India on the Ascendant
As the prosperous West grapples with low growth or no growth, people world over are looking at India with a lot of interest.
Here is an economy that grows at 5 to 8% annually and has an increasingly prosperous middle class that by some accounts is 300 million large.
The world has sat up and noticed the growing aspirations of a lumbering giant, that is just about beginning to discover its clout and revel in it.
And why shouldn't it be so?Money makes the mare go, and India makes money-make no mistake about it.
Today it is the cynosure of governments and industries from around the world.
Look around you.
India is buying everything from everywhere.
Top of the line defense equipment, swanky cars, foreign holiday packages, top end luxury goods and everything else that is on offer globally.
Indian sports leagues rival that of the West and the country has its own annual Grand Prix.
With all this prosperity has come a level of confidence that Indians were never known for.
Witness how the Italians were arm twisted into sending the marines back to prison in India, when the former tried to keep them back by reneging on a commitment given in the Indian Supreme Court.
However in the euphoria that exists over India's arrival on the world scene, one needs to view things with some perspective.
India's growth may be high, but that's because it starts from a low base.
The countries of the first world have already achieved extremely high standards of living for a substantial part of their respective populations.
Their infrastructure is fully in place, and life is comfortable for most of the people.
More importantly they are able to provide their citizens with a high degree of social security.
This includes things like unemployment doles, medical insurance and education for all (the recent tinkering with the modalities of allocation notwithstanding).
India unfortunately still fares abysmally on most human development indices.
Its infrastructure is still in a shambles, with good roads, power and access to education and medical care woefully inadequate.
This has led to skewed development, and that does not augur well for social harmony.
The run away population growth is already putting inordinate strain on the land and water resources of the country.
Then there are the endemic problems of extreme poverty, infant mortality and malnutrition among children.
When these facts are juxtaposed with the now famous image of India as an IT super power that can only rise, the picture that emerges is far from rosy.
The top brands of the world may be making a beeline to her shores, and Hollywood movies might be releasing in India before they do in America; but the fact of the matter is that there are monumental challenges that this great and hoary land of over a billion people has to still overcome.
Here is an economy that grows at 5 to 8% annually and has an increasingly prosperous middle class that by some accounts is 300 million large.
The world has sat up and noticed the growing aspirations of a lumbering giant, that is just about beginning to discover its clout and revel in it.
And why shouldn't it be so?Money makes the mare go, and India makes money-make no mistake about it.
Today it is the cynosure of governments and industries from around the world.
Look around you.
India is buying everything from everywhere.
Top of the line defense equipment, swanky cars, foreign holiday packages, top end luxury goods and everything else that is on offer globally.
Indian sports leagues rival that of the West and the country has its own annual Grand Prix.
With all this prosperity has come a level of confidence that Indians were never known for.
Witness how the Italians were arm twisted into sending the marines back to prison in India, when the former tried to keep them back by reneging on a commitment given in the Indian Supreme Court.
However in the euphoria that exists over India's arrival on the world scene, one needs to view things with some perspective.
India's growth may be high, but that's because it starts from a low base.
The countries of the first world have already achieved extremely high standards of living for a substantial part of their respective populations.
Their infrastructure is fully in place, and life is comfortable for most of the people.
More importantly they are able to provide their citizens with a high degree of social security.
This includes things like unemployment doles, medical insurance and education for all (the recent tinkering with the modalities of allocation notwithstanding).
India unfortunately still fares abysmally on most human development indices.
Its infrastructure is still in a shambles, with good roads, power and access to education and medical care woefully inadequate.
This has led to skewed development, and that does not augur well for social harmony.
The run away population growth is already putting inordinate strain on the land and water resources of the country.
Then there are the endemic problems of extreme poverty, infant mortality and malnutrition among children.
When these facts are juxtaposed with the now famous image of India as an IT super power that can only rise, the picture that emerges is far from rosy.
The top brands of the world may be making a beeline to her shores, and Hollywood movies might be releasing in India before they do in America; but the fact of the matter is that there are monumental challenges that this great and hoary land of over a billion people has to still overcome.
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