Making India Awesome - Chetan Bhagat

8/20/2019 Making India Awesome - Chetan Bhagat

1/826


2/826


3/826

Chetan Bhagat is the authoof seven blockbuster books

These include six novels Five Point Someone

(2004), One Night @ the Cal

Center (2005), The 3istakes of My Life (2008), 2

States (2009), Revolution2020 (2011), Half Girlfrien(2014)—and the non-fiction

title What Young India Wants(2012). Many of his novelshave been adapted into

successful Bollywood films.


4/826

TIME magazine named himamongst the ‘100 mos

influential people in theworld’ and Fast CompanyUSA, listed him as one of the

world’s ‘100 most creativepeople in business’.

Chetan writes columns foleading English and Hindnewspapers, focusing on

youth and nationadevelopment issues. He ialso a motivational speake

and screenplay writer.


5/826

Chetan quit hisinternational investmen

banking career in 2009 todevote his entire time towriting and make change

happen in the country. Helives in Mumbai with hiwife, Anusha, an exclassmate from IIM-A, andhis twin boys, Shyam and

Ishaan.


6/826

Praise for the author

‘Bhagat is a symbol of newIndia. A torch-bearer for an

unafraid generation…’ — India Today

‘Many writers are successfu

at expressing what’s in theihearts or articulating a

particular point of viewChetan Bhagat’s books doboth and more.’

—A.R. Rahman, in TIME


7/826

magazine, on Chetan’inclusion in the TIME 100

Most Influential People in theWorld

‘The voice of India’s risingentrepreneurial class.’ — Fast Company Magazine

on Chetan’s inclusion in the100 Most Creative People in

Business Globally


8/826


9/826

The thoughts and opinionexpressed in this book are

those of the author alone anddo not necessarily reflect theviews of Amazon Publishing

or its affiliates.

Text copyright © 2015

Chetan BhagatAll rights reserved.

o part of this book may bereproduced, or stored in aretrieval system, o


10/826

transmitted in any form or byany means, electronic

mechanical, photocopyingrecording, or otherwisewithout express written

permission of the publisher.

Published by AmazonPublishing, Seattlewww.apub.com

Amazon, the Amazon logoand Amazon Publishing are

trademarks of Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/http://www.apub.com/


11/826

Inc., or its affiliates.

EISBN-13: 9781503987371


12/826

To the awesome youth

of India


13/826

Contents

Start ReadingMaking India Awesome: A

Letter to the Reader

AWESOME

GOVERNANCE:POLITICS AND

ECONOMY

POLITICSSeventeen Commandments

for Narendra Modi


14/826

Games Politicians PlayRevenge of the Oppressed:

Why Corruption Continuesto Be Around Despite theOutcry Against It

We the ShamelessThe Kings in Our MindsThe Telangana EffectAnalysing the Modi EffectCan India’s Backward Polity

Provide a Pro-growthEconomic Environment?Rahul’s New Clothes, and the

Naked Truth


15/826

Swachh Congress Abhiyan:Some Essential Steps

Once upon a BeehiveECONOMYRescue the Nation

To Make ‘Make in India’Happen, Delete Control

Pro-poor or Pro-poverty?The Tiny-bang Theory for

Setting Off Big-bang

Reforms

AWESOME SOCIETY:

WHO WE ARE AS A


16/826

PEOPLE AND WHAT WE

NEED TO CHANGE

Time to Face Our DemonsWe Have Let Them Down

Watching the Nautch GirlsLet’s Talk about SexThe Real Dirty Picture

Saying Cheers in GujaratOur Fatal Attraction to FoodCleanliness Begins at Home

India-stupid and India-smartBhasha Bachao, Roman

Hindi Apnao


17/826

Mangalyaan+UnluckyTuesdays

A Ray of HopeJunk Food’s Siren Appeal

AWESOME EQUALITY:WOMEN’S RIGHTS, GAY

RIGHTS AND MINORITY

RIGHTS

WOMEN’S RIGHTS

Ladies, Stop Being so Hardon Yourselves

Five Things Women Need to


18/826

Change about ThemselvesHome Truths on Career

WivesWake up and Respect Your

Inner Queen

Indian Men ShouldChannelize Their Inner Mr Mary Kom

Fifty Shades of Fair: WhyColour Gets under Our

SkinGAY RIGHTSSection 377 Is Our Collective

Sin


19/826

MINORITY RIGHTSLetter from an Indian Muslim

YouthBeing Hindu Indian or

Muslim Indian

It’s Not Moderate Muslims’Fault

Mapping the Route toMinority Success

AWESOME RESOURCES

THE YOUTH

An Open Letter to Indian


20/826

Change SeekersWe, the Half-educated People

DU-ing It All Wrong, GettingIt All Mixed Up

How the Youth Can Get

Their DueScored Low in Exams? Some

Life Lessons from a 76-Percenter

Concluding Thoughts


21/826

efore you begin reading, i

might be helpful to

understand the words thacomprise the title, so that we

know the task at hand better .

Making /'meɪkɪŋ/ verb

1. to bring into existence,to produce; bring about;render.

2. to convert from onestate, condition,category, etc., to


22/826

another.

India /'ɪndɪə/ nounOfficially the Republic oIndia; a country in South

Asia. It is the seventh-largescountry by area, the secondmost populous country with

over 1.2 billion people, andthe most populous democracyin the world.

Awesome /' ɔ:s(ə)m/ adjective


23/826

1. causing or inducingawe; inspiring an

overwhelming feeling ofreverence, admiration, ofear: an awesome sight.

2. exhibiting or marked by awe; showingreverence, admiration, ofear.

3. informal . very

impressive: typicallyused by the Internetgeneration.


24/826

Making India

Awesome: A Letter to the

Reader

Dear Reader,

Thank you for picking up thi

book. This is not a storyThere is no romance in herenor are there page-turning


25/826

thrilling moments. Ratherthis book is about a dream

both you and I share—tomake India a better place.

Why This Book?

The current politica

environment and publicsentiment are so cynical thaone wonders if there is even a

point in writing a book aboua better India.

As I sit down to write thi


26/826

opening essay, I hear politicanoise everywhere. The ruling

party, the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP), brought to powea year ago with love and

votes, is now in the midst obattling several controversiesCabinet ministers are accusedof helping a fugitive; thefugitive, on his part, is trying

to lay blame on multiplesenior politicians. Stategovernment scams are

coming to the fore in


27/826

Maharashtra and MadhyaPradesh, one of them

triggering many deaths. Thebane of favouritism is back—with the news that a flight ful

of passengers was held up foan hour because an IndianAdministrative Service (IASofficer in a chief minister’contingent forgot his correc

passport at home. The primeminister hasn’t spoken abouany of these issues, even

while everyone else is talking


28/826

about them. The Congress iblaming the BJP. The BJP i

reminding the Congress abouits past sins. Their followeron Twitter are sending

abusive tweets to one anotherThe image I have presented

is a snapshot of Indian newsright now, but this could bethe situation at any given

point in time. There isnothing unusual about suchnoise. Chances are that if you

happen to read this some


29/826

years later, and turn on thetelevision, you will see a

couple of fresh, newcontroversies—with a lot odebating, pontificating

finger-pointing, outrage andno problem-solving. Thenoise from one controversywill ultimately fade and makeway for the next…and then

the next.

Youth and Nationa

Consciousness


30/826

With all this chaos, anaverage viewer or reader wil

either be totally confused, ormore likely, will opt out othe constant cacophony

generated by unsolvablenational issues. No surprisethen that most of India’youth don’t care much aboupolitics or the government.

