Sumeet PahwaNew Delhi, Dec. 6 -- Walk into a boardroom in Manhattan or London, and the person at the head of the table is increasingly likely to be of Indian origin. From Satya Nadella to Leena Nair, India has proven it can produce the world's best managers. We build half the world-writing the code, doing the math, and engineering the future. And yet, we cannot convince a Londoner to buy an Indian shampoo.
It is a stinging paradox: We are the "Pharmacy of the World," yet we don't have a Pfizer. We are the IT back office of the globe, yet we don't have a Microsoft. We grow the "Champagne of Teas" in Darjeeling, yet the world drinks Twinings. Where are the Indian equivalents of Toyota, Samsung, or IKEA? Why does a country with such extraordi...