Anant Arora at A a T m A n...conversations with the self

India may not develop because..

Its 2005 and I hear everyone around me yelling..'India Shining', 'India Superpower by 2020' and similar proses. I am with the movement and am waiting for the moment when we did something out of the ordinary. But, I still think India may not develop because..

Some noted economists and experts give several reasons of India not on the verge of development. One of the reasons generally given is in direct relation to the population and pollution levels of the country. I do not accord to such arguments. The population rate in the country is declining, labour is becoming more and more knowledge oriented, 65% under the age of 35 and as far as the pollution levels are concerned, do not forget the very fact that the United States, which accounts for the most developed nation for the past decade has much higher levels of pollution (they did not sign the Kyoto protocol, afterall).

But this entry of mine is directed towards what India is lacking and not the other way round. Remember, the greats always say that you need to imitate the leaders in order to be one. That is, you can be a developed nation only if you start behaving like one. One of the major reasons that I find counterfeit is we Indians do not practise what we preach. We change our perceptions to match with the current situations and do not stick to our arguments. To support my stated fact, at one point of time we say lets not buy Reebok becuase its stealing the market from Bata or Liberty but at some other point, we go and do it ourself. I think this is the case with every Indian mainly because we are selfless and mould ourselves according to the situation in hand. Another reason people talk towards the development is the BPO boom. I agree that it is sustaining a few young entrepreneurs and offering them a good salary but we still remain as slaves working for the overseas market. And as I portray it, no matter how fast an ass runs, it can never beat the horse!! Let us not be asses in the race..

I am waiting for the time the Americans would be begging every single individual, who is obtaining a Visa for the US, to stay back in the Untied States and not come back and the time when Indian Embassy would be denying Visas to Americans saying that they fear that the American would go to India and immigrate forever. That would be a point where I would say out loud, "India has developed!!"

posted by Anant Arora @ 5:49 PM