A typical episode, with so many lessons for us in India:

• The confidence that China has been able to generate in its growth story — even in banking, its weakest sector, it can orchestrate a flood of investment.

• Its ability to take a decision and execute it.

• The funds can now be used for rehabilitation, modernisation, expansion.

By contrast, in India we have been debating whether government holding in our nationalised banks should be reduced for at least ten years. By now, what with everyone having enough power to block every proposal, we have given up even talking about reducing government equity in the nationalised banks. As a result,

• The banks continue to perform well below their potential.

• Resources that could be raised for development remain untapped — in three years of disinvestment, we raised $ 9 billion by selling just 1.6 per cent of government equity.

• Our reputation as a country that will not eventually be able to carry through on its announcements is reinforced.

The current self-congratulation

Two features always strike me as special to us. One, we are too easily swept off our feet by momentary success, and too easily plunged into dejection by momentary defeat. Two, we rush to appropriate that victory — even when we personally have done nothing to contribute to it; and, with equal alacrity, we rush to distance ourselves from a setback — even when we have in some sense contributed to it. Just take a look at how our commentators declaim when our team wins a cricket match and what they say when the same team loses.

... contd.