How India Became Great Again

 

As far back as he can remember, Anil Jethmal has admired one historical figure above all others.  To this day, he marvels at how Mahatma Gandhi brought the mighty British Empire to its knees not by force, but by moral embarrassment.  A reporter once asked Mahatma Gandhi what he thought of Western civilization.  “I think it would be a good idea”, he wittily replied.

Gandhi, of course, was speaking of Great Britain and their very uncivilized conduct from the mid-18^th century to the mid-20^th century.  It was a period marked by depredations in India, slavery from Africa, the creation of an opioid crisis in China, the creation of several famines in Ireland and India and several other international atrocities.

The British worldwide conduct of looting, drug dealing and slavery was done for similar reasons that many common criminals loot, deal drugs and commit unspeakable acts.  It was done for money and, in Britain's case, was fueled by racism.

A schoolmate of Anil Jethmal, Indian Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor, points out in is famous Oxford Union speech that when Britain arrived on India’s shores in the mid-18^th century, India had 23% of the world’s GDP and was, during that century, the wealthiest country in the world.  By the time the British were forced out in 1947, after 200 years of theft and looting, India was left in tatters and a veritable poster child for third world poverty.

A mere 70 years later, India has rebuilt herself, rising from the ashes economically and has actually passed the UK in GDP.

So, what was it that made India great again?  Anil Jethmal believes that India’s resilience and strength lie in its richness of diversity.  India is what it has always been…a country of acceptance. 

India, after all, gave refuge to the Jews after the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians and thereafter by the Romans.  And to this day, India remains the only Jewish diaspora on the planet to never have had a single incident of anti-Semitism by a local.

The same is true for Christianity.  Legend has it that when Doubting Thomas, the apostle, arrived on the shores of India around 52 A.D, he was welcomed by a flute playing Jewish girl.  Saint Thomas spread Christianity in India peacefully and found many followers, well before any European had even discovered the religion.

The same is true of Islam.  The religion came peacefully to the south of India over many centuries through merchants sailing the trade route between India, Africa and Saudi Arabia.

In fact, India has accepted every religion known to man with the possible exception of Shintoism.  The Rupee (India’s currency) has its value written on the note in 17 different languages.  The Constitution of India recognizes 23 different official languages.  The great Rabindranath Tagore encapsulated what India is by calling it “one nation embracing many”. 

So how does the racial acceptance lead to economic success?  Anil Jethmal believes that racism is massively wasted energy that could be otherwise used in productive endeavors.  More profoundly, in a pluralistic country like India, acceptance leads to cooperation among people with different ways of thinking, and thus, takes advantage of different skillsets. 

It is why India, for example, became the world leader in so many industries…..textiles, steel productions, ship building, etc.  And, it is why today companies including Pepsi, Google, Nokia, Microsoft, Adobe, IBM, Micron, MasterCard and so many other successful global brands have Indians at the top spot of their company.

And while much of India’s talent has been exported and is now featured prominently on the world stage, many talented Indians remain in India pushing India up the global rankings. Economic forecasters agree that India will be the world's 3^rd largest economy by 2030 and the largest economy in the world by 2050.

The secret sauce, Anil Jethmal believes, is acceptance and cooperation.  That, above all else, is how India became great again.