Applying the 80:20 rule, would say that 80 per cent oour youth don’t even care

about politics or government


31/826

What they care about are theilives— their jobs, their

boyfriends or girlfriends andwell, that’s about it. We cancall this set of people Self

ocused Indifferent IndiansThis is a huge segment, andthe actual number of peoplewho just don’t care abouwhat happens may be even

higher than 80 per cent!Of the remaining 20 pecent who do care, most have

decided to take permanen


32/826

sides, as this helps solveconfusion. These sides are

often based on a personalityFor example, it’s just simpleto assume that Modi is alway

right, or that Kejriwal is theperson to back, no mattewhat. The derogatory terms‘Modi-bhakt’ and ‘AAPtard’have emerged because of thi

set of people. They arepolitically conscious, but arealigned. They defend

anything their chosen party


33/826

says, and are ready to abuseand insult anyone who even

hints at disagreeing with theigreat leader. Such peoplecreate a lot of noise on socia

media and may be wellintentioned about the countryhowever, they solve nothingThey have taken sides andstick to them, no matter wha

the issue. Hence, theicontribution to publicdiscourse is limited. Again

using the 80:20 rule, 80 pe


34/826

cent of people who care aboupolitics and national issue

fall in the ‘taking sidescategory. We can call thesepeople Caring but Aligned

ndians.Finally, there is the tiny

segment that matters—peoplewho actually care about thecountry, have an interest in

political issues, but don’have fixed sides. These are—to do the maths—20 per cen

of the 20 per cent, or a mere 4


35/826

er cent of our youth. We cancall this narrow set of people

Caring Objective IndiansThese are the people whogive me hope. For they wan

to give support to the righissue, not to a particulaparty. And if we have enoughpeople of this kind, we canactually put India on the righ

path.This book is an attempt toreach out to, and expand the

narrow segment of, Caring


36/826

Objective Indians.


37/826


38/826

The Sad State of Caring

Objective IndiansCaring Objective Indians areoften ignored or shouteddown in debates. They arealso labelled as fence-sitters

opportunists, or indecisiveconfused, contradictory oweak.

Say, a Caring ObjectiveIndian, who wanted changevoted for the BJP in the Lok


39/826

Sabha elections. Howeverthe same voter dislikes the

way the BJP is handling thecurrent controversies. Whenhe voices his protest, Caring

but Aligned Indians wilattack him. BJP supporterwill call him ignorant andlabel him an idiot. Non-BJPsupporters will abuse him and

question why the hell did hevote for the BJP. Faced withsuch attack, the Caring

Objective Indian wil


40/826

withdraw and eventuallybecome silent. Every issue

will, therefore, become a freefor-all between the alreadyaligned sets, each side

shouting down the otherSuch screaming and blamingsolves nothing, though theemotions and whipped-updrama entertain for a while

and make for good TV. Afteall, it is fun to see educated

people shout and belittle

other educated people!


41/826

The Way Out

Just as people gather on theroad to see a fistfight, Indiagathers at night to watch TV

debates. However, soon, thenovelty of the fight wears offand as nothing is solved

people get bored and moveon. It is time then for a newcontroversy, and for each side

to start a duel again. Breakingnews, fiery debates, no

solutions. Rinse and repeat


42/826

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?So, what do we do in such a

scenario? Is there any roomfor a sane voice? Is thereeven a point to writing a book

like Making India Awesomewhen things are so messedup? Does anyone actuallywant solutions instead of thedrama? Is it simply easier to

ignore it all, and be a Selffocused Indifferent Indian?Or even better, to become

aligned and at least have the


43/826

comfort of a group, a virtuamob that lends support?

All these doubts bubbled upin my head when I conceivedthis book. Ultimately, I fel

there is a need for this. In althe noise, there are peoplewho would care for a voice tosimplify things and point to asolution. Thus, this book wa

born. The fact that you havepicked it up means that, aleast to a certain extent, I was

right; there are Caring


44/826

Objective Indians who wanto hear reason.

India 2015 versus India

2011–2014

I think it is interesting tocompare the mood of the

nation now versus a couple oyears ago. In 2012, when mybook What Young India

Wants was published, noonly was I a different personbut I was also looking at a


45/826

different India. How so? Didthis nation not have problem

then?Sure, we did. We had ton

of issues then, and some

would argue we had them ona much larger scale. Themind-boggling numberassociated with the CWG, 2Gand coal scams prove this

These cases shocked some othe most indifferent Indiansand brought to the fore a

problem each one of us face


46/826

corruption. The growth osocial media, which allowed

accumulation and aggregationof public opinion like nevebefore, helped coalesce

people’s anger againscorruption.

The United ProgressiveAlliance (UPA) governmenin power then—a Congress

led hotchpotch coalition—missed all this until it was toolate. Neither did the

government act quickly on


47/826

the scams, nor did it sensepublic anger fast enough

Meanwhile, we had streeprotests, hunger strikes, sociamedia hashtags and a sort of a

mini-Arab Spring, all in thespan of two years.

In all this frustrationsomething was different fromwhat we have today. In 2012

we felt anger instead ocynicism. We also knew howto give our fury direction—

we believed that the


48/826

Congress-led governmenwas at fault. This party—

ruling the country for sixtyodd years and in power for 90per cent of Independen

India’s life—seemed to be theobvious reason for thenation’s woes.

2011–2014 Recap: The

Anna Movement, AAP and

Modi

The massive anti-governmen


49/826

sentiment of 2011 waamplified by the media and

solidified by new sociamedia. It led to the rise oseveral phenomena. One o

these was the Anna Hazaremovement, an anti-corruptiondrive that sought to have aLokpal, or an independenombudsman, in the country

The fact that the movemenhad an end game, a solutionof sorts, made it differen

from previous protests agains


50/826

corruption. People from alwalks of life backed it

including me. Had thegovernment relented with areasonable Lokpal, the

movement might have taken anatural course. However, theUPA government ditheredand the Anna movemencreated a new political party

the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)While Anna Hazare withdrewfrom the political entity, i

gave birth to a new politica


51/826

star called Arvind KejriwalSmart, well-intentioned

media-savvy, relativelyyoung and from a humblebackground, Kejriwal wa

ready to take on anyone in theestablishment. His passionand aggression won himmany fans, and even thoughwe didn’t have a Lokpal

people saw Kejriwal as one othe solutions to India’s crisesWhile Kejriwal’s journey to

power in Delhi is wel


52/826

known, it is only now that hisposition has assumed some

stability as the state chieminister.

Before his recent electora

victory (in February 2015)Kejriwal was inconsistentexhibiting traits that showedearnestness but alsoinexperience. While people

liked him, wanted him tohave a future in Indianpolitics and knew that he

could take on the Congress


53/826

they weren’t sure that hecould be a viable alternative

to it.Hence, this created anothe

gap and simultaneously led to

the rise of another politicastar—Narendra Modi. Thecurrent prime minister oIndia was then the four-timechief minister of Gujarat, one

of India’s most affluenstates. He belonged to theBJP, the Congress’

traditional rival, and thu


54/826

offered an alternative to theCongress. Unlike Kejriwal

Modi had far more politicaexperience and a proven trackrecord in running a state. In

fact, his initiatives inpromoting the successfuGujarat growth storycemented his position as anable administrator and

visionary. While theCongress lost touch with themasses, Modi and the BJP

began to echo popula


55/826

sentiment—‘Congress-MuktBharat’, the war cry of the

BJP, became instantlypopular. Since Indians seemto like personalities in

politics, the entire campaignrevolved around NarendraModi. ‘ Ab ki baar, Modsarkar ’ was splattered acroshoardings and newspapers in

every city. The rest, as theysay, is history.The BJP won 282 seats

comfortably above the


56/826

majority 271-mark in theParliament. With its allies

the tally was well over 300India was set to enter a newera. Publications around the

world celebrated India’mandate for stability, and foa leader focused ondevelopment and not muchelse.

