India Jeetega! - Indian pride is not all its cracked up to be

For those of you expecting to read something side-splitting, I’m sorry to disappoint you but I’m gonna have to drape this blog post with probing questions that all of us Indians need to ask ourselves.. As an NRI(Non resident Indian) that is completely in touch with his roots and has no delusions about them, I believe that our nation has always been amongst the most opinionated, erratic and expressive countries in the world. From Lalu Prasad and Arundathi Roy, to Nandalal Bose and Bhishma- Our land continues to be a haven for liberal thinkers, gifted software developers, currupt politicians, innovative brilliant writers and academically astute economists. But despite a plethora of talent and brains, possibly even brawn, India still remains one of the poorest countries in terms of communal harmony and tolerance.

The reason I wish to focus on these two areas is because I reckon that, if addressed effectively, the solution can reap phenomenal results for the Indian people. Let’s take Gujarat in 2002 as an example- the violent incidents that took place involving fatal attacks on the Muslim minority in the state by mobs of Hindus. The ruling BJP party maintained that this was in retaliation for the burning to death, on February 27, 2002 of 58 Hindu pilgrims, mostly women and children, by a Muslim mob. This attack also resulted in the injury of 43 Hindus. This is of course only cited as a high profile example, but there are in fact thousands of such incidents that occur on a daily basis throughout India. But why? Why o why does a country that has the ability to spawn the likes of Indira/Rajiv Gandhi, Deepak Chopra, and Motilal Nehru , continue to still have 25.5 % of the population living below the poverty line?

If my experiences within diverse communities of Indians serve me well, then I would have to say that the leading cause of this problem is our innate pride and superciliousness as a people and race. We are so centered on how great and wonderful India and its culture is, that we mostly tend to forget about the one thing that matters most to build prosperous, harmonious communities- and that is humility. Forget Bollywood, a thriving 37 billion dollar IT industry, a medical segment that rivals the UK and US markets and nuclear arsenal that’s adequate enough to smolder half of the United States… - Instead, why not focus on 'even' prosperity distribution among the masses? In my second example, Id like to point out a little state that goes by the name of Japan. A country with not even a fraction of our population, middle class output and doctors- but yet live in good health, peace and prosperity without having to be stinking rich... Yes, you may say that Japan does not even have quarter of our population, but I believe much of this must be accredited to the fact that the Japanese are one of the most humble societies on our planet. When your submit to authority, or at least recognize and respect it, you are invariably building the same respect and authority for yourself in return. This obliquely leads to more people having increased trust in your capability, loyalties and character; and if you look at it economically, it means MORE BUSINESS. Yes, I decided to hurl those two words at you because it does mean a lot to me.

Out of the mumble above, I just awakened to another significant plague affecting our society - corruption. From everyday experience, Indians know that acquiring a job, a place in medical or engineering school, or even a telephone, gas or electricity connection frequently entails a bribe to someone on the 'food chain'--the municipal councilor, the local political leader or legislator (or his agent), or some other official with the capacity to deliver opportunities and services. Corruption is endemic in all levels and spheres of our public life, and has become deeply embedded in Indian society and the way it functions on an everyday basis.
The reasons for this situation as I see them, are multiple and complex. Let’s look at, in my third example, a good ol chap by the name of Narasimha Rao, only the ex- prime minister of India. In 2000, India’s premiere man at the time was convicted of buying votes for parliament prior to the 1993 elections. This is a federal offense with a minimum penalty of jail time. Narasimha Rao escaped gratis, courtesy of his “connections” in London that lobbied his cause through an indirect sanction- something nobody knew about back then.

So, in my attempt to write a half decent blog post, I’m gonna do what good writers try to do; and that is bring back focus to the message of the post. Innate pride leads to superiority and snobbery, superiority leads to a strong desire for authority and that in turn leads to high levels of corruption. In my final attempt at making this a meaningful post, Id like to say that all of us Indians need to look deep at our pride issues. We ARE NOT the greatest country in the world, and We ARE CERTAINLY NOT the most brilliant race on this planet. Until we learn to accept this, India will always be the ‘potential’ superpower.