Small town mentality

This was a phrase often used in big cities like Delhi, when I was growing up. It is a bit like "that sounds so middle class". It was not such a nice thing to belong to a small town, the overall conviction being that people from small towns don't have what it takes, to chase their dreams with ruthless determination....possibly pushing everything and everyone who comes in the way, I would have thought.

No wonder then that so much is being made out about the fact that a lot of the world class cricketers in Team India actually belong to small towns. Though I believe their love and passion for the game rather than where they came from has brought them where they are today.

But talking of small towns, they were small towns before Indira Gandhi linked them with Doordarshan and before the Indian National Satellite System (INSAT) helped desperate housewives in small towns swoon over handsome hulks in The Bold and the Beautiful.

Before the television took up everybody's time and before the remote became the crown in the house, women had time to hang out of their balconies and solve the problems of the universe, starting with the neighbour's children, garden or pet.

This was when my brother would complain that everytime he enters or leaves the house he can see curtains moving in the house in front and can feel that he is being watched. Don't people have anything better to do? Probably not.

This was when my friend's mom in the neighbourhood would tell me that my frock needed retiring as it was too short for anyone's good or that I did not seem to have had a "head bath" today (an essential for Bengalis, wonder if it is so today).

It was also when people knew which couples argued into the night and would be at hand to mediate when the wife got beaten or was turned out of the house. If you were a couple, who were found out having some indiscrete fun in a house (the owners being on holiday and having asked someone to sleep there at night as a security measure), you could be taken to court by the "unemployed brothers" and forced to get married to make your escapade legitimate.

Pillion riding with a young man on his bike was the ultimate escapade for young girls, which if witnessed by an "uncle" enjoying paan on the roadside would mean a huge showdown at home with threats of binding matrimony for the young girl or termination of any further education for her.

Similar fate would await boys if someone in the neighbourhood (usually a spoilt sport frustrated adult in the youngster's view) decided he or she had definitely seen cigarette smoke puffing out of the young man's mouth. For God's sake- Get a life!

But with everybody knowing everything about everybody, the pluses were many. Festivals, marriages, births as well as sickness and death were shared experiences with in-built support in societies. Marriage counsellers, career counsellers, business advisors, health promoters were all free and would pop up anywhere. It would be up to you to take their advice or just smile and sit through it.

I am talking about the time when modes of communication were love letters or slips of paper tucked into people's fists, books or snacks and when the girl's longlasting looks rather than her facebook profile told you whether she was single and what or who she was interested in.

It was also the time it was customary to enjoy a cup of tea with neighbours, just like that, without prior warning or without an agenda at hand.

Then came Satellite Television. MTV and its saucy music videos changed the way young India dressed and behaved. Salwar kameez and braids became extinct while synthetic spaghetti tops, figure hugging jeans and shocks of hair covering the face in the sweltering temperatures of North India became the norm.

Today Small towns are no longer small because they are connected with the television, internet and mobiles to the rest of the world and it has opened up numerous oppurtunities. More and more corporates are seeing the advantages of including them in the big growth story. While living in big cities like Bangalore is a headache for anyone trying to get home after work in the rush hour traffic, Magarpatta (a new township) in Pune allows you to live and work in the same area.

With the world being so connected all youngsters seem to watch the same Disney channels, like the same menus in McDonalds and use the same software to upload stuff on You Tube.

I realized how small towns had changed when I witnessed the brisk business the florist in Raipur was doing on Valentines day and when I actually saw the young people in the street, atleast a hundred of them in bikes...girls clinging on, all naturally in Western wear, carrying balloons, shouting laughing creating a riot on the busy street- all in the name of Valentine's day! I felt definitely old and ancient and that was a good few years ago.

Today, being able to see the moonlight flood my bedroom and my garden or being able greet the wood pigeon on my window as I try to do yoga are the pluses of being in a small place but other than that we are all connected, are able to keep track of world events, are able to take advantage of possible oppurtunities and thus no longer isolated and prisoner of "small town mentality"!

Whether the erosion of small town communities as a result, is an essential fallout is a debate we can have in our own time. Howzzat!

Krishna-leela (antics of God)

I always enjoy reading the subtitles of Bollywood songs while watching them on television- I met you, my heart plucked up, what else do I need to live.......Nowadays my feet don't touch the ground, tell me have you seen me flying....or  Love Love Love...just a little love is needed...oh my darling, please agree to what I say..... But some are acutely funny and sound as incongruous as Sardarji Mika Singh would, performing in a Carnatic classical music concert. 

