Bridging hearts is as important as ending the curse of poverty
India has progressed from poverty and despair to economic growth and empowerment, but social responsibilities are crucial
A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.” Years ago, these magical words of India’s first prime minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, appeared to me as rhetoric.
Why did I think that?
There was poverty all around us, and Independence felt incomplete. Back then, we had to travel for 17 to 18 hours from Allahabad (now Prayagraj) to reach our village in the Mainpuri district about 450 kilometres away. For the journey, one had to switch trains and also travel five or six kilometres by bullock cart over a bumpy track.
Electricity, telephone, running water, toilets, and cinemas were all stuff of fairy tales. People used to touch our garments to see if they were made of terylene or cotton. Warm garments were an absolute blessing for them during the cold. The living conditions of the poor, especially women, were hard. For many poor women, just one saree was their entire wardrobe.
They would bathe in ponds before daybreak, wash this saree, spread it out to dry on the shrubbery such that it also made for a makeshift screen, and wear it again once it dried. For 12 months, season after season, this formed their daily routine.
It was not expected that our country would grow at this speed amid such despair.
A few months ago, I visited my hometown. There is now a metal road connecting the village to highways on both ends. Bullock carts are relics of the past. Tractors have taken their place. Many houses have air-conditioning. Cars are parked in front of some of them. Just 40 years ago, four-wheel drive jeeps were required to reach the village.
Women are empowered, too. During my visit, I saw a group of women who had gathered at the village temple. They are running a cooperative society. They understand that the tiniest amount of money when used correctly, can create capital. In the 1960s, we children used to sell household trash to buy a barf ka gola (snow cone). Though currency was used at the time, the ancient barter system dominated.
When I told this story to my village’s third-generation youngsters, they laughed in disbelief. Their curious and disbelieving laughter assures us that no one can stop India’s progress now. Amrit Kaal’s self-assurance did not emerge quickly or without effort. Its roots lie in our past. According to British economist Angus Maddison, India provided more than one-fourth of the world’s Gross Domestic Product in AD 1000, i.e. the Rajput era. It stood at 27% even during the Mughal period later. But western rulers hampered this significantly. The British, the French, and the Portuguese came here to plunder, not to settle. They completed this task quickly and efficiently.
When Robert Clive defeated Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah in 1757, it had been decided that the British would establish their authority over a major part of India. For the next 200 years, they left no stone unturned in their quest to eliminate the sone ki chidiya (golden bird). The situation had deteriorated to a point where India’s growth rate between 1900 and 1947 was below 0.07%. When the British left on August 15, 1947, more than 90% of Indians were impoverished, and literacy had dropped to only 12%.
I am proud to say that our economy is now a notch higher than that of Britain which brought us here. By 2030, India will be the world’s third-largest economy, and during the next two decades, it will be the world’s second-largest. After the British ravaged us for two-and-a-half centuries, we would have either returned to our former glory in 100 years or be on the verge of doing so.
This marvel is the result of India’s incredible survival instincts and the large working population of the country.
However, money is not everything. The incidents in Manipur and Haryana serve as a wake-up call. No country can make its future great without first winning the hearts of its citizens, no matter how deep its pockets are. I’d like to conclude with a quote from Sardar Patel: “Every citizen of India must remember that he is an Indian and that he has every right in this country, but with certain duties.”
Only by executing our social responsibilities can we alleviate the fast developing societal discord.
Wouldn’t you like to make this promise in honour of your great predecessors on the 76th anniversary of the country’s Independence?
Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan. The views expressed are personal