My wife, Rosemary, and I visited India for three weeks in November and December last. It was her first visit to India. I had been away from India for twenty years, and was looking to observe changes in the last two decades. We travelled through Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, besides New Delhi. Most of our travel was carried out in rented cars. Each car came with a driver, freeing up for us to observe all around. We were able to observe bottom-up, talking to the drivers, tour guides and the occasional man on the street. With one exception, we did not schedule meetings with the intellectuals and the elite. There just wasn't time.
I should explain at the outset that my criticism of India springs from a deep reservoir of love for the country. It distresses me when I see India not performing to its potential. India's explosive economic growth is common knowledge. Some of the traits I have identified below act as a brake on its unimpeded progress. I believe the euphoria surrounding the growth must be tempered by a recognition of these traits, which are undeniably a part of the national make-up. Signs of economic progress were abundant. India has definitely entered the age of motorbikes; they were ubiquitous. I saw few bicycle riders in Punjab and Rajasthan. There appeared to be more of them in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, but they were still vastly outnumbered by the motorbikes. Even the old Delhi airport appears brand new. The new International airport in Delhi is a marvel, and a thing of beauty. The new airport in Varanasi was opened just two weeks before our arrival. It has a lovely, modern look. For the first time I saw four-lane divided highways in India — more on that later. The heart of Jalandhar (Punjab) appeared to be all dug up as construction of overpasses continues.
But I saw much that left me deeply concerned.
The biggest problem appears to be people's contentment while living in the midst of squalor. It doesn't take much effort to clean up a neighbourhood. This task should be rightly undertaken by village councils (panchayats) in the countryside, and city governments should do the same in urban areas. Here is the catch. People's representatives feel no pressure whatsoever to clean up; there are notable exceptions, though. Udaipur is relatively a clean city. We learned that when the city tended to relax its efforts, Udaipur's people organised voluntary work to clean up whole areas, shaming the city government into action. But we saw harrowing examples of squalor just about everywhere else. I was distressed and embarrassed.
An unsettling trait was people's tendency to settle for mediocrity. In outwardly nice office buildings and homes, we would find frayed interiors, and messy bathroom facilities in urgent need of repair and cleanup. In fact, finding a clean and adequate toilet became an urgent challenge for us! But those who worked or lived there were apparently quite happy with the way things were. The point is, it really wouldn't take much effort to repair and clean up. When I visited my old chemical engineering department at my alma mater, Panjab University, I was in for a rude shock. I had memories of a new shining building and facilities from my time. But the place was caught in a time warp. They didn't even pretend to spend any money on maintenance. The stones on the steps of the lovely staircase of my memory were dangerously chipped. Windows were filthy and some were broken. The boat-like white structure on top of the building was awash in trash. How do people continue merrily in such run-down facilities? Why does it not bother them?
The city of Chandigarh, where Panjab University is located, was once the crown jewel among all Indian cities. It was the first planned modern city of India designed by architect Le Corbusier. It was full of broad boulevards, lovely white buildings and beautiful lawns. Alas, they are no more! The buildings are a drab patchy black with dirt and soot, the lawns are brown or non-existent, and the boulevards are groaning with traffic jams. Why did the city let this happen? I wondered about the missing sense of pride.
We were impressed with the new four-lane national highways. But not fencing them off on both sides has created very real problems. In our travels through Rajasthan, we found cows and water buffaloes meandering around in the middle of the highways. Some were munching on the plants planted in the divider strip. People freely crossed the highway in numerous areas. In some places the highway totally broke down under the pressure of village folks on both sides who just took it over and set up shops and stalls. The cost of fencing (and building overpasses for pedestrians, tractors and the like) would have been a pittance in relation to the overall cost. Whoever is responsible for the operation of the highways has clearly stumbled. Here is the third trait that distressed me — a trait of the public sector, really — lack of follow through. The private companies did a great job building the highways. The government is already letting them go to seed. The modern airports I mentioned above are world-class, built by private enterprise, on budget and ahead of schedule. I have serious concerns about how they are going to be operated.