Similarly that day in the hospital, I started sounding off key, while discussing religion with a colleague. She was telling me how her wedding had cost next to nothing, because she is an atheist and had just had a registrar wedding followed by a holiday.

I found that very interesting and asked her what she had against religion. She said she did not like the fatalistic view which people who believe in religion have, and how they seem to have no control over their own lives as everything is blamed on God's will.

The karmayogi in me, jumped to religion's rescue.  I asked her if she knew what karma meant (she didn't, she thought it was something to do with mood) and went on to elaborate how in the story of what is like Bible to us i.e. The Holy Geeta, two sets of brothers are at war and one of the brothers refuses to fight against his brothers and other family. I explained how that seemed to be the starting point of the discourse by God, the charioteer.  God askes the brother to do his duty (the doing one's duty being karma) and shoot his brother.....

Well, may be I could have put it better, but the words from my mouth like the arrows from the quiver, had left their abode and I realized when I saw her shocked face- "So God asked him to shoot his brother?? I thought Hinduism was a non violent religion, so what happens, who wins the war, now I am really curious....?"

The confusion and perplexity was writ large on her face. I tried to make amends and she was pacified by having learnt what "karma" meant...a word so loosely used by the English like guru, mantra, pucca apart from garam masala, bhaji, naan, pilao, korma etc.

Quite perturbed, I then confessed to an Indian colleague about the incident and hoping to gather empathy and sympathy I complained about how wrong it sounded that Geeta was all about Lord Krishna asking Arjun to shoot his brothers. My Indian colleague then thoughtfully said that this seemed to be so only because it was not in context. Maybe I should gift a Mahabharat to our colleague.

You must be joking! I thought to myself, what with all the questions about the legitimacy of the birth of the Pandavas, a woman having five husbands, men losing their one and only wife to cousins in a game of poker....no I think her view of Hinduism is good the way it is without reading the context of the Holy Book.

After all Geeta's teachings are relevant today because it was written in Kalyug, the modern age. Excerpts are often quoted in management and self help books. That is because our Lord Krishna is God incarnated as a contemporary man. He is as cute as Brad Pitt, has twinkling eyes, is a huge flirt, is allowed to steal beautiful young women's clothes while they are bathing (Krishna karen to leela, hum karen to paap), is allowed to steal butter from the kitchen, is a cunning strategist in the war, is all powerful and last but not the least he is a favourite with women. His legendary devotees are beautiful young women....Now that is how every man would wish his facebook profile to be.

Lord Krishna would like us to live life to the full, never holding back and enjoying all the emotions, colours, seasons, tastes, smells and sounds, while maintaining the right direction. None of our Gods are saints. The saints are not Gods, either, but they help people realize their potential and thus come closer to God.

On a separate note, this incident has taught me how to make sure I talk about cricket, taxes and the British weather! So long!

Charity, Children and old age!

We had seen the dancing musical fountain in one of the famous Casino Hotels, Bellagio in Las Vegas and found it a wonderfully inspiring sight.

Yet, the jubilation in our hearts when we saw the tallest musical dancing fountain (I am not quite sure whether it was taller than Bellagio) next to the tallest building in the world (with scope to go up if anybody dares competing) in Dubai, was unmatched. Thanks to the traditional Bollywood music with ghungroo, dholak and bansuri, that the fountain was dancing to-Dhoom tana tan tanana dhoom tana tana tan..terana terana..kaise sss naino se nain milaoon sajna...

But everywhere in Dubai it was just like the fountains. Since the percentage of Indians and the Westerners is more than the locals, music at public places like malls, dhow cruises and fountains usually takes turns with English, Arabic and Bollywood....very heartwarming, I must say.

Back in the UK the theme of cuts to public budgets carries on. There is huge debate in the media about International Aid. Most people are aware that even after years of International Aid, no country's progress or turnaround can be attributed to the aid. It is more to do with the very fashionable- growth rate.

The broadcaster on Sky news was asking the question-"Why shouldnt India send us aid?" This was after he read out facts like- India has a growth rate close to 10%, spends billions on a space program, has a nuclear deterrant and has a 400 billion  defence budget, has more billionaires than the UK (many more starving people too, somebody pointed out), yet we send India "aid"?!

I wonder how many people do an annual budget presentation at home with comparisons year on year about deficits, outlays, spending on gadgets and clothes per person, holidays, education, charity, pensions etc. Would be interesting...and like the budget speech in parliament would never get past debate.... within the very few members of the household.

