Emerging India: Where is it?

The last five minutes I have been thinking on what shall I talk about - My experiences at work, India's win over Pak in the first test, stupid UK Home Office regulations, and the list could be endless.

Suddenly, today's news at IBNLive replayed at the back of my mind. And I am left with so many questions unanswered.

We talk about secular India - where is the equality when people like Modi still bank on their fortunes by dividing the different religious sects of the society. You can still listen to the horror stories of Godhra and how this God-like figure of Modi has been able to over power all the wrongs that were done not so long ago.

We talk about security in India - what does security mean when women are harrassed publicly in full daylight and no one has the courage to revolt against it. I am talking about what happened in Assam when the tribals were in a procession to seek ST status. The event leaves me horrified and deep in shame to learn about the mental sickness some of the citizens are suffering from. Yet again, like so many times before, I donot expect the Govt. or the law to provide justice to the victim and the issue to die down in the FIRs of some unknown police station.

We talk about young India - what will happen to the youth if the future doctors have to take to streets and clean cars in order to protest against the ruling which requires them to spend an year extra in studies. Media calls it 'Gandhigiri' - the word probably coined for the firm time by Sanjay Dutt in 'Munnabhai' - but its so unfortunate to know about how decisions at the top level (in this case, our wise old politicians) are taken without really considering all facets of the issue from various persepctives.

We talk about mass welfare in India - the BIG question really is whether the GDP growth of 8-9% is having any significant impact on the lives of people living in rural India. The benefits haven't trickled down to the people at the bottom of the pyramid. The divide between rich and poor is widening as ever. It doesn't require deep thinking to realize that India really has two stark personalities today. One, of growing India, where you see an average young Indian - graduate from any engineering/arts/ commerce college - earning his living without any problems (courtesy, largely the dotcom/BPO boom). The second, and completely opposite, is that section of society which still finds it difficult to earn daily bread. What is still very unfortunate is the fact that the latter section outnumbers the former and represents the country true face.

There are so many reasons which hamper India's progress to becoming a truely democratic, secular, emerging India where people's rights are respected. And when I say people, I include people from all castes/religions/sections/states of the country. To my belief, the biggest roadblock is the very nature of the present government - The Coalition Politics. Despite having one of the finest economist the world has seen in recent times at the helm, the government has failed to deliver much of what it promised in the Common Minimum Programme. Dr. Singh has repeatedly been called a lame-duck over the past few months. I don't pity that old man but I salute his honesty, his work-ethic, his sense of responsibility that he has displayed over the last three and a half years at that position. I pity the Karat & Co who have done no good to the nation and are responsible for the havoc they have caused in Nandigram. Moreover, it doesnot take big brains to understand that for India to continue developing at a growth rate of 8-10% annually, the country needs energy to fuel this growth. And, nuclear energy is the only solution to the issue unless you want to prevent Delhi/Mumbai/Kolkata/Chennai and other big cities to go the Shanghai and Beijing way.

Whatever's written above are all random bits clubbed together. But there's one common thread amongst all these thoughts - India still has a long way to go before it emerges as a nation where its citizens are proud of what they have achieved. Still a long way to go!