superpower superpower supertalk

"Superpower by 2020", "India is a superpower..." Indians all over the world have found a new coin phrase for their own country. Here is what an American consultant (and many Indians) feel about it. The dichotomy of superpower and superpoverty in India is remarkable. Looking at problems like corruption, poverty, illiteracy and the government itself, it is remarkable what strides India has made in the last 50 years. Then again, looking at our intellectual manpower, labour, IT successes and BPO resources, it is remarkable that India is still so behind in so many of the world's benchmarks of a superpower.

As an Indian, I am ecstatic and relieved that at last Indians have found something that they love to tout about their own country. We as a nation, as a people, are always critical of our own society, our own government, our own problems, our own cricketers and we are habituated to blaming someone else for them. Youngsters criticize our religion, our culture, our backwardness in thought, our lack of thinking progressively as a nation, elders lament the loss of religion and culture in the younger generation, and both unite to criticize the government (for things they deserve and they don't). Its great to see people sharing a common dream about their country and loving to talk about it. For such a psyche to embrace India's dream of being a superpower is nothing short of a miracle for me. True, we aren't there, in fact we're far from it, but then dreaming about something you already have is silly isn't it?

But that is the common man's dream. The government unfortunately seems to have built its own cocoon in which India IS a superpower. It is good for the minister of commerce to say "India is the future", but the "India Shining" campaign reeks of a government that seems self-complacent that they're doing everything right, inspite of all the problems rigging India. Infosys is India's biggest IT company, but to get to its office you have to dance your way through potholes and horrible traffic. People get killed over protests against religious conversions for money, but nobody bothers to ask the poor man why he converted for Rs. 500. Superpower is just a word, a coin phrase. It doesn't feed a single empty stomach, it doesn't get the economy a single paisa. Let's not get caught in the word--if people are taken care of, being called a superpower isn't necessary, and if they aren't being called a superpower is useless.

And besides, with the current perception of the "lone superpower" in the world, I'm not sure I'd like to belong to one!