Please read this, only if you have extra-ordinary time to spend. You could as well be fed up with the topic under discussion, as it is repeatedly under diagnosis.
The Question is “Is India growing at an extreme rate, that it will over-take US of A in few years ?”
Yeah, I know. This is a crazy question which might have varied responses. Most of them might express their patriotism, and many of them see the greener side of growth in India.
But ground reality is only the statistics. A statistical study of GDP, Un-employment, Under-employment, Population, Poverty and Mercedes-Benz (?) can tell us the growth in India. Unfortunately the Internet doesn’t have the detailed (or updated) information about the math.
I will tell you what I see everyday.
I see many cars in Chennai Streets (more SUVs). I see huge counts of constructions. A majority-population of final year BE students, this year, have found a job already. Many World-Furniture shops in elite roads. More Hotels. More bike-riders with a tagged ID Card hanging on their necks. Same crowd in Renganathan Street . More Business.
Virtually all houses have Color TVs. More pockets, now, have a Cellular Phone.
But this is Chennai, that I see by 7.30 mornings.
There is a Chennai, that I believe I have not seen, and Chennai alone is not India.
More people are now affording to buy a C- Class Benz. People are getting richer. Yet, there are people who still sleep on roads. There are still beggars. They have not reduced in number. I only feel, the rich are getting extremely richer and the poor remain poor.
I understand that these situations can’t be wiped out.
We still need one person to tighten up the Nuts and Bolts on our future cars in Sriperumbudhur. We still need a hand that will pack the matches, as long as we are going to smoke. I feel, at whatever situation, the economic imbalance can’t be straightened up.
Or am I just blind to some great economic facts about India.
13 comments:
Yes India is growing at an extreme rate, India will take at least 25 years to over-take U.S.
If People Population controlled in our country,it will be faster to over-take US.
Now the Engineering persons are grown in high and IT companies are growing all over India. The bike population is growing than car. And mainly the pollution is high.
Today I read the news paper there was a news the Ozone hole on Antarctica has growing big, this will not only affect India, including world.
Kalam’s dream are going to come True.
We should not keep a target as beating US, because they are also not good in certain things. We should keep a target to improve each and every aspect of the governance, based on several countries.
We need to remove a lot of weeds, while getting into that construction process. Otherwise, those weeds will destroy the purpose.
We are growing, its a fact we all know. I keep my money in INR these days. But are we going at that extreme a pace as to overtake US... well, debatable.
Life and Time are two very complex equations. who is ready to predict them? Did they predict what we are now back in 1980?.
gud writeup, thought provoking. Cheers.
“Is India growing at an extreme rate, that it will over-take US of A in few years ?”
There are certain things in which India will never overtake the US:
1. Number of drive-by shootings.
2. The endless amounts of "sachet" sugar and milk packets as well as paper towels kept in Starbucks outlets.
3. "Reported" teen pregnancies and abortions.
4. Random strangers wishing you on the elevator.
5. Prison population.
6. The almost fearless adventurism of Americans that makes them do great physical activity like no other nation.
There, I have given a "balanced" view now :-)
jeevan, 25 years. Thats skeptical ! I mean either ways. BTW, Is Ozone Hole on Antartica part of Kalam's dreams ? (just kidding).
Ram.C , will governance alone change it.. ? think about it. We need to grow in a hell lot of aspects to which we need to spend a lot of time. The way i see it, it is going to remain as it is. India may not become a superpower !
prasanna, philosophically Life and Time are synonymous. Time and Space are our Co-ordinates. :) thanks.. but i need more inputs from you. We have grown great, but are we not seeing the reverse growth, in areas where we are poor !
thennavan, yeah balanced view !! wish India doesnt overtake in the negative points. :)
U are absolutely spot on.. the middle-class is thriving to become upper-middle, lower-middle class is becoming middle class.. but the poorer lot still remain.. it is not that the 'nuts and bolts' guy cant belong to a middle class.. Similar is the case with the match sticks person.. We need to eradicate child labor, bring more schemes for jobs in villages. Easier said than done, huh?
Hey there,
Although I do agree with you on the fact that on a few parameters India is improving, there are more than just a few things which need to be changed before India can even think of getting anywhere close to the US.