Some misguided religious sentiments appear to be doing great harm. Take the example of people's reverence for the cow. The stray cows in markets and roads in towns and cities (not to mention on national highways) do serious damage to the effectiveness and safety of transport. It appears that the average traffic speed in as well as between cities and towns is 20 to 25 miles an hour, at best. It can shoot up to 60 miles on the new national highways. That is, till you have to negotiate your way through a herd of stray animals. There ought to be a national law calling for collection and removal of all stray animals. Let those who care for the welfare of the cows donate money to build cow shelters (gaushalas). Unfortunately, politicians are too weak-kneed to provide real leadership.
While we heard not a single voice railing against the entrepreneurs, corporations and their “animal spirits,” we heard universal condemnation of the government and the “corrupt politicians.” It appears that public good is a foreign sentiment to most politicians. There are some sterling exceptions, however. Nitish Kumar's name seemed to be on every tongue, far from his home State of Bihar. What people seemed to crave in other reaches of India was his five-year record of stellar performance as Chief Minister.
Private enterprise is the silver lining in India. It can rightly claim credit for the 9% plus growth rates currently fuelling India's economy. Another bright spot was the prevalence of education down to the smallest village. We saw schoolchildren in uniform everywhere we went. While education too suffers from teacher absenteeism and incompetence, the sight of school uniforms truly warmed my heart! The institutional problems are conducive to solutions, though progress can be painfully slow. How do you change people's attitudes? Perhaps the spread of education and rising incomes will affect them for the better. It is just a hope.
(The writer's email id is sminhas@sbcglobal.net)
Keywords: India's problems, pollution, corruption, economy
Why do we emulate western clothes, songs and dances and culture but are not willing to learn some manners and decency?? You know I am an Indian and I agree with the author. There is no harm in looking at ourselves from a different eye. Lets stop burying our head in the sand and open up. Why does it take Gandhigiri to improve our India? Why do we have cows wondering all over the city? What is the purpose behind it and dont tell me its religion. All those cows should be collected and given a proper home. Why do we have dogs and monkeys (in some part) wondering all over the city making a menace of themselves. Yes there are improvement taking place all the time and I am proud of that immensely but we can learn a lot more. Why are our police so corrupt to the core! Why are we biased towards the western people when they visit us? What is this silly special rate they have to pay?? The list goes on....
I agree with the author completely. It is not very dificult to change all this if we can change our attitude. It doesn't cost the earth to put lights when roads are being repaired, to put a 'wet floor' sign to warn people, to give truck and bus drivers licenses only after they know and truly believe that they should not park just ahead of the traffic lights or at the crossroads to offload material or pick up passengers, to open the door to a person who is about to enter a library/hall/shop... the list goes on. It reminds me of a young man I met at Heathrow who didn't want to return to India. I asked him why and he pointed to a 'wet floor sign' and said, "It would never be put in India, they'd just laugh if someone fell and say,'Are you blind? Can't you see the floor is wet?' That's why I don't want to return..."
At the request of the author, I am posting here the comments I made to him (via private e-mail) regarding the above article: "Perhaps the point is not to condemn the progress that is being made [in India or, for that matter, anywhere else], or the accumulation of material wealth, but to seek ways of ensuring that a faire share of that wealth is being utilized to promote and expand access to essential services (education, healthcare etc.) for the socially disadvantaged. I see this as being a universal issue, rather than an India-specific one... 'the little guy' is usually not among the main concern of the rich elite. (One need look no further than the bank bailouts here in Ireland for proof of that...)" So - if hygiene issues (for example) persist, then how could/should they be addressed, both by the authorities and by local people themselves? Are the principles of basic hygiene being taught in primary school? If not, then maybe this should become a mandatory subject in India's national curriculum? For that matter, might the Indian diaspora be in a position to rally support for the inclusion of hygiene in the curriculum, if enough Indians living abroad deem this step to be necessary and/or desirable? To give one pertinent example from neighboring Bangladesh, Save the Children incorporated hygiene education into their programs for sponsored children, and then organized 'Child-to-Child' groups who went from door to door to spread the message among their neighbors and the other children: wash your hands, do your part to keep the public latrines clean and so on. My first sponsored child in Bangladesh, a young girl named Hasena, participated in this program - and was proud to do so. Generally speaking, I firmly agree with much of what Paulo Freire wrote in "The Pedagogy of the Oppressed" (which, in passing, is one key influence in Save the Children-Bangladesh's methodology...): access to education is fundamental, and it should not be exclusively top-down education. People also need to be encouraged and incentivized NOT to be passive and simply expect 'magical' solutions from above, but rather to share ideas and brainstorm how they can best resolve the issues their respective communities face.'
