India Trilogy Part 3 - A nation we can be proud of today
When British entered India in 1700, India was the richest country in the world with 26% of world GDP. In 1947, When they left after 250 years of chicanery, plunder and loot, India was perhaps the poorest country with 1% of GDP, 93% illiteracy, Average life expectancy was 32.
Today, in just a span of 75 years, independent India, we rose like a Phoenix from the ashes, we are the now the 3rd largest economy in the world in PPP $ after China and USA, 5th largest economy in real $, youngest country in the world (over 750m people below 30 yrs), world's largest democracy, and the top 3 market for every MNC from Cars, Computers to Smart phones. While our living standards and per capita income must improve, we are much better being a FREE AND INDEPENDENT nation anyday, rather than being a colony of a hegemonic power.
They say you can appreciate things only from afar, not when you are near or into it. It gives a sense of perspective. I lived almost 10 years of my life outside India. And travelled perhaps to over 40 plus foreign cities. I'm going to give a my unique perspective of what makes me happy about being in India and being indian.
In one West Asian country, a monarchy, One could not vote or choose a leader. The kings power is ultimate. Any word against the king, is blasphemous and you could be jailed. While the king was a visionary and benign, would we prefer a monarchy over a democracy? The power to choose, who is your country's leader, that's independence.
In another East Asian country, while being a democracy, you could be jailed for speaking against the ruling family, And ruling family, decided almost all the policies from how to run the government on education or public health or defence or right up to ethnic profiling on housing. There was hardly any opposition in this democracy. The people got all material comforts but were dependant on the state to tell them what to do next.
And now look at my great home country India. It's messy, unstructured, chaotic, crazy, diverse in every way with 700 spoken languages, 16 written scripts, almost 30 states, three major ethnicities, 5 major relegions, a sub continent naturally protected by Himalayas in the north to Indian ocean in the south, here are 1200 million people, living in an area roughly one third the size of USA with 3 times USA population, very quietly able to be, what they are...
. Free to practice their own religion
. Free to eat and wear what they want
. Free to speak their own mother tongue
. Free to live like how they lived for centuries
. Free to live and work in any part of India
. Free to explore the world and settle abroad
Free to criticise and condemn even our PM, President, and even our sacred Armed forces, religious leaders, reformists, freedom fighters, actors, sports person, celebrities, Freedom from persecution for not following the majority religion Hinduism, or speaking the majority language Hindi and still be treated as a TRUE CITIZEN of India. That's independence, that's freedom.
If you think, what's great about this, ..tell me one country of our size, scale, complexity who truly practice this? And that too in a developing world.
I might not agree with my fellow Indians on many things, but will defend their right to be what they are and speak their mind every time. That freedom, we must treasure.
SO what are few things, every Indian can feel proud about?
1. Democracy
More than 75% of the countries in the world fall into a few categories. Monarchy, single party rule, military dictatorship, quasi democracy, authoritarian rule etc. Very few peacefully transfer power every 5 years without blood shed or social upheaval. The fact that over a billion people vote to choose their state and central leaders in a transparent manner is itself a miracle.
2. Freedom
I can be what I am, in most parts of the country. I can talk for or against the government as a common citizen in a rally, social media or to anyone without fear of repercussions. Ofcourse this comes with certain responsibilities.
3. Ancient civilisation
Perhaps the oldest civilisation in the world is India. And be it language, science, arts, medicine, astronomy, philosophy, engineering, mathematics, architecture to kama sutra to Yoga to Martial arts, Indian contributions to world civilisation is immense. This continues till date and one example. Indian film industry which is the largest in the world produces over 3000 movies a year in multiple languages. Imagine the amount of singers, dancers, actors and technical people involved, showcasing ultimate creativity and talent every day.
