Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday fired a broadside at Indian businessmen clamouring for level playing field in a globalised world and cited the example of a cricket field to drive home his point even as Union Agriculture Minister and BCCI president Sharad Pawar played a mute spectator. Speaking after inaugurating a biodiversity park and reserve at the Mahindra United World College of India, the PM drew a parallel between Indian students and Indian businessmen in a manner that left the audience with no doubt as where his sympathies lay. That he chose Pune and a function hosted by a leading business house — Mahindra — to deliver this message, too, was not lost on the audience."Long before Indian business was willing to face global competition, Indian students were willing to do so," he said, citing the example of former President K R Narayanan whose poor and underprivileged background never stood in the way of his faring well."He never asked for a level playing field. He, like thousands of us who went to village schools and fought hard to earn scholarships, went and tested our worth against those who were born with a silver spoon, nay a golden spoon, in their mouth," said Singh, himself an Oxford-Cambridge scholar."Over the years, we have seen boys and girls from modest social and economic backgrounds graduating from our institutions of higher learning and writing competitive examinations to secure admission in the best institutions of the world. It is they who have shaped the image of Brand India across the world," he said, adding Indians from across a range of professions had faced stiff competition on "un-level playing fields" and done well.Singh again drew on the performance of students of the Mahindra World College, saying he was sure they would make everyone proud. "In doing so, they hold an example for our business leaders, who must learn to compete on un-level playing fields and prove their mettle like you do," he said.The PM then turned to the analogy of cricket, saying there was no game that was ever truly played on a level playing field. "Playing fields differ, as every cricketer will tell you. But they do not sit back and demand a field and pitch of their liking. They learn to play on the pitch they are given and try to defeat the opponent," he said amidst gasps of surprise and some uneasy laughter from the audience who did not know as to where the barbs were directed.He urged Keshub Mahindra to instil this message into each of the students. "His own company has done well in the era of globalisation and I compliment him and Anand (Mahindra) on their creativity, their enterprise, their tenacity," he said before signing off.
