I read this letter in the WEEK magazine today. Interesting letter I thought. Wonder what happened? How did India go down from being a developed country to a developing country with a 3rd World status? Is this a correct statement?I've copied the letter below:
It is an irony that India, which is a developing country today, was one of the most developed ages ago. ‘The wonder that was India’ (June 26) was enlightening. The cover story has achieved the aim of making the study of history interesting. Every Indian would be proud of the country's cultural history. There would have been more monuments around had it not been for the ruthless conquerors of yore. But are the present rulers any different, even though they don’t fight with swords?
Roopa Somasundaran, Kolkata.
29 comments:
Indians
started spitting on themselves
thats what happened
atleast we all were taught to look down on ourselves.
Vellaikaran pesina/sonna great
Namma oorukaran sonna waste
We are so much imbibed with negativeness :(
I agree with the above comment..
Aswell.IMHO..........Palazhaiye pesi perumai thaedaamal ,ippo munnera vazhi kaana vendum..
India going down to developing country from developed country, there are too many reasons which I can point...we have faced different sorts of bad situations in our history...
now if we start comparing with Japan and singapore then we are realy demeanig ourselves and all the efforts that are going in now !!! we are going to reach that goal for sure...i really feel so....
We from the smaller countries are actually waiting in awe of how India can become! Just a mention of India and China is enough to get ppl to sit up and listen as we wonder when India will turn the tables and rule the economy!
The world is waiting :)
No point in talking about the past except to learn from its mistakes. We have a fanastic future ahead,and we better work for it.
Developing and Developed. What is the measure ? How would you go about and say "America is completely developed"..
May be Im talking of Ignorance, but I see India is completely developed, in terms of technology..I could see so many Mercedes Benz cars, I used to see them very rarely.. but I see one at every signal.. many have gone rich.. There is more jobs.. BPOs and Call centres or marketing or computers..
Almost everyone has a mobile..more people buying credit cards (ok, thats not development).. so many people buying homes.. cars.. music systems.. Indians have started buying Handycams and Digital cameras.. These may sound crazy, as only one part of the people buy them all.. the others are still in poverty.. But my point is, the growth of people who consume a lot of things have groewn.. Affordability in India is growing..thats because many people are getting jobs.
I personally think, more business is done for the past few years.. I see India Shining really.
the british when they landed in india were shocked at the development, they colonised us, divided india and stuff and ultimately stalled our development, they impovrished us. looted from us, edu ellam panna how can india be developed. india paid for the entire asian campagin of the british!!
India had the misfortume of ending up with self serving rulers. First it was the Moughals, the british and finally the Nehru - Gandhi dynasty. A sure case for going from developed to developing status
We were once.
But need the status again, once and continuously.
So, need to work towards achieving that goal. We know that we are far behind growing countries like China, Southamerican countries, Mediterannean countries. Our much acclaimed advantage of Democracy shouldn't obstruct for attaining the higher goals. As CHO RAMASAMY had given an interview recently, if EMERGENCY is required for India's development, we can welcome that as well.. Why not?
i accept what ganesh says...
:)
we should learn to take pride in ourself...on being an indian...
oue newspapers are busy depicting us bride-burners.....we look down at ourself.....thats the issue..i think the british taught us that .......
:)
i think that we are a very strong lot...we have survived so many invasions and our history is incredible...idhellamum thaandi we are still fighting gud...doing gud...now, every society has its bad elements..y focus on that & belittle the amazing achievements of the whole nation...the size of the country & population is something very few countries have...almost none...& that is a major measure of telling whether a country is developed/-ing or otherwise! to be talking abt ages ago is not appropriate...its finally survival of the fittest & we are surviving!
Kavalai padaaadheenga.. namma ellam anga irundhu vandhuttomla.. India thirumbavum vallarasu aayidum
IoIIO :)
What is meant by development and progress
We need to progess as an individual and these individual make up the society.
Thanimanidha ozhukkam kattupadu vennum ,integrity in personal life many indians lack this has to change. Science cannot help in this area, this is where spirituality comes and helps us.
And help fellow human beings..
Just having our roads flood with benzes and tall buildings doesnt help, in fact it adds to pollution
so dont take Directors Shankars prescriptions. Urbanization doesnt mean we are progressing or progressed ok.
What happened? - That is something very difficult to answer.
procrastination,
poverty,
population,
pollution,
politics,
proselytization !!
SURESH,
'P"inch :p
lol :)
"Unity in diversity" - all being said, every state is almost like a separate nation with its own culture and language. So, to expect co-operation is a big ask.
