"Firang" Perspective ... ... ...
Often, we're still enamoured by the "firang" perspective - and tend to value them more.
Just wanted to highlight two articles:
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India's Guangdong - From the print edition of The Economist, July 2011 - Writes about how Gujarat is developing in an incredible manner, under the leadership of Narendra Modi
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The "New, Nationalist movement in India" - An article written by one Jabez T Sutherland way back in 1908 - Writes about how the British were exploiting India, and how their claims about a "just and fair" nation was far from valid.
Unfortunately, I do not know as much about the history of various "North Indian" princely states (and their achievements). I was indeed surprised to note that the author of the second article above was speaking very highly of the then "State of Baroda", which, I presume, covers the same terrain as today's Gujarat.
In 1908 and in 2011, Gujarat has apparently given a lot of emphasis on education, health and industrial development. No wonder the Gujarati folks are perceived to be much richer than those from the rest of India!
We can, of course, harp on the negatives, which, I'm sure, are available in plenty in every nook and corner of the world (and not merely in Gujarat, despite the notoriety that Godhra gave Gujarat).
Instead, I'd urge all of us to focus on the positives that we can learn from the enterprising Gujaratis and try to take the whole country forward in its quest for excellence.
In retrospect, it does not appear to be a mere coincidence that:
- Gandhiji was born in Gujarat
- He went on to obtain high-quality education - after all, he became a lawyer all those years ago
- He chose an interesting and emotive tool of "Satyagraha" to fight the British - And, ... ... ...
- He knew enough of economics to identify the precise product - SALT - to launch his "No Tax" protests
I'm indeed motivated to try and learn some more of History.
Regards,
N
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