The Slovenia Times

If Rip Van Winkle had got up today...

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The world as we know it is changing rapidly...too rapidly for some - and yet there are those who are stuck in some kind of weird time warp...as if all that is changing all around them is unreal. With such people, you might be forgiven if you feel tempted to shake them up and tell them to go for a reality check...to tell them to go and smell the coffee. We can't stick to our past ways of thinking and systems of working - the new age mantra is efficiency and productivity. If you can't hack it then it's time to get off the bandwagon and fade into oblivion. That's one of the reasons why Europe is suffering today and why China and India are bubbling with productivity. India has a young work force, professionals that are ready to do whatever it takes to make a difference. In whatever field you might imagine, there are now young trained doctors, bankers, techies, scientist...all working with the belief and the confidence of a professional on the move...and India, like China, is moving...it has emerged from the shadows of it's Colonial past and is stamping an authority all of it's own. No longer is the Indian ashamed and defeated, he now stands with a resilience and energy worth taking note of. While Europe frets and fumes, and grows frustrated at what they now see, not as a passing shadow, but something that is here to stay - now, maybe is the time, for Europeans to take note, to take a leaf out of the Indian book and shed some of their past thinking. I am amazed at the number of foreign companies coming and setting up shop in India, not only because of the cheaper labour costs, not only because of the cheaper overheads, but because of a skilled work force that has a new found hunger for being able to prove themselves...who are eager to stand up and to be counted. And therein lies the difference... Living in the idyllic Slovene countryside one gets the impression that one is in the heart of Europe, the advertisements on the roads say so, the tourist brochures say so, the people think so - but ever so often one gets the feeling that things are not always what they seem. This point came home just a few weeks ago when my son came down with rotavirus - viral gastroenteritis. After three days of him throwing up our doctor decided to refer him to hospital. My wife being alone, tired from managing work and having to take care of our sick son, reached the Emergency Unit of the hospital in Murska Sobota... my son was weak and cranky and needed urgent medical attention, my wife worried at his weak condition. It was two hours before the doctor finally arrived to attend to our sick child. If that was not bad enough, her attitude and conduct left much to be desired. She was doing us a favour...and my wife and child, the captive recipients of her "graciousness" were in no position to do much but suffer her in silence. She showed her impatience to a child of a little more than two - cranky from not being able to keep anything down for three days. This, from the heart of Europe - where one talks of culture and manners and professionalism in the same breath. Reading the Indian papers the next day, this incident brought out just how Europe is loosing out on whatever there is left to hold on to. The paper had and article on how medical tourism is going to be the next big boom in India. Operations costs half the price here, medical facilities are as good as any, and a vast bank of specialised professionals are making people travel thousands of miles in search for a cure. What also attracts Westerners here, is not only the mix of western and traditional medicine, but also the care and warmth they receive from the people who take care of them, be it post operative care, or just convalescing after a major illness. Western technology is moving in and Indian know-how is in demand, not only because of its costs, but also because of a whole package that looks appealing. It's sad that Europe has so much to offer and yet, it has not only out priced itself, but it is also fast loosing it's connection with those that matter - the end consumer. It's not fair criticism when one hears that the Asians are taking away jobs, are willing to work longer hours, are willing to be paid less...they have to - for some, they have no other choice if they want to survive, for others it a chance to broaden their horizons, but for most it is a new found hunger to raise themselves up that drives them...Is anyone listening?

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