Where have we gone wrong? (Part - I). Review on India, General

The title of “The world’s largest democracy” still sits uneasy on our shoulders. These fifty-five years from the time we regained our rightful independence have been spent in search of an identity without any perceptible or tangible results. It is almost as though we live in our self-created religions and sects and sub-sects that lay a pre-dominantly rigid emphasis on petty aspects that dictate our daily life.

What have we, as a nation, achieved over the last fifty years apart from winning independence, going through a political mis-adventure at the expense of a costly and still smoldering geographical expediency, fighting a few wars with our neighbours, distributing a major chunk of Kashmir - mostly to Pakistan and a little to China so as not to displease them and acquiring a nuclear arsenal in the name of self-protection?

Economically speaking, fifty years is a long time for a country like ours to have worked really hard and evolved successfully from a “Developing Nation” to a “Developed Nation”, but have we? We were certainly not found lacking in terms of availability of resources both natural and human. What then stopped us from harnessing these resources for the effective growth of the country? The number of people living below the poverty line today is probably the same figure that we once read in our school textbooks give or take a few decimal points. All those fancy statistics that our successive Finance Ministers keep reeling out in their annual budget speeches about the reducing percentage of unemployed people and people living below the poverty line have now become so standard and predictable that I really wonder whether there has been any perceptible change at all over the last 10 years. The only comforting factor is that our economy has managed to grow at a healthy rate of about 6-7% over the last decade or so. It is a totally different matter that no one knows how exactly this came about.

Politically speaking, we’ve had a rich collection of political heavy weights who played a major role in fighting for our independence and thus laid a strong foundation for a vibrant and progressive India. What about those who actually inherited this proud legacy handed down to us? Have they proved to be worthy heirs? The answer is crystal clear when we consider the current crop of politicians and administrators, two of whom are ex-Chief Ministers who had royally siphoned off thousands of crores of rupees through scams that literally fall under all the 26 known alphabets of the English language and roam about scot-free even to this day. While the politicians of the old guard were rich in intentions and interested in the progressive development of the country as a whole, the ones today are affluent in amassing personal wealth at the cost of the poor taxpayers.

Speaking of social lifestyles, we take solace in having bridged the gap with our western counterparts in terms of partying and generally having a wild time, all in the name of enjoying life. We have also caught up in the one area where we were always discriminated against for the colour of our skin - Beauty Pageants, by grooming some desi beauty queens who went on to make their mark on the world stage. While some may argue that the western world has finally started recognising the beauty and intelligence aspects of the Indian woman, others opine that this happened only because the MNC cosmetic and fashion accessory companies realised the huge potential for their products in a growing market like India and therefore manipulated these shows accordingly. That however does not take away any credit from these ladies. As for entertainment, violence has evolved as our favourite pastime - both in reel as well as real life.

Coming to sports, it is indeed amazing that a country having a population of over 100 crores cannot dish out a single Olympic champion save for our two tennis wizards and that great lady, Karnam Malleshwari. Our expertise in hockey, supposedly our national game, has dissipated ominously into thin air over the years. It is saddening that we are unable to make a mark even on a smaller stage like the Asian games except for an occasional spark shown in between. As for that religion called cricket that millions of us follow and swear by with an almost maniacal obsession, the lesser said about it the better it is. Why is it that a team comprising eleven so-called professionals raises such high expectations time and again but is consistently inconsistent when it comes to delivering in crunch times? Take Sachin Tendulkar out of the team and I’m sure two-three years down the line even a greenhorn like Bangladesh would be able to beat us convincingly.

The only saving grace is in the areas of science and technology, where we have, for a change, made a perceptible mark. However, it is saddening to see that inspite of having such a large skill and knowledge base, the brightest of our minds are not utilising their talents for the development of the country, preferring instead to “lend” their capabilities to more developed countries across the world. I really don’t find anything wrong with that because it is quite natural that these people move on to greener pastures convinced of the fact that they are not going to be rewarded for their efforts here. Looking at the larger picture, who stands to lose by this brain drain if not the country?

Why is it that we are still labeled as laggards in all spheres while the rest of the world catches up and moves ahead of us? For how many more years are we going to be labeled a “developing nation”? For how many more years are we going to carry forward this “Chalta hai” attitude that marks our outlook towards life? This is not to say that there is something wrong in the way we discharge our duties at our homes, work places and to our country. While it is an acknowledged fact that Indians are individually brilliant in whatever they do, we unfortunately fail to convert the same into a collective group effort. There is also something wrong with our mindset which focuses more on self-importance and development at the cost of sacrificing the macro interests of development of the community and country at the altar of selfishness.

I request that my thoughts on the current state of affairs in our country not be construed as being unpatriotic. They are only my loud musings considering the fact that we seem to be totally lost and directionless in our behaviour as responsible citizens. My only intention is to draw some meaningful discussion and feedback from those who read this review apart from making us think as to where we have gone wrong.

Is there some light at the end of the tunnel?