India's race for higher growth: A local buffalo race holds the lessons

A local buffalo race holds lessons for growth - internal strength may be more important than external support

A new star seems to have arisen in India. Sprinting alongside a pair of buffaloes, construction worker Mr Srinivasa Gowda wowed an audience during a local sporting event, when he covered a distance of 142.5 m in the paddy fields of rural Karnataka in just 13.62 seconds. Equivalent to 100 m in 9.55 seconds, one can claim that this is better than Usain Bolt’s world record of 9.58 seconds. Does this make Mr Gowda the fastest man on earth?

Cynics urge us to pause for a moment. It is possible that some of Mr Gowda’s speed was generated by the