India @ 75 – A Contemporary Approach

(Book Extract)
· “The land where humanity has attained its highest towards gentleness, generosity, purity and calmness is India. Once more the world must be conquered by India. This is the dream of my life, and I wish that each one of you will have the same dream in your minds, and stop not till you have realised the dream.” Almost in tune with what Swami Vivekananda envisioned a century ago, India @ 75 has witnessed a country’s collective aspiration simmering for greater heights with exemplary democratic principles strengthening its inner core. The festivities of the 75th Independence Day this year were tantamount to what the soul of the country has been reflective for years. A greater resurgence or what we technically call the Atmanirbharta has been intelligently illuminating every inch of its landscape and totally reminiscent of its glory of the past with every individual advocating and espousing it.
· Centuries of invasions and the scars that they brought to the collective psyche get revamped in every generation. Probably, as a country, we were successful in glorifying the brutality that the invasion had on this land and the invaders are still eulogised to be heroes. At present, the majoritarianism which is aggressively blamed and debated across the country has mostly been an output of the historical brutalities and the rejections and denials that followed in an independent India, deliberately concealing the struggles and hardships to counter the invasions. A new generation, ignorant of the historicity of the bravery that its ancestors fought against the brutal invading force is natural to dig deeper into the concealed realities and excavate the debris of its lost identity. To understand India, it is necessary to go beyond the politically discovered concept the ‘union of states’ and embrace the cultural ethos that are enshrined in the soul of the country, and avoiding which, not only the present generation, but the generations to come would also remain confused and incompetent to sublimate the rigidity with which we distorted the idea that India represents.
· The complexity that India’s multiculturalism offers is genuinely visible and the essence of its spiritual wisdom seems to be fading but slowly, without being able to bring a convincing flavour to the platter of India’s religious concomitance. Seeing India as a world teacher amidst the modern tumult of a universal disorder was first conceived by Swami Vivekananda; who, throughout his deliberations in India and abroad had spoken about the potentiality that India held in terms of delivering a spiritual solace.
· An impending threat is menacingly visible on India’s political horizon which needs urgent attention. With its population crossing 1.3 billion, India would be battling to balance itself between democracy and a theocracy that it might be slowly inching towards. While democracy provides its citizens with the essential freedom to flourish as a social being, theocracy dictates terms holding on to the theatrics of radicalization. Signs to this effect of growing disagreement and dissatisfaction is evident and efforts to cobble together the differences without patching them up resolutely for mere electoral gains is obviously throwing the country on to the brim of a scuffle. This is dangerous. India needs to plan not only for its tomorrow but also for the decades to come. The impelling threat is to keep the landscape united without being axed once again on religious lines. The basic tenets of India’s spiritual wellbeing are based on diverse and pluralistic social engineering that it, from the ages of the sages, propagated with clarity and humility. Despite the belittling of the idea that India represents from different global platforms and some deliberate attempts from India too; there seems to be a spiritual essence emanating from the core of Indianness that keeps strengthening the country inexorably.
· Though India’s baby steps towards progress have been unsteady, its national energy has been unparalleled and stable pushing an infant state from the clutches of cultural devaluation and denigration. Shaking the impact of the colonial influence was not that easy. Surprisingly, even today we could not successfully emancipate our country from the colonial blow. The policies forcefully disseminated by Lord Macaulay have definitely chiselled a genus out of Indians who represent the white-man’s wisdom and are unapologetically argumentative on its efficacy even today. We can find them everywhere among the academics, the media fraternity, the politicians, the judiciary, and the intellectuals and also among social critics.
· India as of today is a complex democracy. On one side its aspirational worldview is gaining momentum and on the other we are pulled by the pinching realities of illiteracy, inequality, corruption and the contradictions and conflicts of religious hypocrisy. The question that often penetrates into the collective psyche of Indians is that; how long shall we live a life of contradictions? Does this country have the energy to defend its inner conflicts? A regime change in India since 2014 was a result of an aspirational shift by the Indian voters from a system of institutionalised corruption. All sectors of social life in the country received indomitable challenges but considerable moves in the direction of reforms followed. India, towards its centenary is an aspirational India and its quest is to accomplish big things and the Amrit Kaal will be a period of an aspirational India’s rise to greater global significance. As India marches towards its centenary, Himalayan challenges await us.
(Article published here is an extract from the book that the author M.R. Lalu had published with the title INDIA @ 75 – A CONTEMPORARY APPROACH from Kerala.
The book contains essays analysing various factors that India as a multicultural entity represents and the impact of India’s rise as a significant global power.)