Independence Day!

15th August 2007 is India's 60th independence day. When I say 'Independence Day', I can clearly visualise the distiction between my generation and the older (previous) generation. The significance of this day is not the same for these generations.

Though both these generations struggled a lot to resolve their own problems, I think, the older generation had been through a long endeavor. Getting freedom was just the first step of the long journey; the real challenge was (and still IS) to build a strong and developed nation. Democracy played a major role in India's development (even though some believe that it is an obstacle). The previous generation have seen the ups and downs after independence. The ups could be green revolution, nuclear tests, economic reforms and downs were wars against Pakistan and China, political instability, natural disasters etc.

For the older generation, going through all these phenomena gives different meaning to 'Independence Day'. Wheras, my generation may perceive it differently...rather passively, though we share the same passion for this day.

Some of the current hurdles for country's progess are of different nature; e.g. imbalance between culture and modernism, corruption in all the fields. Also there are some age-old problems like poverty and casteism. At the same time, there are some promissing aspects. Growing economy (9.4% GDP growth), mobile revolution, global exposure are boosting the development.

Judging the 60-years' progress of India, as compared to it's 9000 years history, is difficult; however, we can compare this progress with the progress of other countries who got independence around 1940's to 1950's. As compared to these countries - like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, African countries - India is definitely in better position with some impressive facts and figures.

Nowadays, everyone is trying to compare India with China w.r.t. economic growth, consumer market, power etc. Most of us have already read/watched this comparison through 'media'. To be realistic, China is far ahead of India in most of the fields - including Population :-)
If you just go through Wikipedia, and compare these countries, you can see that there are so many differences e.g. governments, economic policies, demographics, politics etc. Yet these two countries are seen as the next Superpowers!

And then there is an interestig example of a small asian country - Japan! After going through two atomic bombings in 1945, Japan is now the world's second largest economy (by nominal GDP)..... world's largest producer of automobiles... and a leading nation in the field of technology, scientific research and space exploration. This is, indeed, an inspiration for other countries in Asia.

But wait.... India is not far behind..... the largest democracy in the world....the second most populous country... the 4th largest economy in purchasing power..... the 3rd largest military force in the world.... the most diverse country in terms of cultures and languages!

Happy Independence Day!!!




References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html