The Hindutva card of theBJP, something it hadcapitalized on in earlie

elections, was kept aside


57/826

instead, the party promised anIndia that was committed to

communal harmony as welas development. With greapomp and show, Modi was

sworn in at the RashtrapatBhavan lawns. Thousandwere present, including theheads of state of eight of ouneighbouring countries.

Could it get any better foIndia?

2014 until Today: A Reality


58/826

Check

The new government came topower. Things started tomove. We had news report

of government employeebeing pulled up for not beingpunctual. Ministers worked

long hours. Many pendinggovernment proposals beganto get cleared. The primeminister announced initiativelike ‘Swachh Bharat’ o

‘Clean India’, which were


59/826

well received.And yet, not al

expectations were met. Thepace of economic reformexpected to accelerate with

the new government, didn’change much. Many in thegovernment managedexpectations by saying‘Don’t expect big-bang

reforms.’ While thegovernment launched a‘Make in India’ campaign to

invite foreign investors


60/826

reports of ‘tax terrorismmultiplied, with overzealous

tax departments houndingforeign institutional investors

The education sector didn’

transform significantlyEmployment rate, often aresult of economic growthdidn’t pick up very mucheither. Communal statement

from a few BJP leadercontinued. The primeminister—vocal like no othe

prime ministerial candidate


61/826

before the election—becamemore discreet. He spoke, bu

often about his own agendarather than aboucontroversial or tricky issues.

The ‘Modi wave’, a sort oa fandom for Narendra Modthat had swept the nationbefore the election, turnedinto ‘it’s still early days, let’

see what happens’.

The Ebbing Modi Wave


62/826

A strong sign that the Modwave had ended came with

the Delhi state elections o2015. In February 2015Arvind Kejriwal, won 67 ou

of the 70 seats in the DelhAssembly. Several reasonwere attributed to thilandslide victory, includingthe fact that people wanted to

give a real second chance toArvind Kejriwal. Howeverone could not deny that the

euphoria surrounding the new


63/826

BJP government had endedat least in Delhi.

Of course, soon afteKejriwal assumed powercontroversies broke out abou

his government as well. Thefirst came when PrashanBhushan and YogendraYadav, two foundingmembers of the AAP, were

ousted from the partyKejriwal was the only brandthat mattered for the AAP

everyone else wa


64/826

dispensable. Anothecontroversy involved the

AAP law minister for Delhforging his educationadegrees. Then came the repor

about the AAP spending amindboggling ₹ 500 croreplus for advertisementhighlighting its ownachievements.

Neither Modi nor Kejriwaseemed to have sustainedtheir pre-election hype.


65/826

The Hope and

Disappointment Cycle

So what’s the pattern here? Iseems that we, as Indians, do

realize that there are problemin the system. However, tosolve these problems, we

place our faith in one messiahand bring him or her topower. Once we bring themessiah to power, wediscover that s/he

underwhelms us, getting


66/826

trapped in controversies ohemmed in by limitations

From the Congress to the BJPto the AAP, every partyseems to have tried its luck a

the top in some capacityHowever, no clear path ivisible and the cycle of hopeand disappointmencontinues. Change is slow

despite all of us agreeing thait is needed. We hear reportof how India is the nex

superpower about to take off


67/826

However, that take-off seemto have been stuck on the

runway for a couple odecades now.

The realization that India’

problems won’t go away bychanging a governmencreates both despair and hope

First comes despair. It idisheartening to learn that we

still haven’t done enough toput India on the right pathAfter all, we did manage to

have a Congress-mukt centra


68/826

government, the so-calledcure. We also placed our two

big political stars—NarendraModi and Arvind Kejriwal—as prime minister and chie

minister respectively, with afull majority. Yet theproblems haven’t ended. Thefaces have changed, not theissues.

Reality Check: The Despair

We are still far from being a


69/826

confident superpower of thefuture. We are still a third

world country with thirdworld infrastructure; theroads in Mumbai still have

potholes after the first rainWe do have a fewachievements on the worldstage in sports, sciencedefence or in spaces that ask

for creativity. But we havemillions of poor people. Jobopportunities for the youth

are limited. Economic growth


70/826

is modest. Primary educationis in poor shape. Most don’

have access to qualityhealthcare.

I don’t want to paint a sorry

picture. However, before weget lost in our superpowerIndia fantasies and other suchpatriotic porn, it is importanto face reality. Economic

backwardness is not India’only bane. While a countrylike the USA has legalized

gay marriage, we conside


71/826

homosexuality illegal and areyet to repeal the draconian

Section 377. Our womenaren’t treated well, and awhole bunch of gender issue

such as female foeticidesexual crimes against womenfemale malnutrition anddiscrimination against womenat work exist in our society

Our religious minorities feeunsafe, and local Hindu–Muslim issues easily spira

into national unrest. All thi


72/826

is reason enough to believethat we are far from being

awesome.

Awesome

Awesome is what I want toturn India into. Awesome is a

term the young use todescribe anything that is coolaspirational, worthy o

respect and that essentiallyinspires awe. While we allove our country, and tha


73/826

will never stop, to take it toawesome status needs some

work.

Reality Check: The Hope

While the bitter truths abouour system may create some

gloom, there is also hope inpresent-day India. For unlikethe 2011–2014 period

Indians today have a bettegrip on reality. For once, wedon’t think that there are a


74/826

few bad guys at the topmaking all the mess. Fewe

among us think that a messiahwill come to save us. Wefinally have the niggling

feeling that perhaps there’ssomething wrong with us —that no law or leader can fixsociety unless society wantto fix itself. The realization

that we are responsible for themess we are in—and that iisn’t ‘their’ fault—is the bes

hope India has had in


75/826

decades.Hence, our mild

disillusionment with oupolitical stars may not be abad thing. They are no

saviours, and it is unfair toexpect them to be. It’s nothem, but we, who have tosolve our problems.

How to Make a Nation

Awesome

The anger and outrage on


76/826

display between 2011 and2014 wasn’t wrong. In fact

we needed such fury to bringpeople together andacknowledge the problem

we confronted. We may nohave solved issues, but aleast we tried to do somethingabout them by protesting onthe streets and voting fo

change. However, this wasn’enough, and now we know it.Making a nation awesome

takes more than just Twitte


77/826

outrage, street protests and atoppling of governments in

elections. It asks for afundamental shift in societavalues, culture and habits.

Transforming society’values is especiallyimportant. Let’s take anexample. If we want toeradicate the menace o

corruption, every dishonesact must create deeprevulsion within us. Fighting

corruption is not restricted to


78/826

naming and shaming a fewcorrupt officials. If we think

it is okay to cheat in examslie to a ticket collector in thetrain about our kids’ ages and

pay a bit of money to avoid abig traffic fine, then at somelevel we clearly don’t careabout eliminating corruptionall that much. At best, we

hate the politician who gets tosteal (while we don’t!).To take another example, i

is unthinkable for Hindus to


79/826

enter temples with their shoeon. Even so, why don’t we, a

Indians, cheat and enteplaces of worship covertly inour shoes? Simply because

we feel it is disrespectful todo so. No law is needed; nopolitician at the top needs toremind us. It is our society’core values that guide us—we

have learnt that places oworship should be treatedwith respect, and removing

our shoes is one way o


80/826

showing deference. Now, if only we felt the

same way about corruptionWell, hopefully we will, oneday.

The Homogeneity

Challenge

Spurring reform in a nationalso requires homogeneity in

thought. People shouldgenerally agree on what acountry’s top problems are


81/826

and the solutions needed fothem.

