India Positive

by Chetan Bhagat

  Where we messed up

  Clearly, the one area where we have not delivered as per need is employment. Barring a tiny percentage of graduates from elite colleges, the youth find it hard to get jobs in our country. It is still possible to hire graduates at ₹10,000 a month, which isn’t too different from the situation we had a decade ago. Considering inflation rates, these starting salaries are very low, not to mention the fact that even these jobs are hard to find. While the reasons behind the present employment is a separate discussion, it is quite clear that we have failed in this area.

  The other area where India has fallen behind (and this partially explains the scarcity of jobs) is the manufacturing sector. China, a few decades ago, took over the manufacturing operations of the world. This led to factories coming up across China, leading to higher GDP as well as job growth. As China increased its GDP (and labour there became more expensive), we had the perfect opportunity to take over and become the next manufacturing capital of the world. We couldn’t. The reasons for this include the failure of the Land Acquisition Bill (early in the NDA government’s term), not enough labour reforms, frequent policy changes, the complications of running a business in India, and not enough effort from our side to invite businesses from across the world to set up manufacturing units in India.

  HOW WE DID: SOCIETY

  What we did well

  Social change is as important as economic growth. Again, we did a few things really well. Despite our many differences, the fact that we didn’t have major conflicts based on caste and region (religion is a different story, discussed later) during this period is a significant achievement. The rise in internet penetration also means that more Indians are digitally empowered today, creating more equality.

  The anti-corruption movement peaked in the last decade, and we have seen a drop in corruption, particularly in high-level scams. For a country like India where corruption is a way of life, this is a major achievement, even though we still have a long way to go.

  We also had a landmark ruling when Section 377 was decriminalised by the Supreme Court, marking a major leap in human rights for the LGBTQ community in our country.

  Where we did okay

  Some major social equality schemes have been initiated in India over the past decade—NREGA, Ujjwala, Ayushman Bharat and the Jan Dhan accounts—all making an impact on our society, to a certain extent. And just recently, a demand was made for introducing non-caste, income-based quotas in the reservation system. The implementation of these quotas is uncertain but it is a step in the right direction.

  Where we messed up

  Perhaps the one area where we did mess up is in Hindu–Muslim relations. While no large-scale riots occurred in the country in the past decade, there have been terrible incidents of lynchings (including beef-related murders) of members of minority communities. India is divided to begin with, and communal polarisation on various issues has made matters worse. We need to make extra efforts to get people to stick together. Whether it is the BJP’s fault or the Congress’s, whether you blame the media or social media, the fact is that we are still divided, and there is a long way to go.

  Secondly, we have not fixed our broken education system. This makes the already precarious job situation worse. For one thing, most of our students are just not trained well enough to enter the workforce. The number of seats in good colleges has simply not grown at a rapid enough pace to accommodate the increasing number of aspirants for higher education. Many are forced to study abroad. This places huge financial burdens on families of these students, making India lose foreign exchange by draining off the money they could have spent in India instead. Primary education is also not in good shape, the situation being only marginally better than a decade ago.

  What can be done to fix all this?

  The above analysis is an honest attempt to highlight what India did and didn’t do right in the past decade. If we want the next decade to be better, we need to look hard both at where we messed up and at what we did just about okay in. We need to finally do what it takes to increase our GDP in double digits, move the world’s manufacturing to India, and create jobs. We need to work harder on Hindu–Muslim relations, and building a less polarised society. Any government that comes next—Congress, BJP or a third-front coalition—will have to work on these issues. We, as citizens, must keep demanding that these things be fixed, no matter who is in power. Hopefully, we will move forward in these areas over the next decade.

  What can you do meanwhile: Working on yourself

  As discussed above, despite all attempts at change, the needle in India only moves a few points in a decade. However, come to think of it, a decade is a really short time in the history of a large nation. To expect things to be totally different in ten years is too much. And as we have seen, each government can only accelerate the pace of change so much during its term in power.

  However, a decade is a long time when it comes to your own life. If you wait around for policies to change at the top and then percolate down to ultimately change your life, I guarantee you that most of your life will be spent waiting. Hence, yes, we should critically evaluate what we did right or wrong, as a nation. We want India to be run better, and should demand accountability and change. But we should also accept that progress, even in the best of circumstances, will be slow. Meanwhile, since life is short, and we have seen both Congress and BJP in action with their limitations, it is time for us to work on our own lives. All this, while staying objective and positive, and not spreading negativity. Which brings us to what it really means to be a citizen who is India Positive.

  What can I do?

