Happy B'day India

Hi guys, it was a long time coming but I'm back for a brand new blog!

My latest blog is dedicated to my country of birth - India; where I enjoyed the most memorable moments of my life, my share of ups and downs, learnt all those early teen lessons that living there has to offer and made fab friends for life.

India celebrates it's 63rd Independence Day this year. I wish to share all those things that make me proud of this country and of course all those things that the country could do without or improve in the yrs/decades to come to be a true superpower...to be finally called a developed nation rather than a developing country, a tag which seems to have been stuck and one that I'm sick of hearing for the last 10 yrs.

1. Let's start with something which now is as unsurprising as the latest dodgy Commonwealth Games related deal. India continues to churn out the usual high number of doctors, engineers and most importantly entrepreneurs. There is a definite recognition of India's business awareness & skills and above all the determination to succeed. Skeptics obviously do exist in large numbers but its only a matter of time. The remainders just can't bloody accept this new world order and will just have to live with it.
2. The country continues it's stand on being a peaceful nation maintaining friendly relations with all countries barring the obvious one. To some, it may come across as being a soft state (including myself) but to others, it simply highlights that India is not focused on developing frictions with the world but instead create partnerships that eventually will be conducive to it's own development.
3. India's military might, the 3rd largest in the world continues to expand. The defense budget continues to run into billions of dollars annually. Some would argue the correctness of this practise considering the country is not yet a full grown superpower and still classified as a developing country, that these fundings could be used a lot more productively to counter poverty, improve infrastructure, etc. But with silly and hostile neighbours, are there alternatives???
4. Despite all the development and forward strides India has made, poverty still remains the No 1 hurdle. On a positive note, the country doesn't seem to be begging others for aid and is determined to minimise/eliminate this issue by itself.
5. Although I personally favour a moderate dictatorial rule in India, the democratic model of functioning doesn't seem to be doing too bad either. We sure have the odd nuisances around the country, but these are too trivial at the moment to put a dampener on the country's overall running.
6. On entertainment lines, Indian films and actors are now successfully crossing over to international audiences. People the world over are standing up and taking note. I'm no film buff but I quite love this ever improving reputation that I've witnessed with my own eyes.
7. In sports, the Indians have made strides in cricket (ranked No 1 in tests at the moment, World Cup champions on ODIs, T20s), tennis (Vijay Amritraj, Ramesh Krishnan, the crack doubles pair of Paes & Bhupathi, not worth including Sania Mirza in this group), hockey (still living in the reputation from the 70's and 80's). Guys don't forget we have an undisputed, undefeated world champion team in the game of Kabaddi!! Individual sports like badminton, boxing, shooting and golf are the latest games our athletes have been excelling in.
8. The famous Six Sigma Bombay dabbawallahs - they continue to operate as well oiled machines thus building up a highly successful international reputation.
9. India has also given us the awesome wada pav, pani puri, cheese mysore masala dosa and chicken 65. For this, I remain indebted.

Done with the points we could boast about. I'm sure there are plenty more. At the same time, there are several areas that need improvement over the next few decades. Without going into details, I am simply listing these. Further elaboration on this could be continued in a separate blog.

1. Accountability - Ensure there's no repeat of the upcoming Commonwealth fiasco. The games have not commenced and there's already talks of how big a sham the entire arrangement is possibly going to be.
2. Green technology - India needs to invest in R&D and subsequent development and use of alternative fuels. Climate change is real and needs to be tackled before it's too late!!
3. Change in mindset of politicians. Change in mindset of the common man. I do not understand that the same Indians who throw garbage on roads back home don't have the balls to do this anywhere else in the world. Why do they take things for granted??? Politicians simply because they need to grow up and stop being a laughing stock in the eyes of the common man. Maybe for a change start doing things for the well being of that common man.
4. Wealth distribution! The economy is booming but the fear remains that the rich are getting richer and poor poorer. How can this be tackled? No idea but I'm sure that's something the politicians and industrialists can work on.
5. Sports administration - when will we have sports bodies around the country that will be run by ex sportsmen who excelled in their respective fields and have the audacity to stand up for their beliefs and not be screwed by the system??? Your guess is as good as mine!
6. A no nonsense approach by India as a nation - as mentioned earlier, too often India comes across as a soft state. It must deal issues of national security with utmost ruthlessness.

Here's hoping by 2020, India can truly be classified as a superpower.

A Happy Independence Day one and all. Until next time!