This is a massive challengein India, one of the mosdiverse countries in the

world. We have people fromdifferent culturescommunities, religionsethnicities, income groupand educational backgrounds

Many get exasperated withIndia because we, its citizensust never seem to get along

Some experts even say the


82/826

idea of India is wrong; it inot more than a leftove

patchwork of disparatekingdoms created by theBritish. After all, what does

Kerala have in common withAssam, and what do the twoshare with Rajasthan? Howcan all these diverse groupever agree?

There is some truth to suchscepticism. Countries thahave dramatically progressed

in the last few decades—


83/826

Taiwan, South KoreaSingapore and Japan—have a

more homogenoupopulation. Even China, ahuge country, is culturally a

lot less disparate than India.Are we, as Indians, then

fated to disagree with oneanother? Will our dreams bedestroyed by interna

disharmony? How will weever become truly awesome?

My Role


84/826

This is where I feel I, andothers like me, have a role

By God’s grace and thanks tomy readers’ love, my bookhave reached almost al

corners of the country.Each book is a unique

Indian story, about peoplefrom a particular place inIndia. The stories have

worked all over IndiaDoesn’t this mean that, asome level, we are

homogenous? We can and do


85/826

empathize with KrishMalhotra’s attempts at getting

married to a girl outside hicommunity (2 States). Areader in Rajasthan can relate

to Madhav Jha’s strugglewith spoken English ( HalGirlfriend ).

As a motivational speaker, have travelled across India;

have visited over a hundredcities in the last three yearsWhile there are geographica

differences, I find tha


86/826

ultimately, as Indians, we arethe same.

The average Indiananywhere in the country islooking for a better quality o

life, a certain amount of hopeand security and the freedomto make personal choicesThe issues that really matteto us are the same

Differences exist, but theydon’t run as deep as oupoliticians would have u

believe. A Maharashtrian


87/826

father wants a good collegefor his son and doesn’t care

whether his MP is aMaharashtrian. An Assamesegirl wants the freedom to

marry her boyfriend, as doea woman in Karnataka.

This similarity oaspirations, at a fundamentalevel, is what gives me hope

It offers me—and others likeme on a national platform—an opportunity to connec

everyone. While fiction is fun


88/826

and entertaining, writers likeme also need to share

common concerns with thepopulation and propose a fewdeliverables.

Making India Awesome

It is my belief and convictionthat if we all come togetherwe really can make our India

awesome. We can have anation that we are proud to bea part of and others choose to


89/826

emulate.We will do this by working

on ourselves. The fix is noquick, and it won’t comefrom electing an awesome

messiah at the top. It wilcome from working onseveral aspects of oucountry.

For the sake of simplicity

I’ll divide the workdemanded of us to make Indiaawesome into four main

areas. These are:


90/826

Awesome

Governance: Making

our government, politicsand policies rightAwesome Society:

Fixing societal values,culture and habitsAwesome Equality:

Enforcing and respectingminority, gay and

women’s rightsAwesome Resources:

Utilizing our best

resource pool—the


91/826

youth

This has been graphicallyrepresented in the chart on thenext page.

My columns over the passix years have tried to addreseach of these four areas; they

have emphasized that ounation will become awesomeonly when we get anawesome report card in each

of these four subjects.

All the noise and fury unti


92/826

2014 about corruption and theneed for a change in

government did contribute tothis end, but only partially—to the first part, Awesome

Governance. The other threesegments still need to betackled.

Pushing for equality, a shifin societal values and the

proper utilization of resourcewon’t be easy, and theourney will be long. But I am

excited. After all, how often


93/826

do we get to be part of ageneration that can actually

fix the nation?I do believe we can make

India awesome by embracing

a fresh identity—by movingfrom our original positions aSelf-focused IndifferenIndians or Caring but AlignedIndians, and growing into

Caring Objective Indians. believe we can achieve globaeminence by remembering

the lessons of the recent pas


94/826

that no law or leader cansolve our problems if we fai

to display some initiative. think we can dream oharmony and happiness if we

celebrate the qualities thabind us as citizens, evenwhile making allowances fodifferences. Most of all, if weunderstand the issues tha

confront India and help otherunderstand them, we wilhave contributed to ou

common goal—making India


95/826

one of the greatest countrieon earth. The fact that you

have picked up this bookmeans that you share this goawith me and other readers.


96/826


97/826

I have one request. I neve

write an essay or discuss anIndian problem withouproposing a solution, no

matter how simple tharesolution may sound. I urgeyou to do the same when you

discuss a national issueanywhere. Let us not onlycomplain and whine, buunderstand things and workthem out.

Also, I am not perfect, no


98/826

are all my thoughts in everysection in this book perfect

But let this book be a startingpoint. Let it generate moreideas about how we can turn

our shared dream into areality. Disagree with me, buat least have a point of viewabout the problem and asolution in mind. Do that, and

in my eyes you will be what call an awesome reader.And when we will have

enough awesome readers who


99/826

care about our countrynothing can stop us from

Making India Awesome!

Love


100/826

AWESOME

GOVERNANCEPOLITICS AND

ECONOMY


101/826


102/826

The cornerstone of any

country, the control roomcontaining the levers thamanipulate the economyand society, is thegovernment. In a

democracy, the governmens born out of politics. The

kind of politics we havehe way voters think andhe kind of people we elec


103/826

o sit in the control roomhave a huge impact on the

destiny of our nation.Handling the levers of ou

country is what we calgovernance. It involvesformulating andmplementing policiesaws, rules and regulation

o run our country. Unlesswe make this governance

world class, there is no


104/826

way our country canbecome awesome.

Hence, a lot of mywriting revolves around

politics and policiesWherever possible, I try noo blame only thepoliticians. Politicians arereplaceable. What is more

mportant is what we, asvoters, need to change

about ourselves, in ou


105/826

everyday behaviour andhinking, to ensure that the

people who enter thecontrol room do indeed

give us awesomegovernance.

In this section, ‘GamesPoliticians Play’ talks abouhow the prejudiced Indian

voter can easily bemanipulated. ‘We the

Shameless’ and ‘Revenge


106/826

of the Oppressed’ addresshow corruption doesn’

occur just because opoliticians, but because o

how different classes osociety think and place adifferent importance on thessue. In ‘The Kings in OuMinds’, the Indian mentality

of being over-subservient toour political leaders and its

resultant abuse by them is


107/826

discussed.Essays such as ‘Rahul’s

New Clothes, and theNaked Truth’, ‘Swachh

Congress Abhiyan’Seventeen Commandmentsfor Narendra Modi’ andAnalysing the Modi Effectalk more directly of the

dynamics of the mainpolitical parties in ou

nation.


108/826

Apart from politics, it isequally important to

understand policies. Mywritings on ‘The Telangana

Effect’ (on the division oAndhra Pradesh), ‘Rescuehe Nation’ (on the role ohe bureaucracy), ‘Pro-pooor Pro-poverty?’ (on the

Food Security Bill), ‘Canndia's Backward Polity

Provide a Pro-growth


109/826

Economic Environment?(on the state of the Indian

economy), ‘The Tiny-bangTheory for Setting Off Big

bang Reforms’ (on the newgovernment's cautiouseconomic reforms) and ‘ToMake “Make in India”Happen, Delete Control

(on attracting foreignnvestments) talk abou

specific governmen


110/826

policies, weighing in on thepros and cons of each.


111/826

POLITICS

Seventeen

Commandment

for NarendraModi

After a long time, we

have had a stable


112/826

L

mandate at the top. Ifthe BJP blows this

opportunity, it will setIndia back by a

decade.

et me forewarn you

dear reader—this is nogoing to be pretty. But, over ayear after the Modgovernment came to power, iis important to take stock o

what needs to be done.