Think of poverty, access to primary education, access to primary health care, women's empowerment, infanticide, child marriages, dowry, etc.
Food for thought.....huh
Cheers........Jam
this is the second "economy-related" post I am seeing in 10 minutes!.
population, pollution and corruption - if these 3 are controlled, then we are 10 years forward.
education - if this reaches even the lowermost strata, we can advace 15 years.
panna mudiyuma?.
Keerthi,
am a first time visitor to your blog..i share similar views on the Indian growth rate. It is quite sad to see that with the increase in cell phones, pagers, quality of life-esp the middle class growth, aping the west in having pizza on Fridays at work etc etc, India has not learned the good aspects from US-the manners, work ethics and so many other stuff.
I fail to see a vision of India that has a better overall value system. As you aptly pointed out, its the rich that are getting richer, the middle class is experiencing growth like never before, but there is still female infanticide in rural villages of Theni, Madurai, caste system, dowry and child marriages in Bihar to mention a few.
gp, thats the concern i have. If in the world, there is a confused breed, it is the middle class. they have a confuse way of saving money, confused culture and confused about their position in the society. Iam a living example (except the saving part, heh !).
jam, excatly right - "More than just a few things". wonder when these things might even try to change.
deepak, appdiya ? vera enge ? naanum paarkaren..
And for your question, pannave mudiyadhu !! mudiyumnu thonalai !
mitr of Bay Area, thanks for coming in. "I fail to see a vision of India that has a better overall value system". I know exactly what you mean. I have the same words.
Keerthi,
I ended up on a writeup myself from commenting upon your query. This is what i wrote..
Are we getting that rich?
Keerthi raised a question yesterday as to whether India is getting that rich that it would overtake US of A as an economy in a few years.
I felt it to be a debatable question, thought provoking. Let me think.
Let me list my views on the question first.
1. Yes, we are improving. The question of whether we’d overtake US of A in few years is debatable, maybe yes, maybe no. The equation is complex and we don’t know the variables. (I can’t really read Osama’s mind).
2. Yes, Rich people are getting richer and poor people are still poor. The gap between them is increasing, AND IT IS GOOD.
Let me move ahead with this.
Poverty will always exist. The poverty line we use to meter this state has always been inched higher by individual brilliances. Recall electricity, an engine, a computer, a cell phone, a windows, anything which has been a revolution. What does this inching ahead of the poverty line imply? In an open-market capitalist society, which a country like India hopes to become (yet taking every effort to show off that it doesn’t want to), entrepreneurs get rich and the poor get better. Agreed, the poor are not going to get as rich and as fast.
Of course, the gap thereby gets wider. But don’t you see that the state of both these classes have improved from what it was before. Yes the gap is increasing, but everyone should be happy about that, particularly the poor.
If the rich can’t get even richer, who do you think is going to do the new investment, or increase the productivity. How do you think the poor are going to increase their conditions further if there are no further investments? I am not talking about their getting rich or on par with every modern day invention that the world sees, I would be satisfied if they get their hours labor increasingly valuable. The wealth we see around was not there always, it was created by the creators of wealth who are the movers of this world. Yes they will always be getting richer and they will always be moving ahead in a faster pace than the others, but remember they are the only ones who are going to pull the others along.
So what’s wrong in my belief number two that the gap between the rich and poor increasing is only for good?
And as of my belief no one, I still don’t know what Osama has in his mind, so no comments as to whether we will overtake US of A as an economy in a few years time.
prasanna, waW ! thanks pal.
i understand your "Gap" thing. It is essentialy important for the rich to get richer. I agree. Actually Iam not agreeing, but realizing. You gave a whole new viewpoint. Thats brilliant.
Yet, the "Growth" thing is what will remain retarded. It will not be balanced in this country, when a man who just *thinks* and makes $12 per hour... and a man with sweat cleaning his toilet gets $25 per month.
thank you so much for a very detailed write-up.
seripa ....ellorum IT S/W engg aita matha velaikku aal vendaama ??
I feel, Major Brain drain is On now,and once it hits the saturation point,one has to fend for himself for rest of his life..survival of the fittest..
Post a Comment