I have been deeply moved by the keen interest shown in my essay by the readership of The Hindu. The response has been amazing. I also received 51 emails directly. If we get past the rather sophomoric notion of who does and who doesn't have the right to criticize India, the key thread throughout the response has been a passionate desire for India to do better. In a recent column in The Times of India my friend Gurcharan Das identifies two public spaces for action - (a)concentrating on the grievances of the poor and thinking small, or (b) looking at the dynamism of the part of India that is exploding with growth, in the process pulling millions out of poverty. The latter approach requires thinking big and figuring out ways of leaping over obstacles in the way. My entire essay cried out for shedding the old fatalistic ways and embracing the second approach advocated by Mr. Das. That is the only way for India to claim a seat at the table of advanced and powerful nations of the world. The images of Tehrir Square in Cairo stick with me, people picking up garbage and cleaning up the Square. With Mubarak gone, Egypt was their's now, and the pride of ownership led them to clean up the place. This is my burning desire, for every Indian to feel that he/she owns a part of India and feels obligated to keep the country shining clean. From apathy to ownership and pride, this is what Gandhiji tried to teach his countrymen, and failed. Can we all try again, please?
Let us respect Sardul Minhas' right to criticize. George M. on January 18th comments distinguishes between our values of personal and public hygiene. Herein lies the nub of the problem. Personal hygiene and its practice with excessive zealousness distinuguishes the upper(Brahmanic) caste behaviour from public cleanliness which is identified as lower caste responsibility. Over the millennia, our social-psychology has conditioned us to neglect public hygiene and a belief system has taken root that it is something to be done by those who are from that order of society. Unless the Indian society to realizes that public hygiene is a matter of social pride, there is very little an NRI's shout can be heard against thunder. Unless our religious seminaries and teachers take this up instead of preaching fear of the other communities, our country will carry on being contended with dirty public spaces.
There are problems in India that the author is bringing out but the point is not that. The point is the very fact that any NRI who has done nothing in order to contribute to India's relative success globally has no right to express whats right or whats not. We all know that we have problems and as Indians all of us have rights to express them but not someone who is Indian only because of his surname.
Its common for NRI's to crib but the point that they are making is spot on. The only consolation we have is that things are moving for the better at a fast pace, though that pace is still not good enough. We are changing for the good and we see a lot of action on the progress front in the sector of health, education, industry, services, IT etc.
I love articles such as these, that can bring in more attention,review and discussion.
Anyways, There is much more to be done,as in cleaning the Augean stable's, it took us around 10/15 years to achieve this basic realization that everyone should do his bit and so on,now that we know this stinks, we probably might take another decade or two in cleaning up the current mess.
Its a fundamental issue,back to basics,there is more need of transparency top down,across the width,everywhere and equally importance of accountability. And not the least, a Fair amount of Enforcement not enactment of Laws/Commissions/Task forces et cetra...
Hope you got my point.
Wow! I can't believe so many negative comments just because a NRI pointed out our short comings. Itis almost bordering on intolerant attitude like mullahs. The simple fact is, if we have to become a super power, lift people out of poverty, become a strong nation, we have to change. Try to change for good instead of trying to shoot the messenger.
'Progress in India does not have to mimic western countries'. I toatlly disagree with this statement. In this context, as far as my judgement is concerned, we are dealing with the sense of cleanliness in our own land. If that is so, we have our standard of cleanliness. The logic goes thus: are the dingy slums, the sceptic tanks leakage's horrible stench,or people defecating outdoors,our standard of cleanliness?? Now, I just connot accept this statement that we should not replicate their civilisation as a matter of fact. Cleanliness has no boundary and is not the monopoly of any nation, however great it may be. It is a universal concept and is the property of all. And one should not be angry because someone, whoever he or she is, points out the piece of rotten sense with which we Indians are sadly living with. Let us face the fact and not hide it and thereby perpetuating it further. Let us not make our corrupt politicians think that they are doing their jobs well but prove them otherwise. Be proud to be a unique Indian.