113/826

Here is a list of seventeenaction points if the Bharatiya

Janata Party (BJP) wants toremain the dominant politicaparty in India. After a long

time, we have had a stablemandate at the top. If the BJPblows this opportunity, it wilset India back by a decadeSo, here goes.

The prime minister,with all due respect, is

floating too high. Come


114/826

back to earth. Don’t tryto present an image of a

global statesman. Youwon an anti-incumbencyelection when the

Congress was weak, byincreasing the BJP’svote share by a few

percentage points. Youhave not transformed

India yet. Don’t behappy with just theapplause from non-

resident Indians (NRIs).


115/826

If they love you somuch, ask them to pay.

If one lakh NRIs commito paying the BJP $1,000a year, that is a $100

million of clean moneyannually. Use that toclean up party funding.When are you going todo that anyway?

Learn some valuablelessons from your trouncing in the Delhi

elections in 2014. The


116/826

results removed the haloaround Modi, or ended

the ‘Modi wave’. Theyshowed that the topleadership was clueless

about the feelings of people on the street, or even their own partyworkers. They also castdoubt on Modi’s ability

to deliver on promises.Get the Lokpal Bill passed. Empower the

Central Bureau of


117/826

Investigation (CBI) andCentral Vigilance

Commission (CVC).Clean up corruptionsystemically. Don’t say

that if Modi is there,nobody can be corrupt.What if Modi isn’t theretomorrow?Don’t bully the media

or juniors in the party.Inspire respect, not fear.Don’t be smug. Don’t

kill talent in the party


118/826

because it could be athreat to you one day.

It’s not in the BJP’sDNA to be a one-man

party.

Shut up regressiveHindutva fanatics.We’ve heard them talk

poisonous nonsense.You ignore them. They

are your supporters. Youhave to tell them loudand clear this is not

okay. The young


119/826

generation doesn’t find icool to support a leader

who doesn’t believe in afree and equal society.Send some of your old-

fashioned partymenabroad to learn aboutgender issues andminority rights. Theywill make you sink

otherwise.Don’t be overconfidentin your speeches. Keep a

circle of critics around


120/826

you, not just those whokeep singing ‘Modiji is

awesome’. Everythingyou utter in public must

be pre-checked. A prime

minister cannot be arabble rouser.Dress down. Charisma

comes from integrity,competence and

compassion. Not fromexpensive clothes.Stay connected to, and

do something visible, for


121/826

the youth. Theyscreamed for you in the

Lok Sabha elections andfilled their Twitter feedsand Facebook walls with

your praises. What haveyou done for them? Youwent to Shri RamCollege of Commerce togive a speech before the

elections. Have youvisited any college after that? Why not? Are

foreign visits more


122/826

important?The party president

may be really clever. Busometimes it isn’t aboutwho is the most clever

but about who genuinelycares. Chess movesdon’t win elections allthe time. A connect with

people does. The party

president, given his perceived persona(which may be at

variance with who he


123/826

really is), doesn’t inspireconfidence. You

standing next to him islike Amitabh Bachchanstanding next to Amar

Singh. Did it help Mr Bachchan?Don’t talk down to

people. Talk to people.Don’t address people if

you never want to takequestions. Don’t givemonologues on the

radio. It reminds one of


124/826

Indira Gandhi and NorthKorea. It’s not cool. Do

you really think a kid inDelhi University will telhis friends, ‘Hey, can’t

miss that “Mann KiBaat” on radio?’Open more colleges.

Open up tourism.Reduce taxes on high-

employment sectors.Give tax breaks for companies that move

headquarters to smaller


125/826

cities. Do anything totake skills and jobs to

the interiors. Fix the primary schools. Theyhave to teach well. Half

our schoolkids can’t read properly.

The cities needextensions with verylow-cost housing

solutions, with goodwater, electricity andtransport infrastructure.

That is the only way the


126/826

urban poor can live a lifeof dignity. Give them

dignity. They didn’t votefor you in Delhi,remember? Win them

back.Be real. Have a work–

life balance. Why can’tthe prime minister catcha movie sometimes? Or

eat chaat in Delhisomewhere? Ahumanized prime

minister works better


127/826

than a glorified one. No statues, please.

School or statue?Hospital or statue? Noneed to explain further.

No personal attacks onopponents, no matter how punchy the joke or the temptation to say it.Again, run it past those

critical advisers first. No hanging out withrich industrialists. Of

course, you may need to


128/826

officially. But it doesn’thave to be a media

event. Hang out with the billion people, not billionaires.

Finally, all of the abovecomes down to the party

listening and acting accordingto the wishes of the people.


129/826

Games

Politicians Play

If a father buys hischild toffees instead of

books for school, itmay make for ahappy child. But does

it make a goodfather?


130/826

L

ike certain flowers tha blossom only in spring

Indian politics comealive, and shows its truecolours, during election time

The strategies adopted bypolitical parties tell you whamatters to people, or answethe elusive question—howexactly do Indians vote?

Certain moves announced bypolitical parties, whetheabsurd, controversial o

unethical, provide you


131/826

immense insight into whaworks for the average voter

Even the most rationalmodern-thinking politicianadopt primitive and

regressive measures in tryingto pander to the electorateThey do this for one and onlyone purpose—to win. In factvictory becomes so importan

that they forget, or ignore, thelong-term repercussions otheir actions on our society

and nation as a whole


132/826

Whether it is taking in corrupmembers only for the vote

they can procure from theicommunities or announcingunrealistic freebies or quota

on the basis of caste oreligion, politics becomes acircus at the time of elections

If a father buys his childtoffees instead of books fo

school, it may make for ahappy child. But does it makea good father?

For a change, I am no


133/826

blaming any of the politicianfor such actions. If we were

in the same situation, perhapswe too would be left with nochoice but to adopt simila

measures. The problem is nowith the politicians, whosimply mirror and adapt tothe environment. The issue iwith the Indian electorate, o

us. The great Indian mind ifilled with prejudiceCenturies of persecution and

discrimination—even in the


134/826

present day—on the one handand a belief in the superiority

of one’s own kind on theother, have led to theseprejudices. These in turn have

led to a haphazard democracymore cacophony than

consensus. The ruckus thawe often see in Parliament inothing but a visualization o

the average Indian mind, ochaos and confusion abouwho we really are. Even the

most educated of us are


135/826

prejudiced. One simple test oprejudice is this—will you

allow your siblings ochildren to marry outsideyour community or religion?

If your answer is no, then nomatter how much you cheefor the Indian team, stand aattention for the nationaanthem or cheer the Indian

flag, you are prejudiced. Andas long as most of us stayprejudiced, we will have the

confused and mediocre


136/826

leadership that we have righnow. No matter how many

fasts activists undertake ogood policies economistssuggest, if we don’t get the

concept of being Indian in ouheads and treat that aboveanything else, we will remaina messed-up country.

Yes, Dalits were treated

badly in the past, and somestill suffer. Muslims were—and some of them still are—

discriminated against


137/826

However, things haveimproved. If you shed you

prejudices, they will improveeven faster.

If there were no prejudices

there would be no need fopolitical parties to play thecaste card or to announcequotas within quotas.

If we don’t change

however, we are movingtowards disaster. There wilbe lack of decision-making

inefficiency and a stalling o


138/826

progress and growth in oucountry. The young

generation will find it evenmore difficult to get a goodeducation and well-paid jobs

After all, if we choose ouleader based only on thetoffees he gives us, then wesomewhat deserve our fate.


