A VIEW FROM THE MOUNTAIN TOP

            (Nepal and Switzerland are both mountain states. Why one has the highest per capita income in the world and the other is still dependent on subsistence agriculture is a question that is not difficult to answer.)

         Nepal used to be a state ruled by a king. It then tried Marxism for several years but even that did not succeed and now it wishes to revert to being ruled by a king!  What really is different in the case of Switzerland?  

        Switzerland, with 8 million people, is of course, known for its tourist industry, banking industry and for its premium watch industry. But it is not generally known that it is also a world leader in the pharmaceutical industry, in the cement industry, in synthetic dyes and heavy chemicals, in the heavy engineering industry, in tunnelling, 

surveying and railway equipment, in the printing and textile machinery industries, not to mention, chocolate, cheese, and the industrial manufacture of food products.  Instant coffee, dehydrated soup, decaffeinated coffee, and alcohol free beer are all Swiss inventions. It has the highest per capita GDP (US $ 100,000/-) in the world. And, according to Michael Porter (“the Comparative Advantage of Nations “)Switzerland was a poor country in the 19th century!

         Not religion (Hinduism/Buddhism and Christianity for Switzerland.) but modern science and technology put Switzerland on top.  This does not mean that you should renounce your religion, merely that you should confine it to your home. Only “the scientific temper“ (it was Nehru’s phrase) and consequential steps will go on to transform every man, woman and child in a nation, and these then propel the nation towards prosperity.  In the view from my mountain eyrie, this should be the lesson for Nepal, Sikkim and above all for India. - AB