India Shining: India’s Flourishing Economy

chillibreeze writer — Sucharita Dutta

Media reports, public announcements, and statistics don’t always show the real picture. Reality is inevitably multidimensional, a combination of various factors. India Shining is not just a political slogan as most would like to believe; it is an ethos that permeates and at the same time ignores various strata of Indian society and psyche. The shine alone may reflect various things, not the least of which is the fact that the Indian system has emerged out of its license Raj polemics. We have to determine whether the shine is real enough to stay, or just the surface veneer that needs to be polished every now and then.

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India Shining is a configuration of contradictions, seemingly seamless, yet tangible to the discerning eye. The long roads to consumerist paradise meet at specific junctions, arid paths to perdition—in the villages and small towns of interior India. The roads lead to the swank malls and gleaming offices of liberalized and shining India. The paths are eons away from its reflected dazzle. Among the urban cornucopia, the damned voices lose themselves and begin to believe that they are a part of the shine. The India of today is therefore split among three segments: the urban, dazzling India, the poor India in their weather beaten and non-existent, and often threatened dwellings, and the vicarious India—happy in the reflected shine.

The narrative space within which this triadic India is situated today defies any specific statistical analysis. The many Indias in this narrative do not always shine forth; some are lackluster due to negligence and bad governance. At the same time, it is inevitable that a nation surges ahead on its own steam, and that is what India shining denotes—the rebirth of a nation in terms of self-awareness, self-consciousness, self confidence, and the desire to take on the world. This is India shining. This is the reflection in which politicians, bureaucrats, vote seeking advertisements, and stock markets are posited.

The Sensex went through the roof before it came down. But it proved the country’s ability to break the glass ceiling. Telecom connectivity is improving by the day, and the very idea of organizations thriving with home-based writers proves the point. International companies eye the sub-continent, looking for a share in the pie. The most convincing symbol of the shining times is a burgeoning middle class with disposable income. The country’s air space has opened up, railways are on the revival mode, and people are traveling all over the country and the world, mobile phones and designer labels in place, with feet on foreign shores that only money could transport them to. To add to the glory inherent in all these symbols of prosperity and promise, the country holds a growing young and educated population ready to take up the mantle for the future, to drive the growth further.

And yet, there is the looming gloom. Literacy is still to pick up and improve substantially. Malnutrition in villages and slums continues to be a grim reality. Education has not yet reached the masses. Caste based vote-bank politics in the name of affirmative action has reared its head again. The youth are going berserk with easy money. The stock market has come down many notches. The rant against offshoring work is catching on in client nations, and infrastructure is still a far cry from what it should be to gain public trust.

These gloomy realities make the idea of India Shining an ironical necessity for the common good. It drives people to a feeling of wanting: wanting to be a part of the general buoyancy, wanting to contribute to one’s own well being, wanting to move ahead. It provides a common goal, a common agenda, however difficult or distant it may seem. It keeps India on its toes, and increases every possibility to retain and maintain the shine. India is indeed shining, albeit with dark strains in the gleam.

The lack of good infrastructure, especially roads and airways is a blot on the India Shining concept, and Indian political will is yet to manifest itself aggressively to compete in this area. Chaos and traffic congestion increase business time and this is seen as one of the biggest dampeners to the international desire to invest in the country. It is necessary to remember that a great democracy can walk the path to great power only on the basis of a strong infrastructure system.

On the other hand, the country has witnessed a consistent growth at eight per cent from 2003-2006. With the added reservoir of youth in the country today, India seems to be indeed shining, in different terms. The youth brings with it newer and more advanced knowledge, technological know-how, and an aggression that was not encouraged by earlier, more sober and rigid social and government systems. The manufacturing industry is on a roll once again, banks have jacked up their efficiency to cater to demanding customers, and private entrepreneurship has found a new lease of life from the government’s policies.

According to Newsweek (March 6, 2006) a fifth of the $150 million invested in developing countries has flown into India alone. The trend is a reflection not only of India as an emerging market in terms of opportunities but also of the fact that the country is a repository of unimaginable brain power that serves as the fulcrum for foreign interest. While India shines through these achievements, it is also imperative to take stock of social realities. Education is yet to permeate to the lowest rungs of society. Rural advancement policies and infrastructure needs strengthening to benefit the farmer. Senior citizens of the country have no social security and have to accommodate the needs of their life within pathetically low interest rates. India needs to shine forth on this front and take up for this section of society in the twilight zone of their lives. Along with a hard-hitting reform system, the country needs sensitive policies that take care of those who have served her— the less privileged, farmers, elderly, business community, students, and women.

Till India shines on all fronts optimally, the veneer will need occasional polishing and the citizens a reminder that there is room for further gleam.

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—About our writer:

Sucharita says, "Despite being an English major with an M.Phil degree in hand, I did not take the predictable path to becoming a teacher. I dreamt of being a writer for the simple pleasure of molding words to senses and ideas. My dreams have taken me through various forms of writing and whetted my appetite for more. Yeh dil maange more."

India Shining: India’s Flourishing Economy

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