One would point out to the snazzy cars, cell phones (with camera) and glass-walled buildings, but more than 75% of India is still rural. I recall a superb cartoon in the Hindu (years ago) - a farmer stands awaiting next to the PA of the then AP CM (Naidu)..the PA tells Naidu.. "Sir.. hardship.. not hard disk".
Folks, Thanks all of you for your comments. I wanted to respond to each one of you but thought instead..I'll put forward my thoughts.
a) CHO says Emergency is the way to go...I feel the same way..for atleast 10 years. I know there were excesses during Emergency in the North..but IMHO, it worked wonders.
b) Pride etc. will help..but there is too much to cleanup and lift India up.
These are my thoughts.! I'd like Indians to look forward and forget the old glory...( don't live by it)...make it more glorious..!
Its only my 2 cents!
venkat sir,
I disagree with you on emergency. It is quite easy to come that conclusion seeing many south east nations. But I am not ready to trade democracy for anything. Why should we always look forward to one single person to guide us out of misery? And what is the surety that he/she will step down in 10yrs. If you ask the macro-level policy analysts they will advice structural changes in administration, gevernance, economy and policy, but not discard democracy.
Narayanan
We can have endless debate on what is "developed / developing / under developed" etc,.. IMHO, the proof is 'Are we able to carry the majority of the population with us'? Do they believe India to be developed now or in the past ?
With the caste system that is so prevelent even now.. I am not sure if India was ever a 'developed' nation that took its 'entire / majority of the' population in to consideration.
Here is a short paragraph from an article that talks about the 'otherside' of India..
" Narayanamma and 800,000 other toilet cleaners are on the lowest rung of the caste system in India. They are despised by everyone. They experience absolute exclusion from the cradle to the grave. They are the other face of India; the one that nobody likes to see. It is in sharp contrast to the progressive, technological, we-have-the-bomb-and-are-no longer-the-Third-World face.Chennai railway, station says it all. It has a hot spot for laptops to download mail, mobile phone chargers, international food counters offering burgers, chocolate mousse and chow mein next to hot dosas and chicken tikka. Yet, a few metres away, sweeper women clean shit in the most primitive manner possible, lifting it out of the railway track with a stick, broom and pieces of tin. Why does this unacceptable, utterly obscene dichotomy exist. Because hardly anyone wants it to change..." Mari Marcel Thekaekara on the Stink of Untouchability in the New Internationalist, July 2005
I personally witnessed the Chennai Central Station scenario that Mari Marcel describes in her article. While I was able to access internet and have good food, I also saw people removing the human excrement from the rail tracks with just a stick, a broom, a small metal sheet and a open bucket.
Regardless of whether India was developed country in the past or not.. Is India a developed country now ?
sir i was going through some of the stuff in ur archives...liked-life in riyadh(1)...&relationships,a lot..."Some old relationships knock now and then, some comeback to hurt/haunt/give us rebirth."-that was an awesome observation...am looking forward 2 reading more stuff from ur archives...but pavum kamal sira pottu nalla kalaichirikinga!!!...from now i am going 2 take a concious effort not just 2 read the latest post...but also read from the archives...
i loved ur picture of the sringeri temple...
am looking forward 2 reading the follow ups on life in riyadh...
Aravind
What is the Definition of Democracy.
Now tell me - Isn't India a Democracy only on Paper?
Visu,
I feel sad when I read items like this...! Developed country first shouldn't have shit in the tracks.!! Which tells me that our trains should not drop them in the tracks.! and the people who don't even have a place to Shit..!! Pathetic.!
What is development? Debatable.?
Siddarth - Nahne marandhutten.! Thanks for digging.!
Life in Riyadh - I have to write a last piece..!! Thanks for reminding.!!
@ reference to Ram Viswanathan's comment..
Recently i read a novel தோட்டியின் மகன் by தகழி சிவசங்கரப்பிள்ளை ,which speaks about the caste discrimination and societial attitudes towards these people.
The bottomline is Ivanga oora sutham seiyalaina...ooru naarividum..
Just google for more info on this book..Thanks..
I'll check..
Thanks Adengappa.!
No wonder - there is a song in Chandramukhi - Naari poogum Oorunnu.!!
I feel sad for these people ( and many of them are from Andhra)
Well..My Bangalorian Roomie says "many of them are from your state "
ha..ha..!!
Does he know Geography.! or...is that also true.!
I meant Tamils in Bangalore..Hmm
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