India, a socially and culturally rigid civilisation for the past 3000 years was given the gift of free thought when the invading party, the British left the country on 1947. The country, spurred on by its founding fathers, great thinkers like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Chakravarty Rajagopalachari had bright hopes of a brilliant future. There was a positive mentality with the general population and the prospect of an illustrious future for their children and theirs. However, much to the general populations dismay, today India is considered a failed state. The basic amenities such as electricity and clean drinking water a luxury for the rich. The governments corruption is so deeply rooted into the nation that it is taken for granted to offer bribes, and accept that its lower middle class are to be down trodden. Population and pollution are so out of control that sickness and disease is more common than air and water. Now this list can go on and continue to berate the nation but it would be of no avail. What is/are the root causes of the problem? What makes the nation what it is?
India: A brief history
3000 years ago, a beautiful civilisation flourished under the Indus valley. This civilization was primarily composed of pagans who worshipped their relevant gods and built magnificent megaliths. They then migrated to the southern parts of India and settled along the Ganges and Saraswathi river. 500 B.C.E and the civilisation of Chandragupta Mauriya flourished spurred on by the intelligent and cunning minister Chanakya. These years were considered the golden age of India where thought, intellect and culture thrived. Unfortunately this did not last long. Ahimsic thought (over compassion) crippled the army and weakened the mentality of the ruling class. This led to invasion by the Huns, Mongols, Mughals and eventually the British. Thus India was enslaved for a period of 2500 years. Now one must ask oneself, what would happen if a beggar becomes a king overnight? This, unfortunately was the idea of democracy and how politicians raped a country.
Nehruvian Socialism: The seeping venom which crippled a nation.
The funny thing about socialism is that it tends to live in an altruistic future. It predicts a heaven on earth and thus manipulates the majority of the weak minded individuals who seek a better lifestyle in a quick, non-committal and easy manner without any hard work. It empowers the government and weakens the individual by giving greater power to the government. How does it manage to convince the individual? Through manipulated propaganda. It fills the poor mans mind with a false promise of a better future by reinforcing communal work, all for one, etc. Thus socialism steadily breaks down competition. Why work when you will get paid? This notion was one of the notorious reasons for Indian corruption.
Jawaharlal Nehru: Socialist reformer and first president of India
One thing remains certain, Socialistic ideals have been a massive failure in any civilisation they attempted to take root. Whether it was the United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR, which disbanded in the 80s), Cuba, Pol Pots Cambodia or North Korea. All have miserably failed and caused tremendous destruction to civilisation. Why then, did Nehru opt for socialism? His view was to break the gap between the rich and the poor. Unfortunately, today India’s gap between the rich and poor is evident when you take a look outside the plaza hotel to see thousands of slum dwellers, thereby establishing the weakness of socialist thought. When the socialistic ideals were introduced, India became more and more dependant on the government. The provision of ration cards, for example, was one such pathetic decision which dramatically increased India’s population density and made the nation more dependent on the government.
Cost of Nehruvian Socialism. Slum dwellers.
When a beggar becomes a member of parliament, he will try anything he can to secure his financial future. This is what happened and is happening in India. One of the reasons the nation is still crippled is that the wrong people got and continue to get power.
The costs of corruption
My friend once told me that India would have been better under British rule. I contemplated for a moment before dismissing him to be an arrogant British loyalist. Upon hearing an interesting statistic it became painfully obvious that there is a very good chance India would have prospered under the British. A recent survey stated that the net loss of wealth in past 60 years (post free India) is by far greater than the British inquisition. IE the amount of money that Indian politicians have smuggled into their Swiss banks is by far greater than any invader so far. If it sounds unbelievable here are a few facts:
- Kalmadi (organiser of the of the commonwealth games) scammed the nation 70,000 crores
- Spectrum Raja (telecom minister) 1.76 lakh crores. To put it in perspective about a 108 trucks filled with 1000 rupee notes.
- Kanimozi: Also involved in swindling 1 lakh crores
These are just 3 individuals, in the recent times (within 2 - 3 years). We also know that India was financially bankrupt during 1991 when it had to borrow 5 Billion dollars from the IMF thereby severely decreasing its currency strength. Which also tells us that as a nation corruption has been around for atleast 20 years.
So what can be done?
India is dramatically falling. It would be a safe assumption to note that within 40 or 50 years, India could very well be equal to or worse than Ethiopia or Sudan. This is evident due to the lack of infrastructure. An example would be my last trip when a few drops of rain made the city to float in sewage.
Rain water mixed with sewage stagnating on chennai main street.
Thus Indians should stop living in denial. The majority of the nationalist Indians I have met hold the view that India is the best country in the world, that corruption is virtually not present and we are making up facts. This denial, present in the majority of the patriotic nationalists, causes politicians to think they are doing the right thing. This causes confusion to the open minded individuals. The overtly patriotic Indians are thus, indirectly stabbing their own nation. They should seek to educate the masses, democracy only works in a literate civilisation. India is a civilisation with 45% of the population who are illiterate. This allows the incompetent members of parliament to buy votes from the illiterate villagers by offering television sets instead of food or water. There should a complete non-reliance on government products. I remember the pathetic service offered by Indian Airlines when I compared it to Jet Airways. I feel that as long as the nation’s capitalistic thought is bought forward it stands a chance. Otherwise, we are facing a catastrophic destruction of bharata varsha.
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