Tosh recently authored 'Rising Elephant', a Book which links the current outsourcing phenomenon to India 's inevitable emergence as an economic, geopolitical, perhaps even cultural challenger to the West. 'Rising Elephant' was written while on a trip around Europe on his BMW R1100. The 300-page book was released in September by American publisher Common Courage Press (which puts him in the company of writers like Noam Chomsky and Edward Said, though seemingly at the opposite end of the political spectrum).

In an election year in the United States and a time of economic doubt, outsourcing has made headlines both in the US as well as in India although in fairly different contexts. "Indians are taking our jobs!" is today a common complaint across the United States . In “Rising Elephant”, BITSian author Tosh Sheshabalaya (’76) elaborates on the theme and makes the case that the drivers behind this trend are far more profound than is generally accepted.

Tosh contends that amidst the rhetoric about globalization and sweatshops lies the real challenge to American white-collar jobs, and to America . This force, which is altering the world, will inevitably pose economic and even geopolitical challenges for the US . For Mark Gottfredson of Bain & Company "There has never been an economic discontinuity of this magnitude in the history of the world." As more and more US firms turn to India , outsourcing has begun to shake the foundations of the American upper middle-class.

Rising Elephant demonstrates that the roots of job relocation date back to the 1980s and early 1990s, and have over the years become entangled within a complex set of new, fast-moving economic and geopolitical equations. As a result, moves to cap the process will be short-lived, especially with higher-value technology jobs. This structural shift is being masked by new, low-wage jobs and under-employment in the West-at least for now.

In spite of some consolation from today's on-off hiring blips, a New York Times headline on September 7 poses a disturbing question, "Is Weak Job Growth Normal Now?" According to Lawrence Katz of Harvard University, the truth is harsher still: "The dirty little secret is that no one is really looking at the quality of new jobs created."

Tosh has an inimitable hard-hitting style, and to read his book in the US or Europe may be a wake up call to the West.

Excerpted From the deeply-researched “The Rising Elephant”

Outsourcing Charlie Cortese, Lehman’s IT Chief, was quoted as saying that despite moving the 26 helpdesk jobs back to the US, by 2005 Lehman may double to 900 the number of people working on its software design and support projects at its Indian IT partners, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services.

Pharma For international pharmaceutical companies, perhaps the most ominous long-term development is the growing (and potentially sophisticated) assault by Indian drug firms on Western markets. After the success of the AIDS drugs-for-Africa campaign, few doubt any longer that Indian firms have the political savvy for playing hardball.

Quality Equally important…is the massive effort paid by pure Indian IT firms to gain an astounding global lead in terms of software quality processes. More than anything else, there is an undeniable analogy here with the impact of the quality focus of the Japanese automotive industry in the 1980s.

Silicon Valley In the year 2000, Indian IT firms associated with the Silicon Valley-based TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) forum created business with market value estimated at $235 billion, in other words more than Switzerland ’s GDP.

Military Few ‘experts’ understand that though smaller in numbers, the Indian military is technologically more advanced than China’s. One of the rare exceptions was Jim Rohwer, correspondent for British Weekly, the Economist. China itself has few illusions.

Russia Alongside three Russian-built Krivak-class stealth frigates in service, all these vessels are being equipped with the PJ-10 Brahmos, the world’s first and so far, only supersonic air and sea-launched cruise missile.  The hardware in Brahmos is Russian; reflecting Indian IT skills, its guidance system is Indian.

Jobs  For the first time in history, a ‘poor’ country like India is acquiring some of the best-paying jobs from the ‘rich’ world.

USA …like Britain in 1931, America's fundamental challenge is simple. The country has been living beyond its means, and has become heavily dependent on the outside world, to both build and pay for its success.¨