Stone me for saying this. But say, I must. The great Indian obsession with wanting to be a great power is utterly impractical, completely undesirable and totally nonsensical. What I would like India to be instead is a great nation. I refuse to be a part of “Incredible India”. What I want is to be part of “Credible India”. This, for two reasons:
Theme #2: Where everybody feels they belong
In 2003-2004, I visited the Centre for Innovation in Global Governance (CIGI), a think tank operating out of a brewery in Waterloo, a small town in Canada. The Prime Minister of Canada at the time, Paul Martin, had mandated that they conceptualise what he called the L-20, where L was an acronym for “Leaders”. Unfortunately, Martin lost the elections and the idea was shelved. It was set into motion again after the financial crisis of 2008, when President George Bush revisited the theme. The only difference was that it is now called the G-20.
During the course of my stint in Middle Eastern diplomacy, the Syrian foreign minister once rolled out a peace plan with Israel. The only condition he placed on the table was that it ought to be facilitated by Turkey. That said, I must also point out that in the last couple of years, Turkey’s relationships with both Israel and Syria have taken a backseat.
(This story appears in the 31 August, 2012 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
The article is very interesting and I endorse the views expressed by the author. I am already 60 and I know that I may not be alive to see my country taking the right steps to be a great nation some day. I may be a pessimist to think that there is a cultural degradation of the masses in the country and will take generations to improve. I hope I am wrong.
on Jan 9, 2014India\'s problems are its people and religion. The values of greed, corruption and rapes(killing women) are reflective of its main religion...Hinduism.There is no respect for minorities, no compassion for the poor. Bhramins are 3 % of the population yet control 75 % of Government jobs and they are doing what the British did.....divide and rule other casts and religions ?
on Jul 25, 2013This is not because of Brahmins. You are talking as if India is in disarray only because of Brahmins. How many of them do you find in cases of corruption, rape. THINK before you say it. They donot occupy 75% and there is restriction in India based on caste. But you find Brahmins because they are well brought up with culture and values instilled in them(i am not saying others are not). I am saying just dont make it Brahmins the sole cause while the mistake is on all the INDIANS. Be aware before you bring in a community!!!!
on Dec 2, 2013Great article! and true in every aspect. Couldn\'t agree more
on Jun 17, 2013We should support them and talk them and develop a confidence to them, that they are our brothers and sisters and we love them. naxalities are not our enemies they are Indian and we must look them as a human being.
on Dec 12, 2012Indian government is made by the people, for the people and of the people. So if the government is the problem, the people are the problem. The only thing that would fix this country is the awakening of the people and a revolution at a national level. But such things take time. Enough people have to care, for it to happen.
on Dec 2, 2012Valid points raised by author. India's problems lie mainly in few weaknesses of human nature. Indians are basically selfish, highly susceptible to regionalism (ie people act as gujarathis, marathis, bengalis etc. first..than indian) this is why they are not too patriotic or dont act as one in any endavor, and lastly they are crooked and find easy way out instead of looking at problem square in face and solving it. lack responsibility, one indian will think its the other indians problem.
on Sep 6, 2012\"Scandinavian countries serve as a great example of the fact that societies where there are no power disparities tend to be prosperous\" You have mixed up cause and effect. Prosperity comes first and then the lowering of disparities. Mostly because the rich distance themselves from the poor as if poverty is a communicable disease.
on Sep 4, 2012The observations are just some blind fold, which every body has to see. What we miss misably in are also governance, public apathy as in every walks of daily chorus life, demoralising police and military personnel to the best extent possible. Undue and -sense issues are being very vociforious weightage and its repeated hammering by and through public and print media.
on Aug 31, 2012An excellent article! I agree with the author\'s analysis by and large, but he overlooks one point in our favour. The reason we have not forged ahead is that we are not, and never will be, a totalitarian society. I suspect we think more than we act, which has its advantages and disadvantages. The instance quoted, of the dairy sectors in India and China, is a good example. In India, we do not believe in increasing production at any cost. Most farmers will shy away from injecting their cows with hormones or (heaven forbid!) feeding them sheep\'s brains. We should work with our strengths, rather than against them. Let us by all means ensure a more equitable distribution of what we produce through humane methods -- there is surely enough to go round if greed and corruption are checked.
on Aug 31, 2012This line sums it up: \"Great powers destroy, great nations nurture\". If one looks at the state of the Indian languages, it is evident that the nation that houses these languages is not nurturing them. Contrast that with the many countries mentioned in this article that have thriving languages despite few millions of speakers. Reason: those languages are being nurtured by the nation that houses them. In India, the language policy adopted is driving away the languages from different registrars. Time to rethink our view of the diversity and make efforts to nurture the very same diversity. Time to stop all kinds of language imposition on multiple linguistic groups of India, which is being done under the guise of protecting the unity.
on Aug 30, 2012Good article. But I would have been happier if the author had shown a route to growth rather than given examples for this country of 1.20 billion people with several irreconcilable diversities. I wish he will write again to show to us Indians how we can correct our onward march to glory without influenced by the success stories of small city states like Singapore etc.
on Aug 30, 2012Just an article of compare and contrast. Ignore the downside for sometime dear writer, equilibrium would be struck soon!
on Aug 30, 2012I hadn\'t read such a visionary article for a long time. It made my day! Thank you so much. I wish to see even my country (Nepal) to adopt similar policies and become a great nation.
on Aug 28, 2012Why at everytime they take history from Westren for Indian scenarios. It seems the author doesn't know anything about Indian instances. Second if Cow's milk productivity is increased, it may be through hybrid (means genetically modified) varieties which is better to avoid.
on Aug 28, 2012Also the comparison with Kashmir and Sikkim ignores the issue of Kashmir to many people in India and Kashmir is an emotive issue. Also that many people who take up arms dont do it because they are coerced but because they have no other choice. Its like crime, for most 'thinkers' crime is shown as it doesn't pay. The fact is that it does, otherwise no one will be in it. Most people who get into crime are in it as a way out of the ghetto/their low income housing. The author is looking at the world in an idealistic manner the fact is that it isn't. The vision while i agree with is not practical.
on Aug 28, 2012I dont see the point, the author believes in a perfect world but refuses to see how it is currently and how to deal with it.
on Aug 28, 2012Sundeep Waslekar ji: I think Shri Rabindranath Tagore had said it in fewer words.. ======================= Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high Where knowledge is free Where the world has not been broken up into fragments By narrow domestic walls Where words come out from the depth of truth Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit Where the mind is led forward by thee Into ever-widening thought and action Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. ======================= We just need to follow this poem.. and that's all..
on Aug 28, 2012Very practical... should be circulated through national daily to increase the reach.
on Aug 27, 2012I sure want to see India re-made in the image of Switzerland, Israel, and the Scandinavian nations. I am happy that the author did not make ANY references whatsoever to the \"knowledge\" contained in the ancient vedas or the \"wisdom\" of Swami Vivekananda. Twitter: @sachi_bbsr http://www.explainingindia.blogspot.in/
on Aug 27, 2012