Sure, all of you expect the author to drop what he's doing and reform India? Can't someone stay outside India and love India. Can't someone stay outside India and point to it's flaws? Would it be better to just stay shut?
I just love the way we Indians find excuses on why we should'nt be clean. Don't we have a bath every day? Don't we wash ourselves after we go to the toilet? That is because we love ourself. We want to look good! Smell clean! But as far as mother India is concerned. Let us violate HER. Let us polute HER rivers. Let us Spit on HER. We Indians have lost our civic sense. We have the greatest culture in the world. We have got beautiful languages and food. We are an old civilisation. In every school we are taught civics. Why can't we practice it? Or was it just to pass the exam. If you love yourself, then equally love our India.
If each one of us try and take measures to sort out things ..it would be much of a pleasure to live in India..and let everyone live peacefully..easier to say,hard to put it down into practice who are all lost in the world of pin pointing!Perception and change in attitudes is all that matters..Heal the world (courtesy:refer heal- Michael Jackson lyrics)
I couldn't help posting after reading the article and the comments. Like the author, I am an NRI and have been away for 15 years. Unlike the author, I visit India every year and come away amazed with the improvements that India has made. The large number of positives far outweigh the problem areas. Progress in India does not have to mimic Western countries. The western lifestyle has a huge impact on the environment - what is percieved to be clean, is in-fact very unclean and unsustainable. I love India the way it is - lots of people - all beautifully dressed, the sights, the smells, the colors, living life on the streets. I hope it never becomes a sterile, bland and unfeeling place, the way it is in the country where I live. The highways I drove on in the US were very fast and devoid of distractions. But, every day I would see the dead body of a wild animal, crushed by the many urban assault vehicles that americans love so much.
That said, can India be more hygenic, so that its people are healthier. Most definitely, yes. Can our governance be better, so that our people are treated decently. Yes again. It is important to improve ourselves - but to what benchmark? Should we compare ourselves to any other country? And, if so, why? The changes India should make to its infrastructure should be to give its citizens the best quality of life it can give - but not at the cost of its value system. Doing so would mean that India will lose its identity.
Whether something is unclean or not depends on an individual's viewpoint. Some would find cows on the streets unclean. I find it humane. Some would find slaughterhouses where machines slice and dice millions of animals as unclean and inhuman. Perhaps, the author thinks differently.
I agree with those who are supporting Sardul Minhas. He really just tried to let us know the areas where we can improve. Being from outside, he has better sense of comparing India with other developed countries. I really appreciate he took his time to think so much about India and tried his best to provoke Indians to help it get better in whatever way they can.
Mr.Minhas, To make such type of observation regarding the country is not our concern. If you were cautious about the developments, why did you leave the country twenty years ago? It is easy to say that our country is lagging but hard to augment the developments.
I thought it was a nice article. It's the author's viewpoint and he put it across. Why is it that many of the people who have commented seem to have taken it personally, as though they have been held responsible for what's wrong in the country. It looks like what has irked the readers most is the fact that Dr. Sardul Minhas does not reside in India.
The author makes it quite clear he is stating opinion-based on observation alone. The onus is not on the author to make things green. It is a trigger for thought-to agree or disagree, to action or succumb to inaction. And nothing can happen in a day or with two strong hands. I am positive that developing rightfully describes the movement of the country towards the well-being of all.
It is really a thought-provoking article. Anyone who has traveled outside India would relate to the thoughts of the author. It is not surprising that there are so many criticizing comments. It is always easier to criticize a bitter truth than accept it. @Binu: Extreme patriotism won't help. Anything in extreme would mean an acceptance of the already existing situation. I, for one, know of some extremely patriotic people with no civic sense whatsoever. The same goes with some highly educated people.
I'm referring to the angry criticisms of the article by Dr Sardul Minhas 'I Love my India, therefore I criticise'. Are you people angry because Dr Minhas had said some negative things (very gently indeed) about India? Would you have been happy if he wrote the untruth: 'India is a paradise on earth!'? Did he write a single untruth about India? In my opinion, he was far too soft in his criticism: India's condition is agreed significantly better than that of Pakistan - but that is very small consolation indeed! It is high time indeed that we Indians belonging to the educated classes took a good clear look at ourselves, freeing ourselves first of our moral myopia - and then resolve to do something effective to rescue our beloved land from the disgraceful shambles that it is today.