139/826

Revenge of the

Oppressed:Why CorruptionContinues to Be

Around Despitethe Outcry

Against It


140/826

F

Everybody wants to

remove corruption.However, not everyIndian feels it is the

number one priority.

rom speakingengagements to dinnewith friends, one question i

constant: why isn’t corruptiongoing away? The questionbaffles the educated middle


141/826

classes. Why is a reasonableuniversal and noble demand

for an honest society sodifficult to achieve in ademocracy? And why is i

that corrupt parties winelections time and timeagain?

Frustrated, the educatedmiddle class comes up with

elitist theories like ‘90 pecent of Indians are stupid’ o‘most voters are dumb’. None

of this is true. The Indian


142/826

voter is rational. However, heis rational within his own

framework. It is important tograsp the demographics andsocial context of Indian

voters.Sure, at one leve

everybody wants to removecorruption. Every Indianwould like a clean society

However, not every Indianfeels it is the number onepriority. For a lot of Indians

corruption doesn’t determine


143/826

their voting behaviourRemoving corruption i

important to them. Howeverit is not as important as, say(a) one’s identity; (b) thei

safety; and (c) obtainingsome instant gratificationfrom politicians during votingtime.

Clever politician

understand this. They work todeliver on these prioritieand, in return, are allowed to

be corrupt by the voters. Thi


144/826

often occurs amongst thesection of voters that ha

historically been oppressed osees itself as a subjugatedminority.

Of course, this is anoversimplified generalizationThe situation is changing. Fothere are Muslim voters olower-caste voters or low

income voters who wancorruption removed morethan anything else. However

a lot of Muslims also vote to


145/826

feel safe (hence they mayavoid voting for the BJP)

Many low-income voterwould rather have ‘bird-inhand freebies’ at election time

(as later on the politician wilforget them—a completelyrational view). Similarlymany lower-caste voters mayfeel happy to see thei

community’s candidate inpower, as it makes life seem alittle fairer after generation

of oppression.


146/826

With such conflictingagendas, the issue o

corruption gets cloudedVoting patterns do showcorruption as a variable

(hence ministers step down)However, it is not the topinfluencer yet. Thus, acorrupt party can enjoy poweas long as it keeps the

oppressed classes happy andcan play Robin Hood to themEvery party knows this; thus

every party is corrupt, though


147/826

to varying degrees.In some ways, the

stickiness of corruption is therevenge of the oppressed. It iwe, the educated, usually

upper-class, upper-casteHindus, who are empoweredenough to have higher-ordeneeds of an honest and faisociety. The oppressed won’

let us have it just yet. They dowant to remove corruptionbut they also want certain

injustices fixed and othe


148/826

scores settled. For this, theysend agents to power who

might loot the nation, buprotect them and even sharethe booty through the

occasional handout.It isn’t fair to today’

youth, who want acorruption-free India tomaximize opportunitie

above anything elseHowever, there werecenturies of unfairness tha

the oppressed had to bear too


149/826

Will it ever change? Yes. Ihas to change because

plunder and redistribution is ahighly inefficient model fosocietal fairness. We are a

poor country. There isn’much to plunder anyway. Thesolution lies in setting asidedifferences for a while. Theupper-caste, upper-clas

Hindus have to let go of theibigotry and prejudice. Theoppressed have to let go o

their justified but expensive


150/826

urge for revenge andretribution. All over the

world, the oppressed haveonly risen through selfempowerment—look at the

Jews and the ParsisOppressed community voterare realizing that many otheir current representativeshave harmed the nation, filled

their own pockets and donelittle for them.We are not a nation o

stupid voters. We are simply


151/826

a nation where people wandifferent things, and that’

okay. However, removingcorruption will require it to bemade the number one priority

for all Indians. It is a seculaissue, and removing it will bebeneficial to all.

When the roof of the houseis leaky, you need to fix the

roof first rather than fighfamily feuds. We do becomeone during cricket matches

and we did win the World


152/826

Cup in 2011. If we canbecome one on this issue o

fighting corruption, we wilbe able to win against it aswell.

Game for it?


153/826

T

We the

Shameless

It’s time to stopblaming just our

politicians forcorruption and lookwithin.

ime and time again, wehave seen our politica


154/826

parties defend their corrupmembers and even back them

for important posts. Theifirst standard excuse i‘nothing malafide is proven

yet’. The second classicexcuse is ‘look at what otheparties have done’. Thereforea murderer can be spared, along as he can find anothe

murderer.It is important tounderstand why all politica

parties back their corrup


155/826

members, despite massiveallegations and enough

circumstantial evidenceagainst such people. Theanswer lies in the way Indian

think. While it is easy toblame politicians, the facremains that our politicianare not ethical because wearen’t ethical. A large numbe

of politicians have lost trackof the idea that everyprofession in this world has

ethics—it may not be illega


156/826

to break them but still idefinitely wrong. A docto

must treat his patient as soonas possible, it is assumedunder ethical medica

practice. But if he delaytreatment, it would be hard toprove it illegal. A teachemust try to teach her studentwell, though if she doesn’t, i

won’t be illegal. Societyneeds ethics as much as lawto function well.

The simple, bitter truth i


157/826

that the electorate just doesn’care much about financia

impropriety. Sure, we bickermoan and fuss aboupoliticians looting us

However, it is not that highup in the hierarchy of wronga politician could commit. Amoderate amount ocorruption is almost expected

and accepted. It is only whengraft is done in an obvioularge-scale and arrogan

manner that Indians ge


158/826

somewhat upset—and thatoo for a short period of time

‘Do it, but don’t be so blatanand rub it in our faces,’ iwhat we seem to be telling

them.Tax evasion, dubiou

accounting and shadyfriendships are almost seen anatural behaviour for an

Indian businessman. Wedon’t see them as crimes. Wetreat them on a par with, say

eating four plates of dessert—


159/826

a bit greedy, buunderstandable.

Until we, as a societyreally feel that graft, unethicabehaviour and nepotism are

huge problems, and start totruly care about all of thempoliticians will not change.

Take, for instance, ahypothetical situation. Say, a

prominent politician weninto a temple with his shoeon, with a bottle of alcoho

and kicked the idols. Wha


160/826

would happen? Of coursethere would be huge societa

outrage. In our value systemwe hold our religious shrinesextremely dear. Such a person

would never be allowed toremain party president. In alprobability, the person’political career would endovernight.

But this value system doesnot apply when we see shadybusinesses being conducted

state coffers being looted o


161/826

politicians placing selfinterest above nationa

interest. Even abuse of poweis something we only talkabout in public. Deep down

we are complicit. We maywant political leaders to noabuse power, but do soourselves. Just take oneexample, the status o

domestic help in India. Howdo Indians treat theidomestic help? Why don’t we

ever talk about a minimum


162/826

wage for them? Or perhaps acompulsory day off every

week? When we ourselvehave no qualms abusing oupower, it is difficult to attack

others for doing so.We, the Indian society

need to reflect on who wehave become. Organizationslike the Rashtriya

Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)which claim to care foIndia’s glory, should be

fixing this by propagating


163/826

good values in society. Andparties which claim remova

of corruption as their topmosagenda, like the Aam AadmParty (AAP), should also

send out the message that it ia lack of values within usand not just a few bad guys athe top, that has turned Indiacorrupt.

More than anything, weourselves must change, andsee the sense in doing so. A

society without values canno


164/826

survive or function, let aloneprogress. When thi

realization dawns on a largesection of society, politicianswill change. The BJP migh

fire Nitin Gadkari and theCongress might create anuproar to take action againsRobert Vadra.

Right now, they don’t

because they think you, thevoter, doesn’t care. That youwill see Gadkari’

punishment as a slight to the


165/826

RSS, or to the community ocaste he belongs to. Similarly

no Congressman will standup for what is right inVadra’s case, as the Congress

voter cares for the Gandhfamily more than for right owrong.

