‘5 crore jobs were promised.’A line that sounds almost like a cliché, being mouthed by opposition leaders during every discourse. Using this, they try to extrapolate public perception around the dwindling economy, painting a picture of utter gloom and dismay.
How much you believe these utterances depends on which side of the political spectrum you are on, right or left. However, there is a third side too, the unbiased side, truth, as we call it.
Making of unicorns!
If truth is what you seek, watch a reality show on Sony Liv titled Shark Tank. Invest time in one episode, if not more, and the sheer number of entrepreneurs and ideas would not only overwhelm you but compel you to think about the job market in India.
From a fourteen-year girl to a sixty-five-year woman, from a farmer with no formal education to graduates from IIT, every one of them represents the real face of India, entrepreneurial India. While the political parties were engaged in mud-slinging, India went through a cataclysm. This rudimentary change was happening not only in metros but in smaller cities too. From homemade pickles to a fashion label, wooden toys to hi-end tech gadgets, the range and sheer brilliance of products the new age entrepreneurs endorse the “Make In India” initiative.
Start-up is a term not restricted to Metro, only in the Ivy League coterie. From Darbhanga to Jammu, Pune to Bhavnagar, every city is witnessing and answering the wake-up call of the start-up churn. Esoteric terms like equity, RTV, EBITDA, stake, gross, and net margin as the new lingo of a new India. Out of the 198 pitches on Shark Tank, 68 got a deal.
The booming entrepreneurship in India
Entrepreneurship is the new fad, the new cult. Today youngsters are not running off to Mumbai to pursue name and fame and a fancy lifestyle. Now they aspire to be the Founder of the next Unicorn. Piyush Bansal to Vineeta Singh, Ashneer Grover to Anupam Mital, all have carved a billion-dollar-plus empire, that too in less than ten years.
They are the new celebs. From chat shows to social media, this is the first time entrepreneurs are the centre of gossip, memes, and stories. From their cars to spouses, personal worth to education, much content is being created around them and consumed. Needless to say, these household names and the new Heroes echo the aspirations of a new India. After growing up on the ‘born in a garage’ success saga of Disney, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft, finally, it is time to create our role models.
The whole start-up narrative and entrepreneurial journey sounded far-fetched until a few years later. But with rapidly multiplying internet connection and mobile users, affordable data, and an exploding digital economy, a sparkling new marketplace was emerging, offering a new marketplace for a plethora of new products. Today, this unique ecosystem enables a mother-daughter duo based out of Varanasi to create home decor products out of scrap, reaching out and transacting Pan-India.
You will be surprised at the number of millionaires and billionaires the nation has created during the last few years. Mark my words, the day is not far when you will find posters of entrepreneurs occupying the wall reserved today for a Ranveer or Hritik.
The views expressed above are personal views of the author.