RV ... you have just summarised what was in my mind as I am reading through these comments. Additonally rather than getting defensive about the comments made by the author and question his position to make such comments, I would rather look at what can we get out of this. What can we learn? One important observation... Millions spent on projects without a plan for maintainance over the life span of the infrastructure. eg. $100 bn on Highways but not fenced or proper maintainence plan. Rather than being defensive we all have to do our share... small acts of good civil duties can go long way. Hope this helps us all.
The author has made some useful observations - but has not quite got to the heart of the issue. It's true that we ARE today a nation mired in corruption and societal incompetence. Most Indians have an extremely low opinion of our politicians and bureaucrats who run this country - but how much have we done to get things changed? Mr Minhas observations about the utterly shaming squalor of most of our cities are entirely accurate. Mr Minhas has justifiably given high marks to the achievements of many parts of the private sector - but regardless of how much that private sector achieves, India will never be the nation it should be unless enough of us Indians learn how to take seriously our individual responsibilities of our own civic responsibilities in a civil society. If the politicians and the bureaucrats have brought our nation to this shameful conditions, we Indians at large have surely contributed - by our passiveness in the face of their corrupt ways and their incompetence. Further, unless we learn to demand (and get) adequate effectiveness and accountability from our central and state governments and their instruments - no amount of private sector achievements will do anything fundamental for the nation. What of our own shameless nonchalance, as citizens, about the way things are in this country and our lack of of social responsibility in letting those things lie as they are? I'm not just discussing things like good roads and clean surroundings in our cities (which are important). I'm pointing to shameful situations like the following: at least 47% of Indian children suffer from malnutrition - AND simultaneously the 'system' we set up for the nation's food security recently had to destroy thousands of tons of foodgrains because it was incapable of storing it properly! What have we done about that after the initial headlines and newsreports? One reader has suggested that we use the power of the VOTE effectively - that's good, but it's only the first step. Are we capable of following up on that, and are we willing to bring about effective systems to monitor the performance of our governments and their instruments? I read recently that moves are being made in some sections of the establishment to render toothless the 'Right to Information Act' - I'd suggest that this would be an excellent opportunity for us to tell them: 'NO WAY!' That would be a very useful beginning to start a real movements to begin to create a nation of which we could all be proud.
Its not very surprising that most of the comment question the observations of the author and question his proactiveness. I ask these ppl what do you expect the author to do..personally clean the windows of his old alma mater, all he could realistically do is give some donations to this institution and all of us know most of those funds would be appropriated through graft and never see the light of day. Most of the problems cited here is not for lack of funds but due to lack of a work ethic in most of the public and private institutions in our country. If everyone did their job on time and proactively most of these things would not happen.
It's an honest and incisive article. We can do better, hence we should. The acceptance of mediocrity is not an uncommon phenomenon in India. We pride ourselves excessively on 'adjusting'. Misplaced patriotism shouldn't hinder the very obvious intent of the author- constructive criticism.
Contrary to the author note, I love India the way it is. The colourfulness and cheerfulness of India is nowhere else to be found in supposedly the developed western world. I consider that it is ridiculous to a) let people speed @ 100 miles per hour and die on the road-side b) drinking sessions @ weekend night and end-up fighting like dogs c) to see a cow or a farm, one has to drive for a few hours d) Spend time to chit-chat politics, film stars and cricket in TV particularly to the detriment of health. It easily evades our recognition and realisation that even a very poor person in India with a little or no material comfort lives happily and faces the challenges of life cheerfully with his/her family everyday with a little hope that the following day will be something better. Life has also taught me to appreciate that the same 'chaltaa hai' in a way helps us to manage stress levels - otherwise when one crazily goes after money, job promotion, business success and lack of peace of mind as in western societies, life appears a drag and it loses its aura. With all its perceived shortcomings, I am happy with India as it is and hope that it will turn to be better.
