The Asian Tiger, India awakening...are few of the phrases I have read so many times in national and international business magazines and heard on prominent news channels . How many times I have listened to discussions on India's strengths of high-quality, low-cost human capital and her greatest constraints — a serious infrastructure deficiency and lagging foreign direct investment. Since the reforms of the early 1990s, India has progessed like anything on the macro-economic front and while India still suffers by comparison with China, it is in better shape with respect to its banking system, active capital markets, and a new generation of indigenous world-class companies and english speaking entrepreneurs and employees.
However what puzzles me is our complete ignorance of the concept of greater Bharat where everything is still the way it was. Illiteracy, poverty, starvation, malnutrition, lack of edible water are some of the lows that still persists amongst the highs of being a nuclear power nation with vast reserves of foreign currency. Dowry system, wife beating, killing of female foetus are signs of the fact that economic development and progress have failed to tame the feudal mentality of a greater chunk of the population; that IT and IT enabled services, that biogenetics and hi end research, that nukes and stealth submarines have not yet produced the dream country. We are 60 years into our independence, and theres definitely a long way to go to make Bharat happening.
1 comment:
While it is refreshing to see you criticize your own country, I think that you might be a little harsh. India is still an extremely young country, even if you already have 60 years on independence under your belt. Many countries, including the US, have this same disparity existing within its borders. If you look at different cities within the US, you can find many areas of extreme poverty, violence, illiteracy, and poor family values. These conditions have existed for centuries and unfortunately will continue to exist.
I am sure that the Indian government is aware of these issues and struggles to find a solution, just like every other country. From the little that I know about India, it seems that progress has been made it certain regions of the country while other regions have been stifled due to issues such as lack of education and resistance to change. These are not easy issues to deal with and will take more than another 60 years to solve, however as a country, India is flourishing and trying to bring everyone that wishes along for the ride.
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