4. Diversity in people, cuisine and land
We are a sub continent. See 4 maps below and you will understand. we have more population than USA, Europe and Japan put together. We have more diversity in Race, Religion and written languages (21) and spoken languages (750) compared to China. Vastly complex terrain - from snowy Himalayas, Deserts, Jungles, Mountains, long beaches to extreme heat, cold, humid weather. And our GDP for many cities better than many developed Western cities and many states worse than sub-saharan Africa. The land which gave Karma and Dharma, Zero and Hero, Buddha and Yoga is a complex land indeed. 750 spoken languages, 20 written scripts, three ethnic races, 6 major religions, 30 states, 100 cities with almost a million population, cuisine of every variety, mountains as high as Himalayas to mighty rivers and oceans as deep as Indian Ocean, few deserts, few jungles, green forests to concrete jungles in big cities, we are perhaps DIVERSE in every way. Even I'm surprised what unites us? That invisible thing is called culture. Unity in Diversity is true here. Any other nation would have balkanized but for our culture of respecting diversity.
5. Frugal living and respect for nature
The average Indian is quite frugal and simple in his,her lifestyle. They leave very little carbon footprint. Most of the times we give more than we receive in every sense of the world. And the average indians respect for nature, be it mountains to rivers to jungles to animals is commendable. It's a different matter a few big cities have screwed up this culture. But for majority Indians, they have a simple and contended life.
This is also reflected in creating the world's lowest priced car (Tata Nano for $2000), the lowest cost space mission to Mars or offering the best value for Technology services by Indian companies like TCS, Infosys, HCL etc.
6. Deeply spiritual people
If religion is the opium of the masses, Indians are always on a high. But more than being religious, they are deeply spiritual people who live by strong morals. Seekers of the truth be it the Gurus and Rishis, Gautama Buddha to Gandhi everyone walked here.
7. Central institutions
Army, Navy, Airforce, Election commission, judiciary, parliament, media, IIT, IIM, AIIMS, ISRO, AMUL, METRO, DRDO all of them world class but they run at one tenth of cost of developed countries. Frugal science and engineering you have it here.
8. Indian companies going global
SWITCH - the acronym coined for Satyam/Mahindra Wipro Infosys TCS Cognizant HCL are the technology backbone of all major companies in the world. Tata group, the salt to software empire, now is worth over 120 billion dollars, owns Taj Hotels, Air India, TCS, Titan, Tanishq, Croma, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Beverages now owns many Marque brands like Tetley tea, Jaguar, Landrover, Corus steel etc. Once I was sipping Tetley tea in London, and I was glad, in someway a famous British brand is owned by an Indian company now.
9. Indian talent going global
Today, in just a span of 75 years, independent India, we rose like a Phoenix from the ashes, we are the now the 3rd largest economy in the world in PPP $ after China and USA, 5th largest economy in real $, youngest country in the world (over 750m people below 30 yrs), world's largest democracy, and the top 3 market for every MNC from Cars, Computers to Smart phones. While our living standards and per capita income must improve, we are much better being a FREE AND INDEPENDENT nation anyday, rather than being a colony of a hegemonic power.
They say you can appreciate things only from afar, not when you are near or into it. It gives a sense of perspective. I lived almost 10 years of my life outside India. And travelled perhaps to over 40 plus foreign cities. I'm going to give a my unique perspective of what makes me happy about being in India and being indian.
In one West Asian country, a monarchy, One could not vote or choose a leader. The kings power is ultimate. Any word against the king, is blasphemous and you could be jailed. While the king was a visionary and benign, would we prefer a monarchy over a democracy? The power to choose, who is your country's leader, that's independence.
In another East Asian country, while being a democracy, you could be jailed for speaking against the ruling family, And ruling family, decided almost all the policies from how to run the government on education or public health or defence or right up to ethnic profiling on housing. There was hardly any opposition in this democracy. The people got all material comforts but were dependant on the state to tell them what to do next.
And now look at my great home country India. It's messy, unstructured, chaotic, crazy, diverse in every way with 700 spoken languages, 16 written scripts, almost 30 states, three major ethnicities, 5 major relegions, a sub continent naturally protected by Himalayas in the north to Indian ocean in the south, here are 1200 million people, living in an area roughly one third the size of USA with 3 times USA population, very quietly able to be, what they are...
