interested in illegal ways of income.
In Odisha, parents would marry their daughter to a low-earning government servant rather than a high-earning business man (exacly opposite in Gujarat). I have seen pretty salary earners in Gujarat come home in the evening and open a petty shop in the evening (a phenomenon unthinkable in Odisha). There is virtually no Gujarati family with only one source of earning. Once I met an auto-rickshaw driver who told me that he had just retired as a class-I officer in the Government!!! (huh....!) Another important thing is that they are aware of their wealth and invest their money very intelligently. One would be surprised to see the large number of housewives investing in the stock market. The people hardly think any work is small as long as the returns are positive and their time is productively utilized.
As a development professional, I do not have to push people into any business; I just have to show them that it is a positive-worth business and he/she has the skill to do the same. Then the rest is taken care of by him/her. This explains why government projects are relatively more successful in Gujarat rather than in other states.
Gujaratis understand the value of money like no one else. I had read 'Reach dad poor dad', but I learnt the value of money more by living in Gujarat. Once I was travelling with a Gujarati friend; I paid one rupee for him to the auto-rickshaw driver as he did not have the change. I was amazed to see him return the rupee to me the next day. Though I resisted accepting it, I had to take it back in the end as he insisted on the same.
Though the factors of development mentioned in the first paragraph are important, the most important factor is the 'entrepreneur'. In the absence of this, all other factors are useless; on the other hand, 'entrepreneurship' can develop all other factors. The biggest positive in Gujarat is that the whole society is entrepreneur. The politicians and leaders are just an extension of this society; so most of them have always been progressive and development oriented.
Since pre-independence time Gujarat has been developed- both economically and politically. Two of the most important leaders of the freedom struggle- Gandhi and Sardar were Gujaratis. Ahmedabad and Surat were known all over the world as a major industrial destinations. So, it is but natural that in the post-independence period the same continued, both under the Congress and BJP Governments. One of the few successful industrialists of the pre-1991 era, Dhirubhai Ambani was a Gujarati. Most of Mumbai's (and India's) business is controlled by Gujaratis. They are everywhere on the earth; a prosperous and peaceful community. I am lucky to have come here to study,work, live and marry!
