Gurucharan Das, ex CEO of Procter and Gamble India, is a self-proclaimed libertarian and an India optimist. He has been a strong believer in the future of India ever since liberalization in 1991. I had the chance to meet with him at a function at a B-School in Pune some years ago and asked him, how he was able to maintain his optimism in the face of all the corruption that was the norm within the ruling classes.
His answer was telling. He said every country has gone through different stages on its path to becoming a developed country and India is tracking that path. His optimism, he said, stems from the growth of literacy and the growth of the middle class. When more than half of the voter base is comprised of literate people and the middle class realizes that their numbers are large enough to make a difference, they will change the trajectory of the country's development.
That day is here now. Our domestic help is now literate, they read the newspaper, they watch the news on TV. Their children now study in English medium schools and they have learned to value education. Plumbers, electricians, carpenters, even the masons now pull out the calculator on their mobile phones to compute the amount you owe them. They are aware of the value of their services and are not afraid to ask for a fair price. More importantly, they are no longer mute spectators to whatever the politicians might do. They are willing to force a change with their votes.
We have crossed the first hurdle; we are unlikely, as a country to descend into chaos like a Nigeria, a Pakistan or a Russia. We the people need to hang in there and keep the politicians honest, for as recent events have shown, we can.
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