Wars are won in the minds of men. This aphorism, articulated over the ages in various ways-from Sun Tzu to the unesco charter-emphasises the importance of the intellectual and emotional aspects of winning. Victory is achieved on the battlefield, but crafted in the cranium. Mind over matter is not merely a mantra for military men: it is of even greater relevance in the world of crafty corporate competition, where intellectual capital is now well-recognised as a resource of greater importance than financial capital or equipment.

Yet, it is not knowledge per se that contributes to victory. Equally, and, arguably more importantly, it is the attitude: in some sense, the mind rather than the brain. A positive mindset is as essential to winning as are physical, fiscal and intellectual resources.

For many years-probably a few centuries-we, as a nation, had developed a defeatist mindset. This is not to say that everyone suffered from negative thinking. There have definitely been individuals, who were refreshingly upbeat and positive. But, as a collective, we undoubtedly exhibited signs of diffidence, defensiveness and inferiority complex. From the exuberance of creativity, joy and outward focus seen in the first millennium and the early part of the second, we became a defeated people some centuries ago. And the ultimate defeat was not on the battlefield, but in the mind.

It has taken us half a century to get over the colonial and feudal mindsets. The young Indians of today, are brash, aggressive and often self-centred, but also self-confident and willing to take on the world. Nowhere is this more evident than in the world of high technology, where our atomic energy and space programmes are world-class, as are our software professionals who are a force to reckon with.

The power of positive thinking is enormous. There is enough medical evidence to indicate that a person who possesses a winning frame of mind is likely to do better than one who is dejected and convinced of being defeated. More crucially, a leader with a positive mindset is likely to motivate a team far better than one who is negative-minded.

Ultimately, then, winning and losing is a mind game. To me, the greatest cause for optimism is the winning mindset of today's youngsters. With this, it cannot but be India's century.