CommentsBut what of Indian science?
Has it made the big leap? Is it ready to seize the moment?
That is the question Angela Saini, a former BBC journalist, sets out to answer in her debut book, Geek Nation - How Indian science is taking over the world.
Saini spent six months crisscrossing the nation, meeting her share of software demigods, passionate scientists and quacks.
In an interview with R Rajesh Kumar, she discusses the one big failing of the Indian IT industry, India's obsession with braininess, the truth machine she came across, and other discoveries she made.
You begin your book by explaining how 'history's ultimate geeks are the men and women who sacrificed their lives on the altar of science'. By that reckoning, how much of a geek nation did India prove to be?
If I didn't think it was a nation that produces thousands of geeks, then I wouldn't have written the book!
It's important to remember that most scientists and engineers work quietly without fanfare in small laboratories. We generally don't hear their stories.
So, I thought it was important to highlight their tales as much as those of the big names, like Narayana Murthy and UR Rao (the former ISRO chairman).