We live in shameless timesWhen long-overdue self

reflection and shame strikeus, India will be ready fochange. We have seen many

exposés on corrupt leaders in


166/826

the past few years; it is timewe did an exposé on

ourselves.


167/826

I

The Kings in

Our Minds

Kings and colonizersleft our country nearly

seven decades ago. Itis time they left ourminds.

remember one afternoonwhen there was a traffic


168/826

am on the Western ExpresHighway in Mumbai. This

vital suburban highwayconnects various importanpoints of the city, including

the airport. I, like severaothers on the road, had aflight to catch. On a normaday, it would have taken tenminutes to the terminal

However, that day, the traffichad not moved for over halan hour.

The jam wasn’t due to road


169/826

construction or a vehiclemishap. Instead, a few cop

had intentionally stopped thetraffic. ‘VIP movement,’ isall a cop told me when

asked. Some of us begged thecops to let us pass, lest wemiss our flight. The copshooed us away. The strandedcrowd smirked at us, as i

saying how stupid of us toeven try.I saw the faces of people

waiting on their bikes, in cars


170/826

buses and autorickshaws. Thelong jam meant literally

thousands of people waitingto move behind us. Peoplewere late for work, busines

meetings, doctor’appointments, social visitand college. Yet, whileeveryone was uncomfortablenobody seemed agitated

either. After all, this was apart of Indian life. A netapasses, the world around ha

to stop.


171/826

I made frantic calls to theairline staff and managed to

get a boarding pass printedWhen traffic finally cleared, was lucky to make it to the

flight. The airline, aware othe jam, had delayed theplane somewhat. It wouldnow delay other flightelsewhere in India. Despite

this, many passengercouldn’t make it. Thesepeople spent considerable

time, effort and money to


172/826

rebook themselves to theidestinations. I had a speaking

engagement in my destinationcity. If I had missed thisflight, the function would

have had to be cancelled.Meanwhile, I assume the

neta arrived in Mumbai, hadpeople salute him, lift hibags and shut his car doors

He would have zipped off onthe highway, on his way tocut a ribbon somewhere or fo

a meeting; probably


173/826

important but not terriblyurgent either. If the road had

not been cleared for him, hewould have still reached hidestination, perhaps ten

minutes later (and with amore realistic picture of theroads and traffic in Mumbai)However, to ensure hicomfort, thousands waited fo

an hour, airlines upseschedules and at least oneevent planner in the country

had a panic attack.


174/826

Who was this VIP? He wasa member of Parliament, a

minister. He was neither theking of India nor the coloniaruler of our country. We

don’t have those anymoreThe person was an electedrepresentative, someonepeople had chosen to do aob. Sure, to handle a ministry

of a large country is not asmall job. He does deserverespect for it. However, doe

respect mean subservience? I


175/826

someone has a powerful jobdoes that mean we accept any

form of power abuse fromhim or her? Do we think it iokay for a busy city to stop

ust because some electedleader needs a smooth ride tohis or her meeting? If we doaren’t we at some leveaccepting, and even

becoming accomplices in, thesubjugation?Of course, some would

argue: what other option do


176/826

we have? Creating a ruckuon the jammed road would

only create more havoc. Apublic protest could turn intoa mob-like situation, which

isn’t the solution either. Theanswer to power abuse is noanarchy.

So what do we do? Beforewe answer that, we need to

see why our electedrepresentatives continue tothink of themselves as little

monarchs.


177/826

Our political class inheriteda British colonial system

which had zero accountabilityto the colonized. Quitecleverly, they didn’t change

laws to bring inaccountability, thecornerstone of anydemocracy. Till date, ounetas try to rule us like

colonial rulers and hate anyproposals that reduce theipowers or demand

accountability. No wonde


178/826

the Jan Lokpal Bill hasn’t yebeen passed!

While such legal and policybattles continue, a large parof the problem is also the

Indian mindset. We do seethem as our kings. We dothink that ‘they are in powermeans ‘they can do anything’We do not realize that ‘being

in power’ means ‘being inpower only to do things in thenational interest’.

If Indians change thi


179/826

mindset, changes to laws andpolicies will follow

Specifically, if a majority ous see and expect netas to beservice providers instead o

rulers, it will trigger a hugebehavioural change in thepolitical class.

How do you changemindsets across the country?

Well, start with yourself, andthen try to change as manyothers as possible. If you

suffer, talk about it. Tex


180/826

friends, talk about it on socianetworks and to you

colleagues. Tell everyone iyou witness abuse of powerespecially when your service

provider neta acts like anentitled prince. Sure, theydrive your nation, but just aa hired driver drives a busThe driver cannot star

believing he owns the busThe driver should also knowthat if he doesn’t drive well

he will be removed.


181/826

So let us work on changingthis mindset if we want a

better India. Kings andcolonizers left our countrynearly seven decades ago. I

is time they left our minds.


182/826

A

The Telangana

Effect

The answer to India’sproblems is not a new

state. It may be,rather, a new state ofmind.

n endearing, almoscute trait of Indians i


183/826

that we never really losehope. We always feel that a

messiah or a great grandscheme will soon come anddeliver us from our woes. It i

a narrative reinforced byBollywood, where somehowa hero works things out in theend. Our mythology, tootalks about good forces (God

with amazing powers comingand killing the evil ones(demons).

It is perhaps due to this


184/826

gullibility that many of ufeel that the sure-sho

solution to the miserablecommon man’s life in India ia new state.

Yes, ‘stateitis’ is the newvirus in town, affectingeveryone from the south tothe east to the north. So, whais the latest solution for the

common man’s suffering? Anew state. Not good leadersnot even new leaders, no

new criteria for voting—such


185/826

as governance over caste—not an end to identity

prejudice.We will change none o

this. We will simply solve al

our employment, inflationpower, water, safety, healthand education problems withone magic solution—a newstate. If the consequences o

such naïve thinking weren’serious, it would be anothecute, hilarious trait of Indians

However, what we started


186/826

with Telangana is somethingso harmful, vile and terrible

we will all regret it in times tocome if we don’t check inow. And that terrible thing i

this: making states agunpoint.

No, making new states inot a problem. In the righcircumstances, it may wel

help. What creates problemare coercive demands for astate, where sections of the

population threaten violence


187/826

or strikes and try to gouge oua state for themselves.

However, if we want tostem such movements, iwon’t be through forcibly

shutting them down. It iimportant to understandwhere such demandoriginate, and if somethingcan be done to address the

underlying issues withouconstantly redrawing the mapof the country.

So, why the almost sudden


188/826

desire for so many newstates? Well, the demand

seems to be coming from themore economically backwardpockets of the country. The

simple reason is this: peopleare sick of poor governanceand don’t know where to lookfor answers or place theblame. A new state, even if a

flawed idea, seems likesomething new to try.Also, Indians are

prejudiced, aiding such


189/826

thought. Many of us Indiansfeel ou

community/religion/caste isomehow superior to others’We also feel a leader from

our own kind will have moreempathy towards us. Hence, anew state seems like areasonable solution.

Of course, this is highly

flawed thinking. For ouprejudice itself is often thereason behind our woes. If we

were not prejudiced, we


190/826

would not have voted on thebasis of identity. We would

have chosen instead a leadebased on ability. We didn’twhich in turn led to the

governance mess we findourselves in today.

This bitter truth, of coursedoesn’t cut much ice with uIndians. We never buy stories

involving us takingresponsibility. We neveblame ourselves. It is alway

an external demon, and


191/826

usually from anothecaste/community/religion,

that causes our woes. Not us.Unfortunately, caugh

amidst our desperate life

situations and prejudicedminds, we forget the damagepseudo-fixes like new statemay cause. For, no mattewhat your local leader may

tell you about the utopia thawill come after making a newstate, there are many

drawbacks. Here are four.