  To be an India Positive Citizen at a practical level, you must work on these three goals:

  Enhance yourself: A country’s biggest asset is its people. Working on your self is the first step towards becoming an India Positive Citizen. The more you educate and improve yourself, the better the country fares. Learn skills that are needed in our society. Computers, good oral and written communication, understanding how business works, marketing and networking are some of the areas you can work on to enhance your own profile. Instead of watching useless videos, or worse, posting negative comments on social media, use that time to cultivate these skills. An India Positive Citizen will spend most of his or her day upgrading themselves and working towards their goals.

  Enhance the nation: Apart from working on ourselves, being India Positive also means we must try to do a few things that contribute to the nation’s welfare. You don’t have to become a social worker or activist to be of service to your country. Here are some easy ways:

  a) When you have an income and pay taxes on it, or when you make a purchase and pay the tax on it, you are helping the country.

  b) Refrain from spreading negativity on social media. That alone will help your country. If you can make positive comments, that will help even more. Be solution-oriented rather than criticism-oriented.

  c) Work towards keeping the secular fabric of the nation intact. Make friends from different backgrounds. Don’t make divisive statements. Respect the idea of India as a place where a diverse set of people live in peace together.

  d) Treat the public spaces of your country as you would your home: don’t litter, don’t honk, and don’t break traffic rules. This simple commitment to civic sense alone, if cultivated by all our citizens, can dramatically change our country in a short period of time.

  Remain objective: The final important aspect of an India Positive Citizen is to be bi-partisan in one’s approach to politics when needed. Depending on the situation or the issue in question, you may agree with the Congress or the BJP, the left or the right or any other political party. Let yours be a floating vote. There’s no point in lifelong loyalty to any party. If you never change your choices, your vote is no longer a tool of your accountability as a citizen. It is tempting to pledge allegiance to a group as it feels safer to belong. It is lonelier when you are judging things based on realities rather than blind
support. However, this objectivity is what the country needs.

  If you, the reader, can commit yourself to the above goals, I would consider this book a success. The columns that follow should be read with the same mindset. I have tried to be solution-oriented and objective wherever possible. I hope my take on various issues that affect India resonate with you as well. Come, let us change India together, by being India Positive.

  I NDIAN S OCIETY , I NDIAN C ULTURE

  F or India to truly change, there needs to be a change in our society and culture. The internet is playing a big part in it. The rise of internet penetration also means that things are now more equal, since people who didn’t have a voice before now do. ‘The Great Opinion Wars talks about how social media has allowed aspirational Indians to voice their opinions on topics that have always been the domain of the privileged class.

  However, social media has also birthed a strange new phenomenon in India—the bhakts, and there is advice for both the bhakts and those at the receiving end of their abuse in ‘Anatomy of an Internet Troll’. Another phenomenon that social media has caused is ‘virtue signallers’—those people who have to show that they are so virtuous, so noble and so good that they sense communal intolerance in a statement even when others don’t. ‘Look, I’m so Secular!’: The Rise of Virtue Signallers on Social Media’ talks about this and how it distorts national public debate on a range of important issues.

  But do these phenomena indicate that India is getting more intolerant? There are endless debates about this, but I think that we are a mixed society, tolerant and intolerant at the same time, as explained in ‘Fifty Shades of Intolerance’. I don’t believe that intolerance has anything to do with the request from Hindus that a temple be built in Ayodhya, and ‘Why We Need a Ram Temple in Ayodhya’ talks about why restoring the temple on its original site and building an even grander mosque nearby will be a great act of religious cooperation.

  A crucial aspect of what makes India the country it is, is the fact that we are a democracy, and any attempt to undermine that is dangerous. The essay on blind bhakts talks about how unquestioning support of a leader, rather than the country, can actually harm that leader. The essay on the Supreme Court’s order regarding the playing of the national anthem before a movie screening (‘Anthem Order: The Intention’s Good but Imposition Isn’t’) argues that authoritarianism can never create patriotism. The government ban on pornography is a similar curtailment of basic freedoms, as explained in ‘Hypocritical and Impractical: With the Porn Ban, the Government Has Flaunted Its Control Freak Instincts’. I think that the key to becoming an awesome nation is to defend individual liberties. Related to this is the need to stop mixing religion and law, and ‘Too Many Holy Cows’ talks about how it is time to discuss what it means to be a secular republic, and revise the Constitution to reflect it.

  Social change means that we need to look at the infrastructures in our cities, and the essay on Mumbai rains talks about this and what needs to be done so that the country’s financial capital does not come to a grinding halt every monsoon. This overriding indifference that seems to inflict Indians is also reflected on our views on corruption, and our don’t-care attitude to corruption is addressed in the essay on the 2G ‘non-scam’.

  It’s important for one to be proud of the country we live in, and ‘Will You Spend ₹80 to See India Win a Dozen Olympic Golds?’ suggests ways that we can improve our gold medal tally at the Olympics at the micro and macro level.

