Pharmaceuticals and our weakness as a nation

For the last few days, I have been in Frankfurt, Germany. This is where i write this from. I am here for work, to attend a pharmaceutical conference cum exhibition ( called CPhI ) which was on this week.

This week, the one which just went by, was also the week when two of the most important festivals in India, Diwali and Bhaiya Dooj, were on.

While most of India was in the festive mood, about 50 people from my company, and thousands of Indians from other, were slugging it out at Frankfurt Messe, dragging their laptop trolleys through the labyrinth of halls, trying to showcase how they were cheaper than the other Indian or Chinese, and how they never compromised on the quality of products.

Indians constitute a substantial % of people attending this fair. Indian companies have been at the forefront of efforts in increasing affordability and access to medicine. They have brought the cost of AIDS therapy through generic Anti Retero virals from USD 50 per patient per day to less than USD 1 per patient per day. The Indian generic industry is one of the most cost effective in the world.

Yet, the guys behind the most important fair in the industry decide that it is 26th of October 2011. So what if it is Diwali Day. So what if for 30% , or more of the participants, this is the most important festival in the year. The time when everyone wishes to be with their family.

And what of the Indian response.
Some minor rumblings. A few companies pull out. Organizers say nothing doing. Dates are dates- they are cast in stone. And what happens: most of the Indians turn up. Indian companies' stalls become bigger and better. And bolder.

That is where the boldness stops.

And our weakness as a nation comes to the fore. Unable to take a stand. Not decisive.
It begins with me.
For all my rhetoric in conversations with whosoever i met, for all my sentences here in this blog, i was amongst the thousands of Indians slogging it out.
On the day most important for my family and friends.

Because we are, generally speaking, spineless. We succumb. We are unable to stand up for ourselves. This would have never happened with people from another country. Let us say, for example, had this event been on Christmas day; how many people from Europe would have participated ?

The optimist in me says this is a sign of India's coming of age in the world economic order. Of not letting minor blips like a festival come in the way of growing business. Of improving partnerships with other companies. Of growing Indian exports.

I can't stay amused with that rationale, though.

And the sadness of missing out on Diwali and Bhaiya dooj lingers on.