192/826

First, small states have littleclout at the centre. Let’s face

it, the chief minister of UttaPradesh carries more clouthan his counterpart in

Tripura. Size matters inpolitics.

Two, it creates separatistalmost anti-nationasentiments that are harmfu

for the country. There werereports of people inTelangana being asked to

move out of the new state. I


193/826

new states are created inAssam or West Bengal, there

could be violence. Indianliving peacefully fogenerations could become

adversaries overnight. Howcan this be good for thecountry?

Three, business investorare likely to stay away from a

newly formed stateespecially if the state icreated under volatile

circumstances. This wil


194/826

mean fewer new jobs and aworse-off situation for the

new state. Frankly, withouinvestments, no backwardarea can develop. Politician

may yield to shrill voicesinvestors will run away fromthem.

Four, it reinforces andalmost validates something

we Indians should beashamed of—our internaprejudices.

Today, the world is looking


195/826

at India to get its act togetherWe, on the other hand, are

busy finding differences andreasons to hate each otherAndhra Pradesh was a

wonderful state by itselfSure, it may have had issuelike any other. Cutting it upmaking many parts of Indiavulnerable and legitimizing

prejudice hardly seems like asmart solution.There’s nothing wrong with

making a few new states, bu


196/826

it has to be done on the righterms. The intent has to be

rational and the procesobjective and peaceful. Thereason for making state

should be administrative andnot indulging prejudices. Theanswer to India’s problems inot a new state. It may berather, a new state of mind. A

modern, unprejudicedthinking Indian mind. Can weadd that to the list of new

state demands please?


197/826

F

Analysing the

Modi Effect

Figuring Modi outgives us insights into

who we are asIndians.

ew politicians are afascinating as Narendra

Modi. And for nearly a


198/826

decade and a half, nopolitician has been a

controversial. Neither has anypolitician been accusedblacklisted, vilified and

treated like a pariah as muchYet he has not only survivedbut thrived.

It has been over a yeasince Modi won the 2014 Lok

Sabha elections. What’amazing is that the criticismhas not stopped even as the

Godhra riots’ censure ha


199/826

subsided.Anyhow, one thing is clea

Modi’s political graph hacontinued to rise. Even thealways-righteous-but-not-

always-right Arvind Kejriwalwho has successfullytarnished many reputations sofar—Nitin Gadkari, RoberVadra, Mukesh Ambani

Sheila Dikshit, to name a fewhas been unable to reallypuncture the Modi effect. A

he enters his second year in


200/826

office, Modi’s popularity hanot nose-dived, as so often

happens with politicians whoare voted into office withlandslide majorities by voter

who think that these leaderare their new messiahs.

Why is that so? Is it jusModi’s development agenda?Is it a lack of choice? Is i

Modi’s personality andoratory? Or is it his neveroverstated-yet-always-presen

Hindutva stance? Other BJP


201/826

leaders have run states well—Manohar Parrikar and Shivraj

Singh Chouhan, for instanceSo why does Modi commanda wild and passionate fan

base like no other BJP leader?Answering these question

is important.First, understanding Modi’

popularity is important for hi

opposition. For nowopponents seem to be helpingModi more than hurting him

Criticism is Modi’s polish


202/826

making him shine even more.Second, figuring Modi ou

gives us insights into who weare as Indians.

An aspect mostly

overlooked about Indiansociety is its understatedoften subdued but strongsense of Hindu entitlementSure, our Constitution and

laws are secular. Our publicdiscourse shuns communaarguments, and rightly so

However, this doesn’t mean


203/826

the sense of entitlement goeaway.

With an over 80 per cenHindu population, comprisingthe majority of the world’

Hindus, it is nearlyimpossible to eliminate thasense of majority entitlementAdd to that the Congress’sstrategy of turning Muslim

into a vote bank andresponding better to Muslimissues. This triggered the

Hindu sense of dissatisfaction


204/826

even more.In this context, a leade

representing Hindu pridefound resonance. This is whymany people do not ascribe

much importance to thehandling of post-Godhra riotswhen it comes to judgingModi. For one, his rolewasn’t clear (and hasn’

legally been proven). Secondto a section of people it fellike retribution.

Of course, this ignores the


205/826

fact that the Muslims whoallegedly burnt the train o

organized terror attacks hadnothing to do with theMuslims who suffered during

the riots. However, emotionoften supersede reason and adisgruntled Hindu populacehas mostly pardoned ModiAgain, I make no judgemen

whether this was right owrong, but this is what hahappened.

Third, the reason why Mod


206/826

did well is his ability tomanage expectations. He

worked in Gujarat until ishowed at least some goodmetrics. More importantly

Modi never made tall claimbeforehand. He worked hardfirst and marketed himsellater.

Fourth, his personality i

the exact opposite oManmohan Singh’s. Modi ia straight talker and people

like that. They want a prime


207/826

minister who has opinionseven if they are not the mos

polished. It doesn’t hurt thaModi has a sense of humourHumour creates connect and

adds charm.Five, Modi represent

practicality. Most Indianknow that while it is good toremove corruption, nepotism

dynasty, oppression owomen and a million othewrongs, it isn’t easy. Thing

change, but slowly and ove


208/826

time. The leader manyIndians seek is not idealistic

but someone who can do afairly good job despite themuck in our society.

Finally, Modi was, plainand simple, lucky. RahuGandhi was weak as a majoopponent. The scam-riddenUnited Progressive Alliance

(UPA) decade had upset mosIndians. The arrogance oCongress leaders didn’t help

either. Modi arrived at a time


209/826

when people wanted change.It could be luck. Or, as they

say in Hindu terms, it mighust be destiny.


210/826

Can India’s

Backward PolityProvide a Pro-

growth

EconomicEnvironment?

We were, and to

some extent still are,


211/826

A

in the middle of aneconomic crisis.

bout a decade agoenthusiastic

investment bankers andfinancial research analyst

were tom-tomming the Indiagrowth story. India, they saidhad so much potential, i

could be one of the world’biggest economies in the nexcouple of decades. For this


212/826

they used spreadsheemodels, in which they

plugged in a growth rate o8–10 per cent and projected ifor the next thirty years. They

learnt this in businesschools.

Of course, anythinggrowing at a compoundannual rate of 10 per cent wil

become pretty massive inthirty years (17.4 times, to beprecise). Hence, the sharp

minds made an earth


213/826

shattering prediction: thaanything growing very fas

will become very big ovetime. Clients of financiainstitutions, seduced by such

a rosy picture about the landof miracles, bought into theidea.

The boring economies oEurope, growing at 1–2 pe

cent, just didn’t carry thespiciness of India. Billioncame into India, and the

sudden rush of money did


214/826

lead to some growth. Thegovernment in power took the

entire credit for it. ‘We havecreated growth,’ thegovernment spokesperson

used to say. The party hadstarted.

The analysts were rewardedand flushed with heavybonuses at the end of the

year. Young mergers andacquisitions bankers boughapartments with a slum-and

racecourse view or a slum


215/826

and-sea view in Mumbai. Ocourse, the idea was to ignore

the slum and focus on the seaview or the racecourse.

In all this, a few

uncomfortable questions werenever asked. For instancewas the then governmencommitted to providing a probusiness, pro-growth

economic environment? Wasthe Indian polity ready toaccept this new capitalis

system? Are we socialist o


216/826

are we market-driven? Couldwe actually grow so fas

every year, considering thaeach p

Making India Awesome - Chetan Bhagat

Documents

Transcript of Making India Awesome - Chetan Bhagat