It's a shame that most comments are directed towards questioning the patriotism of the author rather than the content itself. The author has outlined some of the key areas for improvement, so what's wrong with that? And how does it matter that citizens are already aware of them? It's worthwhile raising the voice till something gets done. Don't forget that even criticizing implicitly requires genuine interest in the country. Let's not be 'frogs in the well' dumb to constructive criticism and ideas. The ugly truth is that we as a nation need to improve and not rest on laurels. The disconnect between the readers and the author primarily seems to be that readers have seen India go from 1-10 while the author sitting at a mark of hundred wants india to move from 10-100. Remember every Indian, resident or not, is contributing in his own way. Some with ideas, others with funding, contacts, labor etc. Credit is shared by all, so are the faults. We need to go beyond it now.
Good comments. The article certainly observes some of the neglected problems of the country and more importantly shows people's attitude towards those problems and also tries to give the solution to an extent. We need to change our attitude with regard to problems and should strive to translate our economic growth on the some important and neglected areas.
Just want to say that India does not even need to do anything special. Just use the power of Vote wisely and remove criminals/corrupts from the politics. India will never needed a few dollars and pounds from people like me and other NRIs. Its a only country that can absorb more than 40 billion dollar 2G scam (much of which will go to swiss bank)and still function as a growing power. Can any NRI give this kind of money? It is not charity but curiosity in growing India that brings NRIs to India.
This was a nice post sir. I am in London right now and wonder similar things about India.Probably education might change things.
I feel it is important to have an article like this since it act as an eye opener. We who reside permanently in India are so immersed in our life that we hardly have time to notice/pinpoint all these things. So if somebody like this writer who has traveled across the world pinpoints something like this is not trying to criticise India on his return. it is in fact his desire to see India at par with the other countries that prompted him to write such an article. I think this article itself created an awareness, and that shows his willingness to contribute. Let us not blame each other rather we should get ourself ready to reinvent India in to place where every one would love to be.
Minhas's article is not the first nor shall it be the last calling for Indian's , both local and those returning from abroad to to take pride in their surroundings and be considerate of their environment. ( see Dr Abdul Kalam's speech http://www.it.iitb.ac.in/~aditya/abdulspeech.htm ). That cry should continue until every city in India can achieve what Singapore has achieved and I thank the Hindu for carrying this article . And for those readers who asked for an action plan, I refer you to a grass roots program based on private- public partnership model that created 'a rare spotless avenue in the city (Mumbai)' because of the initiative taken by a lady in her late 70's ..for details see http://alturl.com/hdfm. also available at http://rishimajumder.wordpress.com/category/environment/ If, a near 80 year old could make a difference with one program for one street , can you imagine what a million Indians could do for India.. Are those who wanted an action plan ready to act?
I am hoping that starting here, every person who feels that the author has no right to mention our country's shortcomings, also post what they themselves have done for their country. Sure, what the author has written is public knowledge (and that is the scary part) but rather than criticizing him, let's just use this as another article (among the millions of articles on this subject) to keep the concept of a 'New India' in mind. Let this be in the back of every one of your minds when you step out of your house today. When you see a piece of trash on the road, let this article remind you to pick it up and discard it in the nearest trash-bin. There are many ways to interpret every article. Clearly the author isn't against his country(men), so let's leave the negativity out. How about this - can everyone have a piece of paper stuck on the back of their front door (of your house/apartment) with what you will or will not do when you step out? Can you write down - * I will drive according to the rules today * I will not honk un-neccessarily today * I will not spit on the road today * I will not throw trash on the road today.. And other items that you can actually do. And when you return in the evening, check against the list and see how many you succeeded (at)? I think it might be a worthwhile exercise for all Indians.
I don't understand something. If the author really loves his country as he claims, then why is he visiting after 20 long years?
You have put your finger at the throbbing issue. Acceptance of mediocrity and inaction. India's national motto may be 'Satyameva Jayathe' but alas the people prefer 'sab chaltha hai'.
