“First, they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”- Mahatma Gandhi
In the recent times, nobody more than Trump can relate to this quote. Forget the Republicans, even Trump himself must have been shocked with the sheer kindness and gratitude showed by fellow Americans, African Americans, Hispanics, Mexicans + Muslims (not them perhaps) and the list goes on. Some time back, The Economist rated Donald Trump’s Presidency among the top ten global risks, almost equivalent to the growing threat of terrorism. That hardly sounds ghastly.
But the idea of Trump has slowly starting to sink in and people are holding their fire to see how his presidency plays out after he takes over the Grindhouse, oops, the Whitehouse.
America’s billionaire real estate mogul got so far by projecting US as a victim of circumstances where the Desi techies ransacked the white dudes and how?
His ambiguous, untethered pitch which seemed far from reality was always prone to rapid turnaround (owing to his mood swings). The entire world is hoping it turns out that way, no one is hoping more than the beleaguered Indian IT industry.
Though Americans are battling to recover from this tectonic shift, it needs to be seen what does his win has for Indian IT sector.
Granting it was a horror show watching Trump trump it (finally it rhymes), let’s review ground reality here.
Many of the U.S. Tech firms have set up development hubs in India and it might be unhealthy for U.S. economy to destabilize the benefit of saving millions of dollars. So, if the Trump led government is hell-bent on tearing down the outsourcing business by taxing Indian firms heavily (which sounds more like a report from a teenager who hasn’t read the textbook), he would be doing it at his country’s economic peril.
Trump’s rallying cry for protectionism is keeping Indian IT industry on the tenterhooks, which is already under severe pressure owing to sluggish economic growth and dwindling profit margins. Think of Justin Bieber coming out of rehab to find out he’s just got a speeding ticket.
Having said that, booting Indian IT professionals from America is as unimaginable as much as it is spooky. It is like watching movies without the song and dance sequence.
Moreover, India has consistently ranked well as a destination for outsourcing not because of economic attributes, but due to its unparalleled talent pool which keeps churning engineers after engineers each year. So much so, throwing out a few hundreds isn’t such a bad idea after all.
The immediate reaction appears to be divided from the Indian IT sector for Trump’s America, however what transpires on the ground may not be as sensational as The Economists puts it.
Every politician fighting election is like a wrestler desperate to show off than show up. Indian IT is as fundamental and ingrained in American culture as ‘Raj Koothrappali’ of Big Bang Theory, however naïve it may sound or appear, the show is incomplete without it.
However controversial it may be, he is the President of the Divided States of America. Let’s hope it benefits Indian IT before he builds the wall!
