Don't even dare to question my patriotism after you read this coz I will send a jinx your way and you will develop ulcers in your nails. But pay attention.

If you read business magazines, there is this thing called the BRIC countries. Everyone is in awe of the great emerging economic might of BRIC countries. If you never heard of it, B=Brazil, R=Russia, I=India and C=China.

I just returned from China. Last year I was in Brazil and Russia. I have lived the better part of my life in India. My trip to China got me thinking about this exercise we had in 2nd standard. Did you have those games where they taught us pattern recognition? One of them was to POINT THE ODD MAN OUT. Example: Find the one item that doesn't belong to this list: Elephant, Tiger, Lion, Bollywood. Clearly, Bollywood is the odd item. The other three have many obvious things in common, the odd item is truly odd and it's not the same leaugue. I have another example? Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Can you name the odd country?

I will give you three clues:
- It's the one country in that list that has hardly any public infrastructure.
- It's the one country in that list whose cities are, how do I say it politely?, err, lacking in toilet facilities for its citizens.
- It's the one country in that list that has power cuts even in major cities.

After years of singing "hum honge kamyab" I must wonder if we are just delusional. Am I over-pessimistic? Can you share some of your optimism with me? Please elaborate on WHY you feel so optimistic.

By the way, China is amazing. Amazing! Did I say China is amazing! God bles them. Wait, they don't believe in God there. Well, God bless them anyway!