Indians may not be feeling especially good about themselves right now.. food costs a bomb, even the good'ol pyaaz n roti is now exorbitant ,there is corruption in every nook and corner ,the middle class is as disillusioned by its politicians as ever , the corporate sector is mired in controversy, and if all that was not enough, the army too finds itself under unprecedented scrutiny due to recent controversies.
But looking beyond the gloom of the recent past , the India Story continues to amaze the world. The economic rise of a nation from the precipice of failure, and the verge of bankruptcy, in just 20 yrs ago is mind-baffling. Looking back at 1991, who would have thought that we would be one of the FOUR major economies of the world in just 20 years.Two decades after we took the first steps towards economic liberalisation and opened our doors to the world, it seems that economic change has outpaced social and cultural change.
Its now economics that's driving change in India now. India could well be the default setting for the rest of the world. I say so because of a reason which we have celebrated for years , which is our diversity. many different societies in the world are fast becoming familiar with this virtue..for example about 25% of the population in London originates from outside the UK ,most of them Asians. The sort of diversity which we always have had in India is only beginning to come to other countries now and probably, many lessons on how to deal with that can be learnt by the rest of the world from India.
Since 1947, the politics of the country was hugely important in the policy making till the 80s ,but after the liberalistaion of the early 90s , its the economics which has been driving everything. Most of the social change over the past two decade is a result of the economic change.
There is a cultural shift in India which can only be spotted by those who witnessed India before Liberalisation. There seems to be a loss of simplicity and innocence. But these last two decades have shown us that no matter how much globalisation affects us , there remains something quintessentially Indian about us. There are certain traits about us Indians which nobody else can boast of in the world, be it bargaining or even the six-letter magic word called JUGAAD. Many of us might hav started to fly Kingfisher these days, but we'll still bargain with the sabziwala and the autowala just to get the cheapest deal. That's what u call BEING INDIAN !!!
In a country where the centuries co-exist, the 18th century India, where bonded labors and witch-craft still exist, and a 21st century India , where an iPhone or a Mercedes is no more considered a luxury...both these and many more in between , converge and conflict to form the IDEA OF INDIA. And that Idea is the result of a belief, a confidence and a conviction, which today is stronger than ever before...
Economic liberalisation has brought about a mobilisation which has broken down barriers. The self-made Indian ,the likes of Asim premji , Narayan murthi and Sunil mittal , mirror the once famous American dream which epitomised the success story of america.in a way ,you can be what u want to be today !!!