Talking about pensions, I recently met friends who are starting to worry about the cost of old age homes, rising incidence of dementia etc. This was more in context to the fact that they had no children to be there for them as advocates or financial managers.

I must say this is the first time I have heard a practical view about this. Most often we say we shouldn't have the expectation that our children will look after us in old age. But the very British friend's pragmatic views were that she wouldn't want her parents or in laws to move in with her, though, if they could live at the end of her garden, it would be handy...and therefore she was sure that if she had had kids she wouldn't expect physical care, yet she was worried that she would have nobody to speak for her when she would not be able to.

This is unfortunately a very real and ominous future ahead of us but is there any point worrying about it?....Not really! I think having children at least ensures you have no time to think about a future past school trips and "Take your daughter to work day".

Yes, I had to take my fourteen year old to work with me for a day to the hospital, where amongst other things like watching a baby's heart beat being monitored, holding babies, attending a video conference with another hospital for a multidisciplinary team meeting for cancer and sitting through a children's clinic, she also managed to see a baby being born by caesarean operation. Brave girl!

Outcome- "I want to do something interesting!" For instance? one may have said- but I said nothing. So long!

My take on democracy

The protestors in Egypt have been shouting for freedom! They want their country to regain the lost glory, want democracy. The movement there is being looked upon with great interest by the whole world, as the revolution seems to be a by product of modern technology and communication and is in danger of replicating itself elsewhere in the non democratic Arab world.

Meanwhile the Western world is realizing its folly over numerous things like supporting corrupt allies amidst hollow cries for democracy. Today on Sky news, one commentator said- Democracy is ok for the developed world but places like Egypt, are they ready for it? It left me outraged.

So let me guess, he means- democracy is ok for the people in England who won't take to the streets even when the bankers, British Petroleum bosses and the like, liase with politicians to make public policy such, as to fill their pockets and empty ours. Democracy is fine for the developed world of broken society and frayed families, where alcoholism on the streets is threatening to derail the NHS budget, where parts of the country exist where three generations have never gone to work and live off benefits. So these people can handle democracy while Egypt can't, a vibrant populous country of people who have to work to ensure they get a meal for themselves and their families, even as they combat widespread corruption and decay in the public system.

The so called International Community has always had double standards and till date they consider themselves a league above the rest. Slowly they will prove to the world that they can't digest democracy with all its claws and open markets just means open enough to benefit them. Soon they will admit that human rights and humanitarian aid, civil liberties and self determination all have different purposes, different definitions and different paths to what is percieved by the rest of the world.

The Crown Prince of Bahrain had once said when the popular parliamentary candidates all seemed to be from fundamental Islamist factions- "We have to have the strength to accept the verdict of the people." True, you can't go back on democracy.  If people want Shariat, that is what you asked for, Mr Obama.

I remember what my friend's mum said in the 1990s, while having a go at my friend for postponing pregnancy. "Why should you have a baby? You won't have a baby, you wont go and vote...because you are too posh to have a baby or babies for that matter and too educated and busy to go and cast your vote. Hence we have ministers like Laloo Yadav, who have 9 children, amass votes from backward castes,  minorities and the like, get huge audiences in rallies for saying roads can't be like Hema Malini's cheeks....while you crib about the state of affairs in the country in your drawing room."

We had to agree and hang our heads in shame.

Democracy is a double edged sword. If most of the population in the villages gets money to spend it on alcohol and gambling, through corrupt National Rural Employment Guarantee Act schemes, the number of votes cast in favour will be large....The party which raises most funds through industrialist's monetary support will manage to get the most votes, to come to power.... to ensure large scale fertile land take over for Special Economic Zones. These are some of the various ways in which democracy works.

Yet the other pillars of democracy need to function too. Do people have to take to the streets to ensure that the Government rids itself of rampant corruption at every step, to ensure that media is unbiased and that the courts do their job?

I remember the Department of Health, Chhattisgarh gearing up for Vidhan Sabha questions. It used to be a hectic time as each question's answer was prepared by looking up various statistics and each day the minister (a dismissed Govt doctor, who decided to stand for elections and won to become the dismissing health secretary's boss) had training sessions in what to say and how.

According to some intellectuals this was the face of democracy when the whole department was on its toes making sure they did not manage to incur the oppositions's wrath. Right to information act, likewise has in many instances been an empowering tool in recent times. Laws against domestic violence against women have ensured that women keep their peace in the house by threatening a trip to the "thana".  So democracy is always better than no democracy......but it is not a cure for all ills.

