Indians derive hubris every time anyone in any part of the world, does something worthwhile mentioning, as long as their name and the word “India” can be used in the same sentence. The size of their accomplishment hardly ever matters, especially if the word “America” can be used in the same sentence as well. Their accomplishments, the size and nature of it, their relevance outside the immediate context, their relevance to India — none of this matter.

Right now there’s someone bursting fireworks in India celebrating Satya Nadella’s appointment as CEO of MS. It could be someone from India, someone from AP, someone from the same college he went to, someone who had coffee with him in Starbucks, someone who had coffee at Starbucks while he was there or someone who had coffee at a Starbucks visited by Satya sometime in his life or someone who lives in the same zip code, someone who was born in the same town as Satya was etc…Facebook and Twitter will be filled with chants of jingoism and hubris. Indian media will host special shows to highlight his accomplishments and what it means for India.

The government, having just concluded the announcement of the Padma awards and Bharat Ratna, must be seriously considering putting Satya on the Padma Vibhushan list. If Satya is able to salvage the damage done by Balmer on their mobile strategy or even the company as a whole, he might even be put on the Bharat Ratna list.

People get inspired by different things and/or different people. Is there inspiration to be taken from Satya? Yes. Is there reason to be glad? Yes. Is there reason to feel proud? What for?