Segmentation Fault: Core dumped..;-)

Thursday-morning Quarterbacking on India

Posted : May 19, 2005 at 10:09 am [America/Los_Angeles]

King of the road!

When it came to infrastructure development, the CEOs felt that while the UPA government (India’s current ruling party) announced grandiose plans, it has not been able to implement them. As many as 67 per cent of respondents were not so optimistic about the steps taken for infrastructure development, the survey said.

— “India Inc bullish on PM”, Financial Express

I was not in India this past 10 years. A lot has happened since then. Mostly good I might add. Heck, very good. Yes, the naysayers will point to the filth, the pollution, the poverty that plagues most of the country right this second. And they’re not wrong if you only look at today’s India in “absolute” terms. However, since I was born in India and lived there for 23 years before coming to States, it would be unfair and wrong of me to look at India only in “absolute” terms. I have to look at it in “relative” terms. What was India like the day I boarded the British Airways flight to pursue higher studies in States in August 1995? Frankly, there is no comparison. And that’s what’s so exciting!

In the spirit of maintaining a healthy paranoia, let’s look at what needs to be done now that Indians have done so well for themselves these past 10 years. Infact, here’s a question that I have for you: If you were given the reigns of the country (and I am not joking here), what are the top three things that you would put all your energy in? Before you jump all over this question, I want you to think about it for a bit. If you’re an honest problem solver, you will admit it’s not an easy question.

Since I am the one who’s blogging, allow me to be the guinea pig here. Here’s my list, given below in descending order of importance:

• Infrastructure
• Education
• Law & Order

Now this is not to say that things besides the ones listed above are not important or that India’s tax rupees should not be allocated to those. Lord knows there are plenty of things that needs to be “looked into”, to put it mildly. However, I would put India’s hard-earned tax rupees into these things first, and do it with a vengeance. I would eat, sleep and breathe these three things. These three initiatives MUST be handled as a “National Security” matter. No politics allowed. No slowing down allowed. No bhagwaan-bharose (leave it to god) attitude allowed. As much as I know Indians and their characteristic inability to ever agree on anything thanks to the many things that divide us (language, caste, religion, yadi yada), I am sure an honest case can be made to support these first. Come to think of it, it was easier to galvanize Indians back in late 1800s and early 1900s. We all had a well-defined enemy - the British Empire. I hope we can all see that Indians need to come together again. Not so that we can be the next superpower. Or be better than China. We need to come together again for the sake of our children and grandchildren. And this is a much tougher fight. We will be fighting ourselves, more specifically, the demons inside each one of us.

The way I see it, India must build a strong and sustainable Infrastructure to support the bazillions that we already have and more that’s coming. Infact, as my dad would say, if you don’t have the resources to focus on all three above, let’s put our entire energy behind building India’s Infrastructure!

What infrastructural elements need to be addressed you ask? Here’s my list:

• Roads
• Electricity
• Water

Now that you know where I come from, it should come as no surprise to you that reading the quote above left me a trifle sad.

So, what would your list look like? It would be kinda cool to read what Indian bloggers (in India) thought was most important for India as of today.

- Anand

Category: Chindia