Cavemen in disguise

The world has gone topsy turvy, upside down. There has been snow in Vegas, floods in California, rains and floods in Australia and we in UK, have had the coldest November in history.

Having come out of the worst weather, I dont want any surprises in the spring and summer. I like those seasons the best in UK and won't want them to break any records of any kind. Just a nice temperate climate is what would be nice. Do you think anybody up there is listening?

Well, down here people can become mighty unpleasant when the weather worsens. Just after that horrible November night when everything was covered in snow, I had to drive to the station to get to London for a course. I had a lot of trouble driving, saw a few cars up on pavements or bashed into the trees. But, I continued to drive with a cool head at 20 miles an hour, even though I was managing to stop only a good 15-30 seconds after I put all my strength on to my foot on the brake. After all this, I reached the white field which was the parking lot of the station, parked, paid for the ticket on the machine, put the ticket on display in the car and had just managed to lock the car and reach into the train when the doors closed and the departure was announced.

Yet when I came back, there was a nasty note on the windscreen saying I needed to go to a driving school! Honestly, if only I could get hold of the guy who wrote it (I am positive it must be a man, only men have the time to write notes on strangers cars!), I would give him a piece of my mind.

Obviously when I saw the note and possibly when my esteemed "windscreen note friend" saw the car, the snow had all melted, revealing clear and dark white lines demarcating parking slots! My car was parked obliquely, with one of the rear tyres slightly off the white line. Obviously it did not occur to him that I might have been parking when I was guessing where the lines were, trying to struggle in low visibility ahead and zero visibility on the road, in a hurry due to unusually slow drive in....well I have to resort to deep breathing and counting to ten whenever I recount this incident.

I wonder why it boils my blood so much. It must be to do with the constant comments one hears from brothers, husband(s), male friends and colleagues about women drivers. It also takes the form of forwarded emails on the internet or videos on Youtube, yet I will have to accept that I personally would not call myself an expert and even though driving on a nice road with good music can be enjoyable once in a while, I dont pride myself in being able to trouble shoot myself out of difficult situations.

I do get into them though, like the time I was sitting in the car in the middle of a residential area of an unknown town at 2 AM, tired out after the Diwali party in a sari with fading make up and two sleepy kids at the back, listening to the Satellite Navigation system say "You have reached your destination" with no Premier Inns in sight and with no idea about where I was. Thank God for the mobile phone!

Speaking of the stereotypes which we women have had to fight against, all our lives, one remembers the movie- Chak de India. I identified with the fighting spirit of the girls, who all had a point to prove. The spectacular success of the women athletes in Commonwealth games, the individual inspirational stories of all these women speaks a lot about how life has indeed changed for the better half in our country.

There are very few professions now where women have not entered. We have rickshaw drivers, policewomen, pilots, film directors, CEOs, Chief ministers, judges, District Magistrates, speakers and Presidents.

I was recently reading an article by a Western woman interviewing Islamic women in veils or head scarves, while trying to understand their perspective on religion and cultural practices like these. I detected a tendency by the author to romanticize the concept of "preserving yourself for your man" and glorifying "the pride in being treated like a prized possession".

I wonder what the Western civilization has achieved by liberating the women. While in India more mothers die from preventable causes like bleeding and high blood pressure, in the confidential enquiry into maternal deaths in the UK, there is a big chapter on domestic violence, homicides, suicides....

I wonder if many of us, including the western journalist doing the Islamic veil story, after having spent our lives fighting against stereotypes to be able to do this and that, are now wanting to turn the clock back. Afterall being able to drive and cook usually means double the work and responsibilty, with little time left to look beautiful and smile.

Roles are constantly changing for the man and the woman in the household, but I wonder if true natures actually change. I believe most men under their pinstriped suits and metrosexual behaviours are actually hunters by nature and instead of tiger skins in their drawing rooms, they have fancy gadgets and cars to show off their conquests. Do you remember the picture of the bearded man with an animal skin around his waist, dragging the woman by her hair? That is how a lot of men and many women would like the dynamics to be. Dont you think?

Winter of discontent

Mum has been worried about multiple things. The laptop and its battery is giving trouble, the guy who was paid to deliver milk is absconding and the egg which the pigeon was sitting on with its feathers all fluffed up, has appeared on the balcony railing, resulting in a distraught mother pigeon.

