The recent celebrations of 60 years of freedom gives us an excellent opportunity to look back at the road traveled by India and the road that lies ahead. The 60 year road has been bumpy for most of the times, rarely smooth and the Juggernaut of India has proceeded sometimes with a puncture or two but proceeded nevertheless. As Ramachandra Guha points out India may sometimes have been the most exasperating country in the world but it has always been the most interesting. So India's 60 year journey has been interesting to say the least.
There is an almost unanimous agreement that India's 60 year report card will show "Well done,Can do better" and the task cut out for the next 60 years will be to turn this remark into "Great work, keep up the good work". As Nehru proclaimed in the historic Tryst with destiny address "The future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving" and so its left to us the people to strive incessantly and fulfill our Tryst with destiny.
They say there is a proverbial "Jekyll and Hyde" dual element in every individual- a good and a bad side. This concept may be true of countries too and the last 60 years have witnessed two Indias with the above dualistic bent. And unquestionably India's fate has been and will be determined by the fate of these two Indias.
They say there is a proverbial "Jekyll and Hyde" dual element in every individual- a good and a bad side. This concept may be true of countries too and the last 60 years have witnessed two Indias with the above dualistic bent. And unquestionably India's fate has been and will be determined by the fate of these two Indias.
One of the Indias, sees itself as a victim of history and circumstance and wants to 'right' the wrongs of the past. It traces its future path on the roads of the past. It has no time for the present nor for the future. It expends its energies in intoxicating the people with the opium of religion, caste and language instead of expending it on activities that bring about the betterment of its people. This India manifests itself in communal riots, caste based violence, discrimination based on language, regionalism and petty politics.
The other India, sees itself as a product of synthesis and assimilation over many centuries and prides itself on being a monochromatic culture and cradle of a great civilization standing out like a beacon for the rest of the world. It treads gracefully on the newly carved pathways of the future, self-assured, confident and always looking ahead. It has no time for petty feuds based on religion, caste or language instead it looks to invest its energies towards the betterment of its people. This India manifests itself in its entrepreneurs, engineers and scientists ,in the many private firms that dot the urban landscape, in the thriving democracy and in the secular outlook.
These two Indias have existed simultaneously for the past 60 years, looking face-to-face at each other, one wrestling the other for supremacy, one triumphing over the other at various points and at all these points the common man has looked on as an eager spectator knowing well that his fate hangs in the balance. India's future inevitably depends on which of these two Indias triumphs and for goodness' and humanity's sake lets hope its the later.
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