. Free to practice their own religion
. Free to eat and wear what they want
. Free to speak their own mother tongue
. Free to live like how they lived for centuries
. Free to live and work in any part of India
. Free to explore the world and settle abroad
Free to criticise and condemn even our PM, President, and even our sacred Armed forces, religious leaders, reformists, freedom fighters, actors, sports person, celebrities, Freedom from persecution for not following the majority religion Hinduism, or speaking the majority language Hindi and still be treated as a TRUE CITIZEN of India. That's independence, that's freedom.
If you think, what's great about this, ..tell me one country of our size, scale, complexity who truly practice this? And that too in a developing world.
I might not agree with my fellow Indians on many things, but will defend their right to be what they are and speak their mind every time. That freedom, we must treasure.
SO what are few things, every Indian can feel proud about?
1. Democracy
More than 75% of the countries in the world fall into a few categories. Monarchy, single party rule, military dictatorship, quasi democracy, authoritarian rule etc. Very few peacefully transfer power every 5 years without blood shed or social upheaval. The fact that over a billion people vote to choose their state and central leaders in a transparent manner is itself a miracle.
2. Freedom
I can be what I am, in most parts of the country. I can talk for or against the government as a common citizen in a rally, social media or to anyone without fear of repercussions. Ofcourse this comes with certain responsibilities.
3. Ancient civilisation
Perhaps the oldest civilisation in the world is India. And be it language, science, arts, medicine, astronomy, philosophy, engineering, mathematics, architecture to kama sutra to Yoga to Martial arts, Indian contributions to world civilisation is immense. This continues till date and one example. Indian film industry which is the largest in the world produces over 3000 movies a year in multiple languages. Imagine the amount of singers, dancers, actors and technical people involved, showcasing ultimate creativity and talent every day.
4. Diversity in people, cuisine and land
We are a sub continent. See 4 maps below and you will understand. we have more population than USA, Europe and Japan put together. We have more diversity in Race, Religion and written languages (21) and spoken languages (750) compared to China. Vastly complex terrain - from snowy Himalayas, Deserts, Jungles, Mountains, long beaches to extreme heat, cold, humid weather. And our GDP for many cities better than many developed Western cities and many states worse than sub-saharan Africa. The land which gave Karma and Dharma, Zero and Hero, Buddha and Yoga is a complex land indeed. 750 spoken languages, 20 written scripts, three ethnic races, 6 major religions, 30 states, 100 cities with almost a million population, cuisine of every variety, mountains as high as Himalayas to mighty rivers and oceans as deep as Indian Ocean, few deserts, few jungles, green forests to concrete jungles in big cities, we are perhaps DIVERSE in every way. Even I'm surprised what unites us? That invisible thing is called culture. Unity in Diversity is true here. Any other nation would have balkanized but for our culture of respecting diversity.
5. Frugal living and respect for nature
The average Indian is quite frugal and simple in his,her lifestyle. They leave very little carbon footprint. Most of the times we give more than we receive in every sense of the world. And the average indians respect for nature, be it mountains to rivers to jungles to animals is commendable. It's a different matter a few big cities have screwed up this culture. But for majority Indians, they have a simple and contended life.
This is also reflected in creating the world's lowest priced car (Tata Nano for $2000), the lowest cost space mission to Mars or offering the best value for Technology services by Indian companies like TCS, Infosys, HCL etc.
6. Deeply spiritual people
If religion is the opium of the masses, Indians are always on a high. But more than being religious, they are deeply spiritual people who live by strong morals. Seekers of the truth be it the Gurus and Rishis, Gautama Buddha to Gandhi everyone walked here.
7. Central institutions
Army, Navy, Airforce, Election commission, judiciary, parliament, media, IIT, IIM, AIIMS, ISRO, AMUL, METRO, DRDO all of them world class but they run at one tenth of cost of developed countries. Frugal science and engineering you have it here.
8. Indian companies going global
SWITCH - the acronym coined for Satyam/Mahindra Wipro Infosys TCS Cognizant HCL are the technology backbone of all major companies in the world. Tata group, the salt to software empire, now is worth over 120 billion dollars, owns Taj Hotels, Air India, TCS, Titan, Tanishq, Croma, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Beverages now owns many Marque brands like Tetley tea, Jaguar, Landrover, Corus steel etc. Once I was sipping Tetley tea in London, and I was glad, in someway a famous British brand is owned by an Indian company now.
