There was a time (just prior to independence and for some time afterwards) that India could justifiably lay claim to a moral high ground. Our culture, history and society was of a higher order than the materialistic West (or so we thought). Nehru was a leader of the non-aligned movement and our political leaders had stature and statesmanship. This happy state of affairs lasted for some time as India meandered along at the Hindu rate of growth through much of the 50s, 60s and 70s. Regrettably the stature of our leaders and the quality of our politicians declined steadily. Our cultural underpinnings were confined to Gurus like Maharshi Mahesh Yogi who provided a convenient cover for disillusioned western youth seeking an escape from toil and war in their own societies.
Perhaps the most scathing view about India was held by China. From the late 19th Century, Chinese thinkers regarded India as the 'lost country' who had been enslaved by foreign invaders for the last 1000 years and more. This view found expression in the negative treatment meted out to Tagore on his trip to China in the 30s. He was regarded as the quintessential eastern sage, out of touch with modern progressive society, advocating a quaint and laughable 'return to the classic period'. Gandhi and his views about the utopian village republics was met with equal scorn. This attitude found its culmination in the war in the early 60s where the Indian army was brushed aside by the Chinese.
The independence movement and its immediate aftermath offered a brief interlude when the average Indian could hold his head up with justifiable pride as outlined above. However, the path we chose of building up the public sector, central control over the economy and so forth was nothing short of disastrous. It was also utopian and dangerously out of touch with global realities.
The fact is that our impoverished millions demand economic progress today. The world has no time for moralising. Realpolitik is the only policy and national self interest the only mantra. It is here that India's leaders have really failed. We have rapidly and gleefully abandoned all pretence of stature and statemanship. Unfortunately, instead of replacing the 'Oriental Wisdom' of Radhakrisnan or Gandhi with the hard headed realpolitik and business sense of a man like Sardar Patel we have fallen between two stools. Indian policy still tries to hang on to a vestige of independent thought as in the non aligned movement and succeeds in exasperating even our few friends. Our economic policies yo yo between spurts of liberalisation after which a beleagured governement licks its wounds inflicted by the militant left and other moonies. There is only one way forward. Our great classical civilisation, our wonderful eastern wisdon and all the rest of it need to take a break. We need to move on the economic front and we need a hard headed, no nonsense driver to steer the ship. The world will not wait for the Indian elephant forever.
Perhaps the most scathing view about India was held by China. From the late 19th Century, Chinese thinkers regarded India as the 'lost country' who had been enslaved by foreign invaders for the last 1000 years and more. This view found expression in the negative treatment meted out to Tagore on his trip to China in the 30s. He was regarded as the quintessential eastern sage, out of touch with modern progressive society, advocating a quaint and laughable 'return to the classic period'. Gandhi and his views about the utopian village republics was met with equal scorn. This attitude found its culmination in the war in the early 60s where the Indian army was brushed aside by the Chinese.
The independence movement and its immediate aftermath offered a brief interlude when the average Indian could hold his head up with justifiable pride as outlined above. However, the path we chose of building up the public sector, central control over the economy and so forth was nothing short of disastrous. It was also utopian and dangerously out of touch with global realities.
The fact is that our impoverished millions demand economic progress today. The world has no time for moralising. Realpolitik is the only policy and national self interest the only mantra. It is here that India's leaders have really failed. We have rapidly and gleefully abandoned all pretence of stature and statemanship. Unfortunately, instead of replacing the 'Oriental Wisdom' of Radhakrisnan or Gandhi with the hard headed realpolitik and business sense of a man like Sardar Patel we have fallen between two stools. Indian policy still tries to hang on to a vestige of independent thought as in the non aligned movement and succeeds in exasperating even our few friends. Our economic policies yo yo between spurts of liberalisation after which a beleagured governement licks its wounds inflicted by the militant left and other moonies. There is only one way forward. Our great classical civilisation, our wonderful eastern wisdon and all the rest of it need to take a break. We need to move on the economic front and we need a hard headed, no nonsense driver to steer the ship. The world will not wait for the Indian elephant forever.
Hi Debu,
ReplyDeleteGreat thoughts. Liked your earlier blogs as well.
At the same time I feel the jury is still out whether unabashed western model of industrialization and so called progress is best for a country like ours. Agree with you that we should not cling to the placental vestiges of great eastern wisdom, at the same time we need to think of hundreds of millions who are out there in bandicoots of Indian hinterland. What is necessarily good for west , Delhi , Mumbai may not be necessarily a magic wand for those souls. This needs to be seen in terms of fight for resources and grave environmental concerns we have today.
More later.
Hi Bhuwan. While I agree that an inclusive model of growth is a better idea, I feel that so far we do not seem to have found a viable mechanism. On the other hand, a 'trickle down' approach seems to work better - indeed that has been the model for success for even China. Attempts at collective farming and state ownership of land etc did not really work. Finally it has been the industrialisation of the Eastern seaboard that has really driven progress.
ReplyDeleteHi Debu,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Here are my views.
Innovative inclusive models of growth will take time to develop and scale. But they will happen. It took SELCO, one of the pioneers in creating a profitable business model around solar energy, 17 years to reach the scale they are at currently. And they are only confined to the state of Karnataka. They are now trying to support and incubate entrepreneurs who can replicate their model in other states, with some degree of state specific customization.
One of the conditions for these models developing is an underlying vibrant and booming economy, which can throw up entrepreneurs who are willing to take risks and make available risk capital to try and test out these models.
I fundamentally agree that government policy should be focused towards providing the necessary fillip for growth to the economy at large, without worrying too much about the inclusive nature of growth at this stage. And we should have trust in the sensitivities and energy of the Indian entrepreneurship to develop the necessary solutions and business models, which are sustainable and inclusive.
Chintan
Agree with you Chintan.
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