As the sun rises on the 15th August, 2009 - the world will salute it’s greatest democracy (a universal nation with twenty-eight states, seven union territories, 30 different languages (18 of them officially recognized), 2000 dialects & of course 1.12 billion people of innumerable races and creed.) on its 62nd Independence Day. Most of those 62 years have been politically stable (not to forget the Initial days after Independence, the Emergency etc), technologically advancing and emotionally not that bad. What the world actually adores (and secretly dislike) is India’s stupendous success in Science and Information Technology.
India to the world is known because of IT advancements , talented work force, Nuclear weapons, Cricket, Bollywood , not to forget the beauty pageants every now and then. But these things matter to only about 30-40% Indians who live in the cities.
The rest obviously don’t call themselves Indian, not because they are not proud of the above factors, but because these hardly affect their daily lives. This fairly explains why they prefer to call themselves BHARTIYA , and being called INDIAN really doesn’t suit their native tastes.
Bharat and India are not separate pieces of land. However, they are separate states of mind. The notable point is how rural, backward, under-developed parts of the country are now routinely labelled as “Bharat”, and the non traditional, ethically poor- materialistically rich urban, educated forward, developed parts are conveniently called India.
The obvious irony is of course that “Bharat” which was renowned in history as a region of riches, vast resources and prosperity now connotes the poorest parts of the country.
The villages are yet to be electrified and you cannot reach these villages by any means except once in every 5 years, when of course the politicians make their way to beg for votes. . I beg to make a point here that it’s the only thing they’re good at, anyways.
India cherishes Kalpana Chawla making it to the space, or Sania Mirza going great guns, so much so that we are proud of an Indian playing the lead in Hollywood flick Pink Panther. But many in Bharat don’t even know that Pink is the English name for their Gulabi. The condition of the girl child is very poor because they are not allowed to attend the schools. The girls help their mothers in day to day activities and remain confined to their houses.The schemes of the govt. for the villagers are helping everyone except the villagers, to improve their living. The villagers get grains three or four times only in a year on their Ration cards but the entries are made for the whole year. The quality of the food cooked in midday meal is so poor that children fall ill after eating that food.
But we seem to more bothered ‘whether the new perfume by Gucci is available in India’, or ‘why isn’t Starbucks opening shop here’ ?
In the 1960s when Lal Bahadur Shastri coined the slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’, the farmers i.e. 70 % of our population contributed to about 45% of our GDP. Today the farmer contributes to only 16% of our GDP. If we so much love relishing the fact that Industrial Advancement has been unprecedented in India, why aren’t we ashamed of the fact that we have nothing to relish about the same in Bharat.
In the last 62 years , India and Bharat, have drifted so much apart that it will be difficult in the years to come, to believe that they were, once, the same. The day will come, I am sure, when the likes of Google , Microsoft, GE will have their global Head-Quarters here, but, the day also isn’t far when a Bhartiya will find it as an ordeal to match up with his Indian counterpart, on any parameter of social equality, if it will exist then, by any chance.
All the policy makers always talk of the term ‘inclusive growth’ – to be frank I really don’t know what it means, but surely do think including Bharat in mainstream talk of India will help her in the long run.
To conclude I would like to say, India Vs Bharat, when started in 1947 at 0-0 are today in 2009, at the score 62-0, not to mention the 62 Glorious Years of India’s Independence.
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