Anand Mahindra Reacts To Apple Co-founder’s “Indians Aren’t Creative” Remark

Anand Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra Group, has launched a fitting response to Apple Co-founder Steve Wozniak’s recent statement that Indians lack creativity and that success in India is based upon academic excellence, studying, and learning. Anand, in a sarcastic sense, has invited Wozniak back to India saying, “I love it when such comments are made. Nothing like a sweeping stereotype to get our juices flowing & prove it wrong. Come back soon. We’ll make you sing a different tune....”

The Indian industrialist took to Twitter after Wozniak’s sensational statement has drawn much criticism, while many Indians agreed with him citing fault with the education system in the country. Here’s what he said:

Steve Wozniak gave rise to storm when he said in a recent interview, “Indians lack creativity and that he does not believe that there will any big tech company in India similar to the size of Apple, Facebook or Google.”

“Indians are usually driven by a sheep-like mentality. The Indian work culture is similar to that is prevalent in Singapore, where all they know is how to work hard, study harder and get an MBA,” he said. When asked about the global tech companies that could emerge out of India, Woz cited the example of Infosys, but added that he did not expect the company to join the league of global tech giants anytime soon.

Speaking about the tech innovations in India, he said that the culture in the country is such that success is based on academic excellence. Even though people study and work hard, they lack creativity, Wozniak said.

Also Read: Creative Genius Missing in India: Steve Woz

Woz, as he is popularly called, also talked about the importance of teaching how to code in school. He strongly advised against teaching how to code to kids before the age of 12, as the brain doesn’t get the ability to reason before that age. “Some people get there early, but most people at 12, and that’s why algebra can’t be taught till you are that age. And programming can be taught only when you are ready for algebra,” he added.