  Finally, ‘Creaming the People’ suggests a move from caste-based reservations to economic-based ones in order to create a truly fair society.

  @chetan_bhagat

  Celebrating murder coz victim had opposite ideology is bad. But condemning murders only when the victim’s ideology matches yours is also bad

  585 replies/ 4,267 retweets/ 9,960 likes

  How Blind Bhakts Can Actually Harm India’s Democracy

  If you are a true nationalist, put the nation before individuals, even if that individual happens to be your favourite leader

  I recently conducted a Twitter poll to test the hypothesis that Narendra Modi enjoys an insane amount of support among his fans. The poll asked this question: If Modi wanted to declare a national emergency to eliminate corruption, would you support it? Out of nearly 10,000 participants, 57 per cent said they would support such a decision.

  The usual Twitter poll disclaimers apply: it’s a highly skewed sample, polls aren’t scientific, etc. Also, the poll does not indicate my own views in any way, nor does it claim that such a proposal is on the government’s anvil. However, the results do give us a sense of what some of Modi’s hardcore fans (the bhakts) feel. It is worth noting that the participants were almost all young, educated, digitally savvy people who understand English. Yes, a significant number of progressive young Indians are apparently happy to give up democracy, and vote themselves voteless.

  Stunned? Well, I admit that the question was a tad unfair. After all, there is nothing in the air that suggests an emergency is in the offing. Nor does one need to make such harsh choices in order to proclaim their support, or lack of it, for a leader. Still, the numbers do show (a) the enormous popularity of Modi in his core fan base and/or (b) a possible ignorance of what a national emergency and giving up democracy could mean. They also indicate a huge lack of confidence in the current political system and the kind of leaders it generates.

  The reason for Modi’s appeal is obvious. After all, he is a leader who has created some hope. He speaks a language that connects us. Modi takes steps—big, bold ones—to fix India. Whether or not they solve problems, is a separate story. Making the effort and having good intentions counts for a lot. Demonetisation is a case in point. Many experts have questioned the benefits of the move. They diligently quote numbers and facts to show that the actual advantages of demonetisation could be marginal. Of course, these are wasted efforts. All this economic mumbo-jumbo is irrelevant to the Modi fan. If fans are ready to support an emergency in their leader’s name, do you really think they give a damn about falling GDP or actual data about black money being back in circulation?

  No, we are talking about love here. Love doesn’t, and is not meant to, see reason. And speaking of demonetisation, the experts, though not wrong, miss a key point. A huge intangible benefit of the note ban has been its unifying effect on an otherwise divided country. Imagine a bickering joint family. One day, the patriarch gets them together to go out and plant trees. They work as a family for a day, and plant a hundred trees. Would you not commend the patriarch for it? Now, imagine that only five of the hundred trees planted by this family survive over time. Would you blame the patriarch? Wouldn’t you still give him credit for bringing everyone together for a good cause? This is why many Indians support Modi’s demonetisation policy, despite the numbers that point to its ill-effects, whatever they might be.

  However, this love does get disturbing when hardcore Modi fans place the individual above the institutions that make India. The interplay of the ruling party, the Opposition and a free media is essential for our democracy. In a state of emergency, this vital balance disappears, leaving our country vulnerable to potentially huge abuses of power. It is a big mistake to think that a messiah will fix India, when in fact it is the political system and societal values that need to be gradually reformed. Countries like Pakistan operate on the messiah principle, falling in love with army generals. We know what a mess such nations have become. Never ever root for the end of democracy, no matter how wonderful your leader might be in your eyes.

  In fact, blind faith harms the leader as well as the nation. Today Modi, like any powerful leader, is probably surrounded by yes-men and sycophants. Hardly any of them would have the guts to tell him he is wrong when he makes a mistake. It is from his critics that Modi will learn where he could be going wrong and how to course-correct. This will enable him to formulate policies for the betterment of the country. Considering that our Opposition is in pathetic shape, it is these
independent, critical yet constructive voices that form the conscience of Modi-governed India. Blind fans, who will agree to a national emergency if Modi declares it, and are ready to abuse and bully anyone who says anything remotely critical of their idol, are frankly quite useless—to Modi as well as to the nation-building process.

  I have little sympathy for elitists, fake liberals and blind Modi-haters. Yet, they are harmless for the most part. However, blind bhakts are worrisome. If you are a true nationalist, put the nation before individuals, even if that individual happens to be your favourite leader. Love your leader by all means, but not more than India and its hard-earned democracy.

  Anthem Order: The Intention’s Good, but Imposition Isn’t

  Authoritarianism can never create patriotism, especially when it curtails basic freedoms

  Imagine a glass of fresh, health-giving coconut water. But let’s say this coconut water has some arsenic mixed in it. You tell people not to drink it. They turn around and say, ‘But why are you so against coconut water?’