Isn't it amusing how we Indians get so defensive when someone talks of the looming issues that we face - be it the runaway inflation, the depreciating value of the rupee,the fiscal deficit, and so on? What is more funny is that those who get so troubled by the truth about India, take these facts as \"India bashing\". They spare no effort to hijack the thread and turn that into a \"WHICH-IS-BETTER-INDIA-OR-CANADA\" discussion.

I have always believed that if one can find a better quality of life elsewhere - that is where one should go!. When we have a poor quality of life, be it India or Canada, we should go where life is perfect (or at least seems perfect). That said, does that mean we can't have a meaningful discussion? No - we can, as long as we don't get personal and emotional (like most of us Indians do).

Is India the destination of the future? Only the future will determine this. I applaud those who have an undying faith in the Indian economy. However there are ugly truths about the Indian economy - fiscal deficits, the runaway inflation, the divide between the rich and poor, a corrupt government, and billions of unaccounted dollars in the parallel economy.

We can bury our heads in the sand, and pretend that this is a figment of our imagination, and continue to sing praises of the Indian economy. Does that mean that the economies elsewhere (including Canada, which is our favorite punching bag) are better? May be not. Then again, we are just talking about India, not making comparisons.

It is not all over for India, there is still a lot of potential. The rupee will recover in time. Just like all other countries though, India is not at all immune from the global economic crisis and if someone thought that India (and even China for that matter) will simply skate through this period without a glitch, they've got another thought coming.

The notion that India will somehow topple US and become a super-power by 2050 is pure hogwash. No matter what numbers those crooks at Goldman-Sachs are cooking up (we've all seen how accurate their numbers are recently). As I've said before, monetary growth on its own does very little and while there's been plenty of that recently in India, the other basics required for national maturity have hardly kept up. Infrastructure is still a mess and keeps getting worse with the nation getting richer, which is a huge red flag right there (it should work the opposite way in a nation gunning for global superiority). Lawlessness is rampant to a point where people are finding ways to justify corruption (make it legal etc.). Resources are spread thin and the corruption makes any foresight in their use impossible.

A country in which the fundamentals deteriorate while people get richer cannot expect to lead anything. There will be pockets of progress however it will be scattered and disorganized, never complete. And when the world turns it attention to another country (Brazil for instance), things will go downhill.

China is a bit different because of their manufacturing and organization, however any notion that China will overtake the US with respect to true super-power status is pure hogwash as well. You need to be an open nation to lead the world, not the black box China is currently. Without democracy, China will at best continue the status quo.

And agree that the comparison to Canada is utterly pointless, both countries have their pluses and minuses - pick where you want to live and try to make the best of it.

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Kudos to blue lobster for the balanced view of the subject. I wish there were more people like you on this forum - we could learn so much more!!

Why Indians living in India or outside India should not forget the history. There is a very interesting quote I found from the internet which we should teach at least to our children (Because we think that learning English is more important than History)

British Governor General Lord McCauley’s speech to the British Parliament on Feb 2, 1835

"I have traveled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such caliber, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native self-culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation".

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Originally posted by web2000

Why Indians living in India or outside India should not forget the history. There is a very interesting quote I found from the internet which we should teach at least to our children (Because we think that learning English is more important than History)

British Governor General Lord McCauley’s speech to the British Parliament on Feb 2, 1835

"I have traveled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such caliber, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native self-culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation".

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Originally posted by BlueLobster

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Originally posted by web2000

Why Indians living in India or outside India should not forget the history. There is a very interesting quote I found from the internet which we should teach at least to our children (Because we think that learning English is more important than History)

British Governor General Lord McCauley’s speech to the British Parliament on Feb 2, 1835

"I have traveled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such caliber, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native self-culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation".

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I'm surprised you don't see the contradiction in promoting this cherry-picked quote. The intent seems to be to teach our children that our culture was infinitely better and somehow the Brits duped us, however you're using a quote from a Brit who wanted to dupe us. huh? How do you trust his assessment of Indian culture and heritage? Just because it is positive? A lot of famous Britons (including Churchill) have said some pretty derogatory things about India and her culture, why ignore that then? In any case, why do we need a quote from a British guy who's been dead a long time? Can't we look around and assess the situation ourselves?

We're great at playing the victim card, but please don't overcomplicate this. The British were able to rule India for so long because Indians were naive, technologically behind, divided, strategically inept and greedy without foresight. And India got left behind because not only did we not produce the Edisons, Einsteins, Teslas, Fords, Gates and Jobs but there was no system to promote/encourage great minds even if they existed. And whether you agree or not, the "great culture" was counter productive when it came to this type of individual scientific achievement that propelled the western nations to great heights in the last couple of centuries.

While it is important to be proud of the rich history (and as someone of Indian heritage, I certainly am), it is also critical to move on into the light of the present day scenario and tune your thinking likewise. Blaming the British for our woes in the 21st century will take India nowhere.

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Originally posted by web2000

History teaches more than the current situation else there will be no need of this subject.

You can read more about the history here

[How Did Historically Prosperous India Get so Poor in the First Place]

http://www.ivarta.com/columns/OL_070520.htm

There are other links on this page (Related articles). Those who like history and want to learn from history can read all the links.

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