India @ 64

I have been thinking about this for sometime;where does India stand in her 64th year of post independence period. Prima-facie India is on a roll with a fast growing economy, increasing global influence and the stupendous rise of the middle class. I personally consider this as a re-emergence of India. Going by what Angus Madison, famous economic historian, mentioned that India and China were around one-third each of world GDP until 1700s, what we see now is the re-emergence of the same situation. Both these countries have the right ingredients namely big populations, huge natural resources & long continued civilizations to make it where they were in the past.

The biggest amazement for me however is the political experiment that India is. With hundreds of languages and sub-cultures, the idea of democracy in India post independence was an experiment. Today India is more unified than ever in the last two millenia in all senses. The biggest indicator of this is the emergence of a pan-Indian culture. Liberlisation of the economy,Cricket & Bollywood have acted as social lubricants for this phenomenon. One can often hear Bollywood songs in a wedding in Bangalore now and Idli is one of the most popular breakfasts in New Delhi now. Dhoni is the captain of Chennai Super Kings and Ramoji Film Studio in Hyderabad hosts maximum number of Bollywood movies for shooting.

India however faces a lot of challenges. It is in a difficult neighbourhood and has quarter of its population below poverty line. Decision making is still subjected to political expediency and a unified vision for the country is still elusive. Caste system is an antiquated social structure whose grip has be loosened as early as possible.

I am certainly hopeful about India's future because she has come off well despite many challenges.Democratic set up provides the right setup to manage the so very diverse country.With her growing role India also has to take bigger responsibilities at the domestic and international fronts.