9. Indian talent going global
Indians are the wealthiest immigrant group in USA. Almost 50% of all start ups in silicon Valley have an Indian co-founder. Top companies of the globe have India born and India educated CEOs. Few notable examples below.
• Sundar Pichai: CEO, Google
• Arvind Krishna - CEO, IBM Group.
• Satya Nadella - CEO, Microsoft.
• Shantanu Narayen - CEO, Adobe Inc.
• Ajay Banga - CEO, Mastercard
10. Indias sports world beaters.
Indian sports people have many odds of poor sporting infrastructure, poor nutrition,
Fickle returns in sports as a profession. Despite that India has produced a lot of world beaters below.
. Dhyan Chand - the Pele of field hockey. 3 time olympic gold medal winning hockey captain.
. Sachin Tendulkar- The God of cricket, World No.1 cricket batsmsn
Kapil Dev - perhaps the first world cup winning captain who is also an all rounder
. Vishy Anand - five time world chess champion
. Mary Kom - World champion female boxer
. Prakash Padukone - past World No.1 badminton player to PV Sindhu Olympic silver medalist
. Abhinav Bindra - olympic gold shooting.
. Neeraj Chopra - olympic gold Javelin.
11. Indian musicians and film industry
India has the largest film industry in the world, producing over 3000 movies a year. Just like how many Indians know first about Pele or Maradona and then about their respective countries, Indian cinestars like Amitabh Bacchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Raj Kapoor, Sivaji Ganesan or Kamalahasan and Rajinikant are recognized in many countries across the globe and have a huge fan following. The industry has produced many stalwarts, technicians and musicians like Satyajit Ray, RD Barman, Illayaraja and ARR Rahman. AR Rahman has two Oscar's and two Grammy awards. Plus hundreds of classical musicians and dancers keeping Indian arts alive globally.
I can give a hundred other reasons, but I'm most happy with these. See some unique maps and pics below to appreciate the diversity. If you have other things which make you proud please add in comments section.
Happy Independence Day again. Jai Hind.
By Nash Narasimhan Tupil
• Sundar Pichai: CEO, Google
• Arvind Krishna - CEO, IBM Group.
• Satya Nadella - CEO, Microsoft.
• Shantanu Narayen - CEO, Adobe Inc.
• Ajay Banga - CEO, Mastercard
10. Indias sports world beaters.
Indian sports people have many odds of poor sporting infrastructure, poor nutrition,
Fickle returns in sports as a profession. Despite that India has produced a lot of world beaters below.
. Dhyan Chand - the Pele of field hockey. 3 time olympic gold medal winning hockey captain.
. Sachin Tendulkar- The God of cricket, World No.1 cricket batsmsn
Kapil Dev - perhaps the first world cup winning captain who is also an all rounder
. Vishy Anand - five time world chess champion
. Mary Kom - World champion female boxer
. Prakash Padukone - past World No.1 badminton player to PV Sindhu Olympic silver medalist
. Abhinav Bindra - olympic gold shooting.
. Neeraj Chopra - olympic gold Javelin.
11. Indian musicians and film industry
India has the largest film industry in the world, producing over 3000 movies a year. Just like how many Indians know first about Pele or Maradona and then about their respective countries, Indian cinestars like Amitabh Bacchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Raj Kapoor, Sivaji Ganesan or Kamalahasan and Rajinikant are recognized in many countries across the globe and have a huge fan following. The industry has produced many stalwarts, technicians and musicians like Satyajit Ray, RD Barman, Illayaraja and ARR Rahman. AR Rahman has two Oscar's and two Grammy awards. Plus hundreds of classical musicians and dancers keeping Indian arts alive globally.
I can give a hundred other reasons, but I'm most happy with these. See some unique maps and pics below to appreciate the diversity. If you have other things which make you proud please add in comments section.
Happy Independence Day again. Jai Hind.
By Nash Narasimhan Tupil
Bangalore
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