Resident Indians are quite content with their government, their politicians(netas), their roads,their cows and their standard of cleanliness, their level of corruption that no visiting NRI/OCI/PIO or foreigner need comment on it. They are aware of the situation and they are quite content with it. There is no need to change because it is quite ok the way it is. NRIs ventured out for better way of life.So they are less Indians then the resident Indians. So they need not comment on what ails India. Resident Indians, of course, feel that all is normal. Wonder who will bell the cat for what is wrong in India. One thing is for sure. no amount of NRIs can come back to make drastic changes in India... the revolution for change has to come from with in. Resient Indins have to rise to demand world class services instead of saying 'all is well'. The article is well written. Every visiting Indian may repeat it till the situation improves and or the resident Indians wake up to demand services that are normally available to any citizen of this world in a reasonably developed country. I love my India and I am proud of it the way it is but I would certainly like it to improve and lead the way for rest of the world.
It is gratifying to note that people accept the presence of the problems and the traits that I pointed out in the essay. None of the comments above, or the 34 emails I received, have any issue with what I said. The emails were by and large kinder and understanding, unlike the messages above, which blame the messenger, not the message. My point is this. There are a great many vexing problems that remain to be solved. Unless the Indian society and its leadership begin to address them, the aspirations of becoming a superpower will remain unmet. One of my correspondents, Gita, caught the essence of my essay beautifully. I shall let her words speak for themselves: Problems highlighted by you regarding national highways, animals, cleaning of toilets ,education, public versus private, conditions of universities, etc., need attention not only of politicians and ministers but the public has to be aware and take initiatives like (you wrote about) Udaipur. Incidentally, the title of the essay I sent to The Hindu was 'Impressions of India.'
1. The fact that the author is not a resident Indian does not trivialize the subject of the article. 2. The issues raised in the article are not new but everyone does need a reminder of things which do need to improve every now and then. 3. People who are ranting about HINDU giving a space for this article, should really be asking themselves if anything in this article is not true or not important enough to be featured in Hindu. Why didn't you raise the issue, if you could do it better? 4. Completely agree with Ramya Senthil Rajan that Indians do not take criticisms at all, leave alone the spirit. The author's personal preferences are an excuse to brush off criticism rather than take notice/action.
I agree we Indians need to do lot of rethink.As mentioned by the writer the civic amenities need to be improved. People need to be taught to keep surrounding clean. There is nothing to be surprised if a foreign visitor feels Indian cities are not maintained well.
If the author plans to write a sequel, he would most likely add this : The people of India do not take criticisms in a right spirit.
@Manish: The point the author makes here is how are we Indians so blind to the very way we live. Why cant we just wake up, and start behaving more humanely, isnt it time? Iam just back from a 5 year stint in the UK, and I can see in some places, people drive like they are blind here!! Honking, driving erratically, it seems every possible humane trait has been lost in India!
I really appreciate the concern of the author. But at the same time all this sounded so much cliche to me. Almost half of the Indian population who are supposedly the NRIs criticise Indian society for what it is. But the fact I fail to understand is, do they really have any rights for that. This very same country gave us everything.It is here where we were born, brought up, did our schooling, pursued our higher education. And finally one fine morning we just go out of the country and decide to settle there. If the elite population does this how is the Indian economy expected to improvise. There is nobody to take an initiative on anything. True for each activity, we just blame all our political parties, bureaucracy for what they are and what they do. But inspite of knowing their inefficency, nobody else comes into picture. The 'elite' population just settles in a safer place and do not come into picture.Then how is this country expected to evolve into a super power. So, instead of sitting back and thinking upon the plight of a country like India,let us take an initiative to do something for the country. Instead of just blaming the inefficiency of others, let the efficient come into picture and contribute to our growth. Only then can we realise our dream of turning our India to a better India.
I think extreme patriotism only can make our country a better place. Extreme patriotism leads to owenership and thereby action. We shoud start thinking like, people were there to die for the country, why can't we just clean our streets?
I agree. 'Some misguided religious sentiments appear to be doing great harm.' 1. Holy Cow! Cows slaughter is banned in India and still we are the largest producer of leather extracted out of cows skin. 2. Ganga washes you of your sins ...most hypocritical idea for businesses that thrive on the ghats of Mother Ganga! Actually spoilers and there's more to the list of our heritage of wacky styles..here's one at
http://ashokaholidays.blogspot.com/2011/01/whacky-feast-at-deshnok-temple-bikaner.html. Agreed again 'the spread of education and rising incomes will affect them for the better'.
