Inconclusive India.

• Author: Thomson, John R.
• Position: Reporter-at-Large - Critical essay

[India is] a living contradiction. Jewels may well be concealed in the cloaks of beggars.... India presents a paradox. It is profound and primitive, deeply spiritual and darkly superstitious, both universalistic and maddeningly provincial.

--Dr. Mani Bhaumik

FEW OBSERVERS comment upon India's paradoxes--whether in the social or cultural sense--as profoundly as Dr. Bhaumik, but paradox is indeed clearly central to the debate regarding the country's future. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh clearly has a very similar view to Dr. Bahumik of India's complex society. The vaunted economist, widely credited with flaming India's sharp turn to a market economy some 15 years ago, has the daunting task of making the fast-growing climate he created work, economically and socially. As one close confidant told me, "Dr. Singh faces our paradoxes several times a day, every day. Thankfully, he remains optimistic."

The conundrum facing India today is this: Which side of the many economic and social paradoxes will prevail? Can enthusiasm and determination reverse the long decline in virtually every sector so that economic--and with it, social--growth will continue? Or will the neglect of decades cause the sensational growth of the last few years to stagnate? The optimists, from Prime Minister Singh to bankers and industrialists and even to small-plot farmers in remote villages--indeed, most Indians--believe the obstacles to continued growth can and will be overcome. If they are wrong, the boom of recent years could well become a blowout.

Coming to a judgment about where India is headed is not easy. Despite year-to-year growth averaging 8.6 percent for the past three years, for every positive indicator there is a conflicting, negative sign. Much of the heavily touted investment and development has occurred near major cities, but most of the 60-70 percent of Indians living in rural areas are barely surviving. The 300 million-strong middle class has access to jobs, services and amenities; the much larger rural dwelling population gets by, in countless cases, on less than 50 rupees ($1.15) a day.

These society-straining factors have resulted in millions of rural residents invading India's already teeming metro centers. Greater Delhi, with a population estimated at 32 million, cannot expand basic facilities fast enough to satisfy its middle class, much less the impoverished. And Delhi is not alone. In order for India to maintain its balance as it pursues reform and development, it will need the broad support of the very diverse Indian people--not an easy task.

India and China are frequently depicted as the two Asian Goliaths in hot competition for economic and political leadership. But India's democratic system has always been more deliberate than Beijing's authoritarian regime. The Chinese government can, generally speaking, tell the population what to do. The Indian government--once the divisive governing coalition agrees--must convince its citizens to support any given program.

The Gift of Gandhi

THERE IS one cultural and historic icon who could propel a rallying of support--indeed, of societal self-respect--towards Indian progress and renewal: Mohandas K. Gandhi. Respect for the father of independence, universally known as "Mahatma", or "great soul", among the people and within government circles is universal.

In addition to being the driving force for Indian independence, his support for India's downtrodden dalit--untouchables, whom Gandhi called Harijan, God's people--has seen such progress that, currently, India's president and chief justice both come from the once-shunned community. The Mahatma is held in revered esteem by virtually everyone in India, including those with reservations--or outright opposed--to his acceptance of partition (thus blessing the establishment of Pakistan), or to his idealizing of the agrarian lifestyle or to his tendency to value prospective successors' friendship more than their merit.

Properly conceived and executed, Gandhi's image could well be the catalyst that drives the society to reconcile its many paradoxes. Gandhi pervades the Indian conscience, from an understated yet magnificent memorial in Delhi, to statues throughout the land, to his likeness on every currency bill. The Mahatma represents a critical unifying element to the multifaceted society and can be leveraged as the rallying symbol for the country to address its pressing problems, and indeed to preserve the progress it has...