India is always in the news for being the largest and fastest growing economy in the world. With a huge population and extraordinary talent pool, the country is expected to continue its growth story for the next several decades. But we have also been hearing this since our childhood and why aren’t we getting into the developed state category so fast?For Poland to achieve the developed country status, it took just 25 years. China has progressed leaps and bounds in spite of its huge and similar size. We are not even halfway to reaching that developed state. We have no influence of any kind be it in foreign policy or in the global stage. Why is it taking so long for India? What does India need to do to transcend to the next level?
The answer is simple. Be disciplined. It is easy to say this but to change a country of 1.25 billion people is not easy. The country needs to free itself from decades of indiscipline at home, in the streets, in the queues, in the traffic signals and so on and so forth. But I also believe that if 1.25 billion people can be so united in their indiscipline, they can also be united in their discipline. We have seen flashes of the unity and discipline when we faced moments of crisis during floods in Chennai, anti-corruption movement in Delhi and Jallikattu protests in Tamil Nadu. After all, this is the only country in the world that won its freedom without bloodshed and practiced non-violence which is the highest form of discipline.
3 quick things India and Indians can do to help India transcend to the next level.
Slow down:
Indians are so fast everywhere. They want to move ahead of everyone. If there is a queue, they want to jump it. If they are getting onto a bus or a plane or a train, they want to get ahead of everyone. It is so hard for them to let the other person move ahead because it is more like a personal loss to let the other person move an inch ahead in front of them. In the road, this behavior multiplies multifold. With their two-wheelers and three-wheelers, everyone wants to go fast. You may wonder what they are going to do by driving so fast. They neither have to catch the next flight for a G20 summit or to play in the cricket world cup. It has just become a compulsive behavior to drive fast, drive irresponsibly and drive without discipline.
Imagine a car driver stopping his car to give way to an old person or a pregnant lady. Imagine a two-wheeler rider following the traffic rules diligently. Imagine the young professional giving way to another person in the queue. Imagine the bus driver who goes out of his way to stop at a non- station to accommodate an elderly person. Imagine the parents who stop criticizing the kids for doing their work slowly. Imagine news anchors waiting for the panelists to give their answers before they respond back. The whole country is moving so fast without knowing why. It is time to slow down.
Be on time:
If someone says ‘I will come in 5 mins’, it is safe to go 30 minutes later because there is an inbuilt assumption that it is okay to come late. At school, if a kid comes late, there is a punishment of some kind. but when the same happens in a social setting either at work or with friends, it is totally accepted. There is always something to blame and most probably, it is the traffic. It has become so normal to be late and everyone is so cool about it. We all know how the system works, how the traffic works but they cannot be excused for being late. Even after living for so many years in those conditions if one cannot figure out how to come on time, then there is a problem. Coming late is more of a national disease. It will be interpreted as a lack of integrity and lack of interest.
But there are also exceptions. I once went to a meeting with the CEO of Tata Consultancy Services at the Tata House. Our meeting was scheduled to start at 9:00 am. Just to make sure that we start the meeting on time, we went early and reached the office at 8:30 am. To our pleasant surprise, the receptionist mentioned that the CEO is already in office and he is ready to meet us. When we met him, he said ‘In India, you can be either late or early. So I come early to be on time’. So, it is possible.
Keep the country clean:
My Japanese friend was shocked beyond belief when he entered our house in Madurai 20 years back. When I asked what happened, his response was ‘How come your house is so clean?’. I asked ‘what is surprising about it? Every house will be clean’. He said ‘But your roads and surroundings are so dirty. I thought your houses will also be like the roads. So I am really surprised how come you keep your house clean and your roads dirty’. It was a tight slap on my face. We keep our things clean and well protected while completely ignoring the rest. Aren't we selfish? This is why we jump queues, throw litter on the roads, pollute the rivers etc.
One of the things that are startlingly evident is the fact that our people don’t know how to keep ourselves and our surroundings clean. I was in my hometown last week and a quick walk to the neighboring marketplace made me wonder again why there is no sense of cleanliness anywhere. The roadside vendor, the guy who is cleaning the apartment, the lady who is selling fruits on the road, the tea vendor, the soup vendor, the coconut vendor were all throwing the waste into the road. What would stop them from keeping the waste with them and dispose of it responsibly? How do you inject Swachch Bharat into their being?
Development is not about building roads, bridges, and highways. It is not about people having the ability to buy houses and cars. It is not about having the money to buy air conditioning, water purifiers, and gadgets. Development is a mindset. It is about elevating ourselves from our past with new values, new attitudes and new ways of doing things.
As a country, we have lost our ability to find ingenious solutions to solve our problems. Our movies use computer graphics because the technology is available for cheap. We use cars and traffic lights because they were available. Everything that we use today came from some other context — our dress, shoes, toothbrush, polythene, TV, Computer, Bus, Taxi, Train and almost everything. We didn’t ‘develop’ or ‘create’ them. As a result, we stopped valuing the ecosystem, the resources and the nature that give everything to us.
When we grew up, we could drink water from the well. In our parents’ generation, they could even drink water from the rivers. We could go out and play with our friends freely. We could breathe clean air. Our skies were blue in color. We had greenery everywhere. There was less noise. We didn’t have many channels. We didn’t have malls. We didn’t have 3 movies releasing every week. We had lots of time. After 30 years of development, can we say that we have any of the above anywhere in the country?
We were a country that worshipped the laws of nature. We revered nature. We worshipped every being. We were one of the first to understand the science of the human self. Today, we have lost our connection with ourselves and with the world around us. We continue to worship the idols without understanding the philosophy behind it. We are living to please the image of ourselves and not express the needs of the true self. When we become totally aware of ourselves and our world, we will develop. When we individuals develop, our families will develop. When our families develop, our societies will develop. When our societies develop, our nation will develop.
Let’s start developing ourselves if we want to develop our nation.