It is extremely reassuring sometimes to listen to mundane moanings of near and dear ones. Had my mum not been in optimum health, conversation with her would revolve around medication, its side effects and test results. But strangely when things on that front improve I get to hear about the little but important struggles in her life including the helplessness and grief over the pigeon's lost egg.

I am too far away to be able to solve any of her problems, big or small. But being far away is far more unsettling when listening to the big problems. Listening to the story of the pigeon's lost egg,  is in relative terms quite blissful. May God and the pigeon forgive me for saying that.

Meanwhile it has been a winter of discontent for many, along with the snow and ice.  There have been public protests in Greece, Spain, France and Ireland over cuts in Government spending and its impact on jobs, pensions, currency etc. Students of the UK have been taking to the streets over removal of the cap on University Tuition fees.

Yet, the Indian leaders are plush with cash and have received the distinction of being amongst the most corrupt in the world, threatening to derail the success story of the fast growing economy being visited in recent past by the likes of Obama, Sarkozy and Cameron.

A distressed and disillusioned Ratan Tata said on National Television that while it is not so long ago, since President Obama referred to India as an emerged rather than emerging nation, events in the past few weeks are threatening to denigrate the country into a BANANA REPUBLIC. He explained further by saying- a country where people are prosecuted and jailed without proper trial or worse still are found dead in suspicious circumstances.I don't think it is far from the truth. One used to associate the Hindi heartland with gunda raaj but the goings on in the capital and other big cities makes one wonder whether democracy has any advantages. Nitish Kumar's turnaround for the once backward state of Bihar, speaks of the contrary.

Ratan Tata is a towering figure, (not just physically) who is not just a top industrialist in India, but Tatas is now the biggest  private employer in Britain after the takeover of Corus and Jaguar Land Rover (this was reiterated by Cameron on his India visit).

Ratan Tata spoke out for the first time about how his incorruptible stance had disadvantaged him and about how his fellow industrialists find it impossible to understand why he wont pay up, if it means losing projects like airlines and telecom spectrums. He spoke of swaying public policy determined by vested interests.

Listening to this interview made one feel sad. Honest men and women of integrity are constantly having to explain their seemingly foolish actions or inactions to everybody else, who considers bribing officials as a part of life.

Years ago Jaspal Bhatti made a point in one of his satirical television programs about how fathers of daughters who needed to be married off, should orchestrate income tax raids in their homes, to attract parents of suitable boys, who would then be assured of a hefty dowry.

I have had the controversial privilege of having worked with the Government of Chhattisgarh as an outside expert for Reproductive and Child Health Program and my experience left me with two very contrasting emotions.

On the one hand I worked with some truly inspiring, thinking out of the box, dedicated and effective bureaucrats and NGO heads, but on the other hand had to come to terms with working in a decrepit and dirty building with paan spit marks and plastic bags floating in stagnant puddles of rain water (if you were lucky or it could be broken sewage pipe water). The attitude of the people working in such an environment with years of experience of not being listened to, not being able to change anything was equally narrow minded, frustrated, inert and usually corrupt.

My father worked for a Government enforcement agency, Mines Safety and as a child, I had heard my mum complain about the bags of coal which was delivered free to our neighbours, while my dad grunted and concentrated on the newspaper. We knew we were not supposed to accept anything which was not accounted for. But usually Diwali sweets were considered OK, until one day in Delhi, Papa discovered that the sweet box was lined with wads of money. He then had to pick up his car and drive up the hills near Dehradun to return the box of sweets. Therefore, I was brought up to have very strong views on corruption, but working in Chhattisgarh made me so frustrated by the lack of action that my stance settled to- Make the money you want (usually 10% of each cheque from the World Bank via the Central Govt) but at least let the program go ahead, let the people who want to do something- do it....but even that was too much to ask...

Privatizing everything is not the answer, the person who suffers is the common man while the big wigs fill their pockets both Ambanis and Rajas. The black money leads to inflation of real estate and grass root problems of housing, food, electricity, water, health and education remain...Mera bharat mahaan. na roti na makaan.

Believer or atheist

Do you all remember the Bajaj motor bike ad? It was meant to reinstate the fact that Bajaj was a true Indian product. It had a young man on a motor bike, cruising effortlessly through elaborate powder rangoli designs on residential roads, reaching out to his forehead and heart, while bowing his head in homage as he crossed a temple and many such truly Indian gestures, which are a strange mix of religion and tradition that we have grown up with.