I would agree with Manish rather Than Sardul Minhas. The time has gone when we talk. It's time to Act. Me, you, we need to act. If we can clean our neighbourhood then so do our University. It would have been pleasant, had Sardul also highlighted what he actually did in those three weeks. If not in all arena then at least for his Punjab University.
This article is quite misleading. Agreed that there are some loopholes in the India growth story but what the author points out in this article can't be really counted as traits at all. May be cleanliness and teacher absenteeism, for sure, can be termed as traits. Where we should talk about the poor people not getting their due in the explosive economic growth, the author talks about people being content about their lifestyles and stray animals on the national highways. That can be understood because author has not been in India for the last twenty years.
These exact sentiments are shared by millions of NRIs, OCIs, PIOs and people who travel around the world. There is a bigger problem to this. The cultural aspect, "chalta-hai" attitude with profuse quote of "When in Rome do as romans do". "I am like this only, what to do?" (thank MTV India). India needs cultural revolution, the identity currently is lost due to multiplicity. There is no uniqueness to this democracy, there is no watermark. So, we can only see pockets of excellence in India. You should be definitely dreaming if wishing for (high) standardized India.
Agreed. But What is written in this article is typical tourist comments. You get similar comments from every common man who visits neighbouring city, state. And typical local resident understands what is relevant and what is irrelevant in those comments. I appreciate his observations and hae serious suggestion to the author to spend time and effort to get to the grass root of atleast one problem listed here - may be in his alma matter of Punjab University/Chandigarh. This is frankly what is needed from you and appreciate your love towards the country.
Prime Space article !! That too with a Caricature from Keshav !.. There is n't anything new. The same message was conveyed by so many people.
Unforturnately, there are not any solutions from the author !
Let me pose a simple question to the author !. Why did n't he bother to visit/check his Chemical department earlier on a regular basis ?. What was his contribution to his chemical department during the two decades?.
Come on HINDU ... what is happening ?.....
one more case of a "Visiting Indian" who happens to love his country but has not been here for the last 20 years! (i always find that difficult to comprehend) I mean we as a country should be open to be critically examined, but avenues for that has been created and available within the country. nothing in this article is new or a discovered piece of information. The only difference being (or rather these days the commonality) is that it is coming from a "visiting indian". I understand that Hindu has a lot of readers outside the nation but I do believe its high time it stopped sharing such space for those readers. Will "Sardul Minhas" come back to India and correct these problems or at-least work towards it rather than just putting ink on paper which most us can easily do.
So you came , you saw and you cribbed. So typical of a person who goes abroad for greener pastures and comes back only to complain about the lack of growth.Did you really have to visit India to find that there is a cow menace here or Bihar is doing well under Nitish Kumar? It is all over the internet. I need to ask you a question and I feel it is a question even you should ask yourself - you made a long list of things which are wrong with India but what have you done to contribute a solution to the problems? Every developing country has its share of problems and so do we. Just by saying that people's attitude needs to change won't do so. Some one has to make efforts and that some one cannot be government alone. We Indians need to participate equally. So unless you can come and contribute, you don't have any right to rant. A Google search on your name shows that you run a consulting firm in the area of dietary supplements. I am sure you understand the impact you can make here by applying your knowledge and expertise. But you won't. You will probably come back after another 10 years and rant about things. I as an Indian don't bother what you have to say about my country.
I also agree with what my friend Manish Joshi has commented....Everybody knows about the problems but the real deal is if you love your India so much sminhas then start making a effort to make a change however small it is...and in thie age of connectivity you dont have to be in India to make a difference...I am very sure you must be already making an effort in this direction....
I wonder if this article really deserved this large space.Isn't it so typical of the visiting elites? Cows amd cleanliness -everybody talks about that. For gods sake, whats the point.? The only really good part is the mention of absentism in schools.because students do little else than wear uniforms there..
Just like Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen commented yesterday, 'we have no obligation to air only patriotic sentiments when we are making a judgment for ourselves'. The author is just in his endeavor. But many times criticisms and suggestions made about our Nation remains as such with no further implications. I feel this is because the people concerned are not bothered or the people who can take concrete steps to mend the mistake fail to realize that they also have a role to play and wrap up their patriotism in hollow sentences like,
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