India: A tryst with destiny
India is a country that inspires a myriad of opinions. Unlike America, India attracts polarizing views. It's tough to remain neutral when discussing India, and this includes Indians as well. India inspires both greatness and disgust simultaneously. From one end of the nation to another, you can discover all types of cultures and economic statuses.
On one hand, India has a Mars mission and has sent a rover to the Moon's south pole. On the other hand, India's bureaucracy fails to build simple bridges that last decades, let alone generations. India's ambition knows no bounds, its growth is unprecedented, yet when you observe people up close, you'll notice an integrity crisis.
India's welfare schemes extend to at least 800 million people. To put this into perspective, that's like providing free rations to the population of two USAs and one Russia combined. For a country riddled with poverty, lower sanitation standards in some areas, and rampant corruption, this is a humongous achievement.
India cannot be compared with the likes of the USA and UK because of its sheer size. It cannot be compared with China because of its democratic system and thousands of cultures. India has been affected by brutal invasions, starting with Islamic invaders who systematically damaged India's economy. Then arrived the British, who took whatever they could squeeze out of the country that they once called as the golden sparrow.
India's progress from hereon will be tumultuous. To become a superpower, India will have to rethink some problems from the ground up, such as welfare schemes, reservation quotas, and the broken and corrupt bureaucratic system. India stands at a juncture where, by its 100th independence day, it will either cease to be a country worth mentioning or it will have already become a superpower.
If India becomes a superpower, it would never be like the USA or UK. It will be bigger than them. It will have similarities with these economies but will remain a unique superpower, intriguing future historians.
India will never be like China because India doesn't look up to China. India looks up to the West because they have already solved many problems while keeping their democratic systems intact, only making it better.
The lower integrity among a large populace is also the primary reason why Indians often adopt the worst trends from the West. The system right now appears broken, but the transfer of systemic thinking is already happening.
The most recent example is the Covid vaccination system India executed. It managed to reach out to the last village of the country, providing both digital and non-digital mediums to participate in the vaccination programs. This was the exact opposite of how the West had initiated the program. Unlike the West and unlike India’s own past, India here demonstrated a high efficiency.
India's unique blend of population and problems that arise from it is a challenge the world has never seen in its history. The execution, therefore, will also be one that the world has never witnessed. Leading such a nation to progress towards superpower status would also be a case study for historians. Even if India fails from here, it would baffle future historians providing them enough fodder for their career, perhaps even more than the French Revolution.
India is standing at a juncture where it is writing its own history for future historians to study. One can be bullish or bearish on India, but it would be impossible to ignore India from hereon.