Past, Present and Future of Independence

 Today as I sat sipping my morning coffee, I was elated to see the view at my window. As the usual pleasant morning monsoon breeze brushed my face, I saw that our beautiful Indian tricolour flag hoisted at my home with its head held high, swayed proudly in the soothing breeze. It seemed to be breathing in the air of liberation which our country got 75 years ago, thanks to the many sung and unsung heroes who dreamt of an independent India for future generations to come.

When we refer to 75 years to a person, we call him or her a senior citizen, as someone who is retired and finally needs a well-deserved rest after many years of hard work. However, I believe that India is not 75 years ‘old’ but 75 years ‘young’, considering how far we have come in the last 75 years. India is young at heart, with its heart beating with immense energy to work towards improvements, to bring about development in every aspect that is possible. We still have a lot to achieve and lot to progress, but the strides in the last 75 years cannot certainly be overlooked.

As someone who is born in the 1990s, I believe that we have seen some rapid developments in the last 30 years itself. We have seen advancements in almost every walk of life – education, business, infrastructure, entertainment, communication (of which social media is the top ranker), and our overall outlook as a society. I think that internet is this dominant factor that transformed everything – not only providing one-click solutions to make our lives easier but also influencing the way we think, the decisions that we make. Somewhere between the wavering dial-up internet connection to 5G today, we have transformed as individuals and as a nation with internet as our window, connecting us to the rest of the world. We have adopted and adapted to keep up with the pace of the world. We have started to think of India not only as our own country but as a country who has the potential to make a significant mark in the world in any field that you name.

When I hear stories of my parents’ childhood, the simple life that they had, devoid of any comforts, luxury brands or anything ‘modern’ as we define today, I realise that it took them almost 50 years to see the developments that we see today in a span of 30 years. The development was by leaps and bounds. We started as a nation where we first focused on working for our basic needs and once these basic needs were fulfilled, we could walk towards and think of comforts and luxuries. India started prospering as the individual families residing in her started dreaming bigger. It does not come as a surprise when Indians make beeline for any new car, iPhone or any international brands or collections that are launched. India is a booming market vibrating with young energy, good purchasing power and every brand wants to tap this huge market. From an agrarian to a service-oriented economy, India has proven that she is the jack as well as master of any skill that you can think of. This immense potential, multitude of talents and skills explain how and what we have achieved till today.

In another 25 years, India will celebrate its centenary. 25 years from now, how will India look like? How would have things progressed? As someone who thinks that our past has sowed the seeds of our present and future, I often think how we would be celebrating the 100 years of our independence. I watched the Netflix movie The Adam Project a few months back. I am not usually a fan of sci-fi, yet I found this concept fascinating wherein the 12-year-old Adam meets his future self from 2050, played by Ryan Reynolds. What if I get to meet my future self some day? What story from the future will I tell myself today? It got me thinking and I started imagining a 100-year-old independent India, in the year 2047.

First, I would hope that our environment – the mountains, forests, oceans, seas, rivers would exist in a form as pure as possible, despite their desecration done by humans. Today climate change is a grim reality, and we see this harsh reality raise its ugly head in form of nature calamities that happen not only in India but also in other parts of the world. A few months back, I watched the Korean series The Silent Sea which revolved around the bunch of scientists who go on an expedition to the moon in search of water after the sources of water on Earth dry up and cease to exist in future. It is shown how people queue up outside ‘Water ATMs’ to fill a bottle of potable water and how often scuffles take place over limited water. The environment around is shown to be arid and lifeless, though technological advancement is at its peak. Those pathbreaking scientific discoveries are of no avail when water, the basic need of any human, becomes a rarity. In such a dystopian world, we would not be able to compare frivolous spending of money with water, as water would be scarcer and dearer than money. For me it was an eye opener of a series emphasizing on the fact that the actions we take today, our attitude, habits, and behaviour towards the elements of Nature will determine the future we would like to live in. This should start from actions as simple as not littering the surroundings or polluting air and water, the very basis of our life. During the Covid-19 pandemic, when there was dearth of oxygen supply, we realised that we have been wantonly cutting down trees over so many years, the lungs of nature and our source of oxygen without any regard for unforeseen circumstances like the pandemic.

Secondly, I would hope that no pandemic should ever arise in future again. Covid-19 brought the world to its knees and taught the world many lessons. The aftermath of Covid-19 was palpable in every small factor around us. People lost their loved ones, sources of livelihood and life took an unexpected turn. India battled this grave situation too and emerged victorious, which showed the medical advancement that she possesses. However, in future, I would hope that these healthcare facilities would be affordable and available to anyone who needs it, and no life is lost in the quest of getting the best treatment.

Thirdly, I would hope that no one goes hungry in our nation. The solution to this would be to have smaller families. It is said that by 2050, India will be the most populous country, surpassing China. The increasing population will put additional pressure on resources which are already under lot of pressure. It would be a challenge to educate the burgeoning the population, to translate the educated population to labour force, who will contribute to the GDP. If India does not create enough jobs for the growing population and if the workers are not adequately skilled for the jobs, then the demographic advantage of young working population would turn into a liability, thus resulting into a vicious cycle of population explosion, unemployment and poverty. Additionally, we would also need to have more female labour force participation in order to have better prospects for the economy. I would hope that every girl in remotest of villages gets the right to education and job opportunities that any equally qualified man would get. Thus, the picture of women emancipation and empowerment should not only be restricted to metro cities but should percolate to every city, every village in India. This empowerment and enlightening of women will help in controlling the population growth as well. As women become more educationally aware and take control of their own bodies, the fertility rates can be seen going down already, which could be seen as a sign of lesser strain on future resources. I would also hope that India’s development should not only be restricted to a few cities. India will be a superpower only if every village and city has equal opportunities in terms of education, job opportunities and infrastructure, and the overcrowding and overdependence on cities will reduce. India will not only be known by Mumbai or Delhi, but other cities as well, who will contribute to India’s growth and development in their own unique way.

Lastly, I would love to see that in 2047 the world would be more peace loving and India rises to become one of those happy countries where people learn to live with contentment without any inhibitions, and fair opportunities and facilities are given to all to grow and prosper, where the Government does not need to spend heavily on armed forces to defend its borders but more on education of its citizens. I would also like to see corruption weeded out from the system and the truly deserving ones are given opportunities according to their merits and talents. If the hard-earned taxpayers’ money is channelized ethically towards the welfare of the nation than filling the pockets of the few, no one would dare call our country ‘poor’ or ‘under-developed’.  

In 2047 we will see the quality of roads and railways at par with developed countries (i.e. if the funds really go in the direction that they are invested for), we might see flying cars like they show in movies, we would scale greater heights and our gadgets will become smarter beyond human understanding. In 25 years, India will be globally competent in all aspects. Technologies will get updated and then become outdated, Governments will change, but what will not change are the values, Indian traditions and millions of years of wisdom that are passed on to generations as treasures of not only our rich lineage but also are the very crux of being an Indian and defines who we are.

I always believe that India is standing firmly on her feet today because of her rich ancient cultural heritage and the great personalities who were its torchbearers. This past of ours paved way for where we are today, it has influenced where we stand today and will continue to shine upon future India beyond centuries. My dream of India in 2047 would seem very utopian, but the world lives on hope and there is no risk in dreaming big and being sanguine. Centuries ago, Indian independence also would have also seemed utopian – yet here we are today, enjoying the 75 years of independence thanking all those who dared to dream and fought for their dream to see an India they had envisaged.