The other side Of Development

This was the question I always had in my mind, is India really a super power?



At 60 years of Independence, India is going very strong economically and creating new ripples to show its strength and global face. Real estate is booming, multiplexes, BPO's, IT parks are mushrooming everywhere. Re is 9 1/2 year high versus $. Sensex touched 17,000 mark which is all time high, thanks to unbelievable performance of the stock market. New trend of Indian companies acquiring foreign companies has started. No need to mention, Indians spreaded across the globe working for billion dollar companies with high profile jobs and awarded as the best brains in the world. Because of the booming economy, Reverse Brain Drain has started.


As a coin has two sides, above said is one side and let's see the other side too....


At the same 60 years of Independence, India has 2nd highest population in the world (1.136bn currently) and is estimated to have 1.63bn by 2050 to overtake China. Literacy of current total population is 61% whereas our neighbour and competetor China is at 90.9%. India is estimated to have 5.5mn AIDS patients, 2nd highest in the world. According to 2001 census data, 40mn of Indian population lives in slums and sadly 5mn of this population are young children (0-6 age group) and 5mn live in Mumbai alone, I also read somewhere that Mumbai slums are the biggest in the world. According to 2004-2005 stats, inspite of the booming economy, India's poverty rate is still at 27.5%. Apart from these, there are many other issues like corruption, dirty politics, underworld, inefficient police etc.,


There is a political party called 'LokParitran' started few years ago by few IITians, but I hardly see them in the news. I am not even sure if they are still active and preparing for coming elections. I really wonder why people in India won't encourage young, educated, and dynamic politicians. How many more decades we should bare these stupid uneducated politicians who just keep winning with the power of money and rigging and whose aim is to make more money than they spent for the elections? Ridiculous!!

Last week I was watching 'Salaam, Bombay!' and then I was like totally in a new world watching those street children who lives in slums and grow up with no education and no money to spoil all their lives with so many bad habits in a very bad companionship. I felt for a second, 'How many great brains India might be missing?'. I felt the same even when I was watching the documentary 'Born into Brothels, which traces the life of a bunch of kids frm Kolkata's red light area Sonagachi...n I must say that its a must watch for everyone who thinks that genuise are born into palaces ... Having so many problems like poverty, illiteracy in a country like India is not a wonder, but continuing the same even after six decades of independence is a wonder. Isn't it the time to think and act??

I am sure, India is transforming slowly to globalize and coming out of poverty, illiteracy, but I think this pace is not enough. There is cut throat competetion among the countries. Our country should improve in many things even to match with our neighboring countries like Singapore, Malaysia, China, HongKong etc. If we want to beat them, oh yeah, we really need to work hard and show them what real India is....

From my point of view, as an Indian, India is a super power in many things and will reach the top soon. All we need to do is, change the system in the best possible way, unleash the best talent (which is never touched), let's fight for corruption free government and clean politics, eradicate the poverty and illiteracy. If the above things are covered, then other small issues will be taken care.


So, what do you think? 'Is India really a super power?'