What a contrast
On 16th August 2005, The Economic Times was edited by none other than the corporate wizard Vivek Paul. The newspaper chronicled the history and achievements of India Inc. from 1947 till 2005. The newspaper exuded optimism and confidence about the prospects of the corporate sector in India, and indirectly about the future of India on the whole. The overall tone of the newspaper did leave a good taste, I must say.
Later in the evening, I happened to be driving through a street at Ludhiana, a city in the northern state of Punjab. It was about 11 pm in the night. There were at least 500 people sleeping on the pavements---practically any spot that could be occupied had been occupied by sleeping humans.
What a contrast that was! The Economic Times that morning reported the salaries of executives in the corporate sector running into crores of rupees and made optimistic projections about the future; and now, right in front of my eyes, I saw human beings---fellow citizens---having not even a proper place to rest for the night.
To an optimist, this will be of no concern. "Prosperity will percolate eventually", he will say. I tend to buy that, though how long it might take to percolate is something that eludes me. But generally speaking, it certainly seems to be a better deal to create resources than to distribute poverty. In the prior case, some will have more, may be much more, than the many others. But it is these some who will evetually lift the many others out of poverty. This reasoning appeals to logic; only time can prove its correctness.
Later in the evening, I happened to be driving through a street at Ludhiana, a city in the northern state of Punjab. It was about 11 pm in the night. There were at least 500 people sleeping on the pavements---practically any spot that could be occupied had been occupied by sleeping humans.
What a contrast that was! The Economic Times that morning reported the salaries of executives in the corporate sector running into crores of rupees and made optimistic projections about the future; and now, right in front of my eyes, I saw human beings---fellow citizens---having not even a proper place to rest for the night.
To an optimist, this will be of no concern. "Prosperity will percolate eventually", he will say. I tend to buy that, though how long it might take to percolate is something that eludes me. But generally speaking, it certainly seems to be a better deal to create resources than to distribute poverty. In the prior case, some will have more, may be much more, than the many others. But it is these some who will evetually lift the many others out of poverty. This reasoning appeals to logic; only time can prove its correctness.
posted by observer @ 9:20 AM
2 Comments:
At 11:24 AM,
nemo said…
Dear vineet,
It is no doubt sad to see the state of many Indians struggling to make a living. I believe it is the legacy of the 200 yr long and manipulative british rule and it will take at least sometime to cure.
I have witnessed an immense improvement in the last two decades, which is very encouraging. And I believe that given time it will only get better.
At 11:38 AM,
Anonymous said…
As reply to the comment I am compelled to say that it is about time Indians stopped blaming the British for every ill in the country. After all, many a country is younger and has achieved much more. That is not to say that India hasn't tried to or hasn't achieved a lot since Independence but it is primarily Indians who are holding back their own progress. Stop blaming the past and start changing the present to make a better future. Indians are good at asking questions and pointing fingers. How many of the thinkers are actually taking positive action?
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