India's top 50 powerful people

The list of 50 most powerful people of our times is recently published by India Today.

Not a single philosopher, thinker or writer has made it. Luckily we have AR Rahman, a composer, listed.

This in a country which gave birth to philosophers and thinkers of the caliber of Vivekananda, Adi Shankaracharya, Radhakrishnan, Chanakya and writers of epics like the Ramayana, Mahabharatha, Geeta, The vedas & the upanishads, Artha Shastra, Geetanjali and the Kama Sutra, which still mean so much not only to Indians but people all across the world.

The country which has such a vast reservoir of writing talent does not consider anyone to be influential.

It would mean two things -

The choice is governed by commercial considerations. The list includes everyone who can be connected with the ability of making money and are head turners. Starts with Ratan Tata, the Ambanis, Mittals, Godrej, Birlas, Ruias and also includes Sharukh, Amitabh and Swami Ramdev. Even Amar Singh and Parmeshwar Godrej find mention in the list.

Indian writers are no longer appealing to their readers. They have not been able to come up with ideas that influence the thinking of the readers.

The pen may be mightier than the sword but it has been bulldozed into silence by the creators of wealth. Sound bites are more important and visible.