India turns 59 today – and I muse over the word as I sit inside my rented home in Gurgaon and watch “Border”, “Khaki” and the numerous other “Patriotic” movies being played on the telly.
Thoughts invariably flow in & out – as I ponder how do I suddenly feel patriotic on 15 Aug and 26 Jan, and how a surge flows through my body when I sing “Jan Gana Man”. What used to be a regular feature in school days, became a bi-yearly festival.
As I see what is happening across the world – Americans & Europeans are shit scared of anything that sports a flowing beard or a turban, the Russians are still recovering from the shreds communism left their country in, China is moving too fast and is busy being the biggest economy, workforce etc., in Pakistan the Muslims are divided amongst themselves, the Middle-east is in shambles, Sri Lanka has a mini-civil war going on…..I feel a strange contentment in the way India is bracing up for the years ahead.
1. Our press is relatively free – we get to hear opinions from every nook and corner of the country, and every insignificant event gets TV Coverage. Irritating at times, but it does make a point of every caste/community/rich/poor getting their voices heard.
2. Our politicians are very motivated – for filling up their coffers as well as making sure they get what they want for their respective vote banks. This does lead of “Quota politics” once in a while – but oddly enough makes sure that nobody is totally ignored. The Left keeps the Progressive politicians in check – making sure our surrender to the dollar is not rapid – and at the same time we can reap benefits of global brands in India, global food and a healthy mix of the new and old in society.
3. The youth is indifferent – which is a bad thing. Most of the times we let things be, and dream of greener pastures abroad. Or at the least, we are content as our salaries rise from 20,000 a month to 30 and in a few years to 50. What this indifference leads to is obviously bad governance of India. Even if all of us take the pain to vote once in 5 years, with minimum research, I feel that would go a long way. Lets just vote for the least bad candidate, because most of the times we don’t vote as in our opinion “all are thieves”. I would actually not mind, if a minister took a 10% commission in every project he gets executed, provided the other 90% goes into the project, and somebody intelligent gets it executed.
4. Our entrepreneurs are top-notch – which to a great extent blunts out whatever bad the government does. The way the IT pioneers – Murthy, Nilekani, Shiv Nadar, the Tatas etc. have built empires – is a lesson for all. India has been growing at 8% over the last 3 years consecutively – and thats amazing.
5. The society is a great shock-absorber – Amazingly, no amount of terror or external influence has ever been close to influence a military coup or a nationwide unrest in India. And this I feel is the greatest factor in India’s favor. Resilience of the people, or sometimes plain silence – makes it much easier for the country to move forward, and discourage the terrorists from wasting their precious energy into these tasks.
India is still just 59, and I’m sure by the time its 100, we’d be far ahead of other countries when they turned 100.
Incredible India…
