Is India still shining??

The much-hyped phrase “India shining” seems to have lost its sheen very drastically…its “India blazing” now…full of black smoke and soot, symbolically captured in the burning of the Taj hotel. The outpouring of anger and frustration of the citizens of this country is completely justified – after all, for years it’s the common man, who has borne the brunt of callous governance.

It has taken a 26/11 for us Indians to sit up and take note – the intelligentsia and the affluent are FINALLY speaking. These affluent voices were never so strong during the 2006 blasts of Mumbai or the series of terror strikes in Delhi, Jaipur or Bangalore. 26/11 is nothing but a rude shock for US, the affluent Indian – we are shaken out of our wits because we are finally scared.

In its 60 years of existence as a “free” nation India has added quite a few colourful feathers to its vast repertoire of achievements. However, basic minimum amenities of food, shelter and clean water still remain a distant dream for millions in this country – add to that widespread poverty, illiteracy, caste divide, female infanticide, regionalism, a neglected north-east…. well the list just goes on…So are we indeed free then?

To put it across very simply, in countries like Norway, Sweden, Australia, Japan, Switzerland and many other nations, the human development index is rich because the state and its citizens act ‘responsibly’ – social welfare, education, economic development and life expectancy are the prime pillars for a “quality life”. India on the other hand is a burning cauldron – with its own social ills, grave economic divisions between classes, and crass politics; and until these frayed issues are cooled it is in vain for a country like ours to proclaim itself to be “shining”.

Its time we did some serious soul-searching and asked some basic questions - are we indeed “responsible” citizens? Is it not time to get our own house in order first before pointing the finger of blame at others?