Yet, I was at a loss of words when my 13 year old daughter asked me my opinion on abortions and in the same breath said-"Most of my class are atheists." I started to explain why it was important to have faith. She said in a dismissive tone (implying- I dont need a lecture)-"Dont worry, I believe in God."

But I realize that it is scientific, forward thinking and "in" not to believe in God. After all,  teenagers like my daughter will ask- Have you seen him or her? About 10 years ago, an Indian Christian friend doing theology in England had told us that only 8% people in England would call themselves Christian.  In Eastern cultures, though, there would be an underlying fear psychosis preventing people from questioning the existence of the creator. In the chaos, which is India- with bad roads, worse traffic, corrupt public services, extreme weather, divisive politicians and teeming population- One has to have faith, to survive.

This discussion about atheism, in class was no doubt, brought on by Pope's controversial state visit to Britain. So controversial that government spokespersons had to clarify on BBC, that the Pope is actually a Head of state (the Vatican City) and that this is a reciprocal visit in the diplomatic protocol, as the Pope has in the past, received many Prime ministers of Britain and members of the Royal family. They also clarified that only state functions had been paid for by the taxpayer and all religious functions were sponsored by the Catholic Church.

Amongst all the discussion about abortions, contraception, homosexuality etc. his visit taught me new phrases- "aggressive secularism", "atheist extremism." The Pope appealed to multicultural Britain to respect traditional values and cultural expressions, which "aggresive secularism" is trying to eradicate. A similar term was used by panelists on NDTV discussing the Ayodhya judgement- "secular fundamentalism"

The India I have grown up in is actually secular, not atheist. Most Indians believe in God and live peacefully with believers of a different God, even if it is by finding ways not to step on each others toes. Most Hindu shrines including Kailashnath have Muslims as caretakers and the Pujari in Ayodhya has been feeling sorry for the shrine which has been exposed to wind and rain since the Masjid fell down.

I always remember calling out for relatives of a Muslim woman outside the Labour ward of Safdarjung Hospital. A lady with her hair parting full of sindoor, (the red powder symbolizing marriage for Hindu women) came up to me and said she was the Muslim woman's sister in law. I looked at her suspiciously and pointed to the fact that she seemed to be a Hindu considering the kilo of sindoor in her parting and this woman was a Muslim. She then clarified that actually they were neighbours but their husbands were like brothers and they were family in that respect. I barely had time to argue with that and so was content in getting her signature to say that she had been explained her "sister in law's" medical condition and its risks.

Listening to all the voices yesterday about the Ayodhya verdict made me think. The bl....politicians, who are to blame for the fanning of communal sentiments, have been thanking the Indian public for the calm they have maintained.

The truth is that, 20 years on, from the days of the heady rath-yatras and Imam's fatwas, parties have lost elections and India has had to hang its head in shame over some of the worst riots. Leaders who speak the language of roads, electricity and water, governance and development have been able to keep their mandates, while others have lost them. The Sensex watching, mall and multiplex going new India has realized it is important to be educated and be educated in English to get the life you want...nobody really cares for non issues like places of worship, anymore.

This also reminds me of my college days when students were burning themselves in protest over reservation for backward castes in Government jobs, as recommended by the Mandal Commission. We, medical college students were up in arms as well, yet a few years on, it became a non issue. Liberalization exploded the multinational job market, government hospitals saw brain drain into Corporate hospitals and nobody cared for the few government jobs in question.

India has been a darling of the international media for some time now, since the opening up of the markets. Manmohan Singh, who doesnt enjoy such popularity at home, has been hailed as the man who brought about prosperity for many in India and has received the World statesman award.

Economist has consistently featured articles about India, one of its earlier covers being-the tiger in a cage- signifying the entrepreneurship and demographic dividend of India being bogged down by corruption, lack of infrastructure, health and education....but the Economist's recent cover (after reporting on all the fiascos during the run up to the Games) is a tiger on the run- with the caption-"why India will outpace China".

Well I hope all forecasts are true....even though there are so many buts....Kashmir, Maoists, corruption, lack of infrastructure...

But one must have faith- Faith in the almighty, faith in destiny, and above all

 Faith in the Indian people- who rejected coercive Family planning measures to give us this demographic dividend, rejected the call for Hindi as a national language with the result that we continued to need English and our newfound economy is based on our knowledge of English, have successively rejected Governments which failed to deliver and have put people like Shiela Dixit in power again.

We will need to have faith, and therefore will continue to have faith!