Glimpse into the future

He said,“The American economy remains strong,the American people remain inventive,developing new companies and new technologies,but most of all I think America is learning how to cooperate with emerging countries like India first and foremost,Brazil,China and build a new sort of world based on cooperation among these emerging powers.”

He believed the world is changing in a way that is opening a new kind of future for Kolkata. “Part of it is the opening of Myanmar. Because in the British era,Kolkata was the centre of Asia in so many ways and part of it was because you had trade with Bangladesh and Burma (now Myanmar). When partition came and Burma closed itself off,Kolkata was like a fish out of the river. But now I think India and Bangladesh are trying to think how to rebuild a better commercial relationship. Kolkata has some of the most interesting opportunities in the world,” he said.

Regarding his second visit to Kolkata,he said the changes have been fascinating. “The biggest change is,we see fewer hammer and sickle flags,” he recalled.

A resident of Jackson Heights in New York,he didn’t get a culture shock here because Jackson Heights has one of the largest concentrations of south Asians outside the subcontinent. “So when I walk in the morning,I pass six Indian restaurants,three sweet shops and all kinds of things,” he said,adding that the heat here is a bit stifling.

Mead said that the amount of Indian food he eats is shocking. “I don’t want to eat anything but Indian food from the time I get off the airplane and till I am back home. The idli and sambar is the best form of breakfast that has ever been developed. I also went to a sweetshop and had the Bengali sweetened yoghurt. It was amazing. The best yoghurt I have ever had. I have had rosogolla as well and loved it. I am not a vegetarian but here I am eating a lot of vegetable dishes.”

Mead said that among the areas of improvement,poverty alleviation is on top of the list. “This kind of poverty that still prevails in the 21st century is disconcerting. India will have to find a way to get rid of it. The best way is to to bring in more manufacturing units to India. India has been incredibly successful with IT or high-tech but these jobs are mostly for people who speak English or have a very good education level,in a sense,jobs for people who do not need jobs. But factory jobs are for people who come from these poor states,” he said.

He also said that infrastructure,including port facilities,roads,electricity,is essential. “Blackouts for 300 million and then for 600 million — I am sure many thought that instead of putting my factory in India,I will put it in some other country where there is no such problem,” said professor Mead.

Unmarried,Mead lives in a huge joint family comprising his sisters,brothers,nephews and nieces. “Maybe I am too selfish to get married but I also find that being able to teach,travel and spend time with people all over the world and my own nieces and nephews,that I have all the joys of fatherhood without paying the bills. I have a happy life,” professor Mead signed off.