This year, in 2007, India completed 60 years of independence from the British rule of more than 200 years. Unlike a life of a professional working in public sector, 60th year does not bring any retirement to this country. However, at the 60th year, India has finally arrived. It has emerged as one of the safest investment destination for global investors. At the 60th year, Indian bourses crossed the trillion rupee milestone in terms of transactions amount; & in this 60th year, Indian conglomerates like the TATA group have almost dominated the global industry by making its presence felt by way of acquisitions & expansions on global scale. At the 60th year, India has nominated a woman to preside over the country. It’s at the 60th year, India tested its indigenously built missile off the coast of Orissa; a missile which has the capability to land at its neighbors’ capital, if the need arises. It’s at the 60th year of independence that justice prevailed, so as to punish the perpetrators (though not all of them) for the riots that shook the nation more than a decade back. It’s at the 60th year that Indian railways, the largest railway network throughout the world, finally turned around & reported a profit.
However, while the above may be a short brief of the happenings which may pride India for its achievements in the 60th year of independence, there are still some shortcomings. There are still a lot of people surviving below poverty line & sleeping hungry while the government warehouses which stock the grains are stocked beyond their capacity... There are still people whose lives are wrecked by natural disasters like rainfall since there are no disaster management systems in place. The financial capital of the country – Mumbai – still comes to a standstill when the rain God’s go berserk on the coastal city. And the people of the city are so used to being tested for their resilience that it has become a part of their life, to expect a day or two off, every year, due to heavy monsoon; and when the rain God’s are cool, mafia & politicians test their patience, in form of bomb blasts & bandhs. In the 60th year, a ruling CM of a progressive South Indian state shamelessly humiliated the opposition party member in the most disgraceful manner. In the 60th year, India still suffers from a monolithic bureaucracy which aggravates corruption. In the 60th year, the communal divide still exists & every spark of the divide is fuelled so as to result in a fire. In the 60th year, the members of the assembly openly threaten & assault a Bangaldeshi writer in presence of the media, & roam around scot free. Her fault: expressing herself freely in her book.
Hence, there’s still a long way to go, for India to become a superpower. Ironically, at its 60th year of independence, India is still termed as a “potential superpower”, rather than a “superpower”. It’s still “speculated” to be a sound investment decision. It’s still termed as a developing country, rather than a developed country. Consider Japan, which was devastated after the nuclear bombing in 1945; but the country has succeeded in almost all its endeavors, so as to churn out auto companies like Honda, Toyota & Suzuki, the brands which have been ruling the auto market in India. & while this may sound dependant (rather than independent), unless the politicians of the country are not accounted for their work, their callousness & their fraudulence, the next 60 years are also not going to be any better. Next year may be better than today, but may not be at par with what the developed countries like Germany & Japan would be then. Hoping the politicos’ become instrumental in the growth of the company & strive to put India into the top most countries of the world, I wish all the readers an Happy Independence Day…
