Bharatha or India - Which one do you prefer?

    Bharatha the name derived by the emperor Bharata or the modernized version 'India' or the Persian term 'Hindustan' or land of Hindus - does it matter what name we call our nation?

    What is in a name? It is just an identity to differentiate one over the other. By the way let me not get in to the marketing concept of branding for now, which am sure would need a name to be branded for popularity. Let me get to the real topic I want to put it in front of you for discussion in this blog.

    India or Bharatha is on the verge of a revolution. Some may say it is an economical revolution, some an ethical revolution, some might want to call it a cultural revolution. I would say it is a mixture of all.

   The open economy in 1991 led to change in Information Technological sector. This boom had its impact on almost every other sector be it real estate, infrastructure, BFSI or retail for that matter.  

    Next big revolution that is currently happening is in step to eradicate corruption. Demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 note is just one step towards it. A change that is impacting every common man in India. No change is smooth neither is its adverse effects. When you look at the pros and cons of this move, the adverse impacts are short lived. Farmers, daily waged laborers are few segments in the society who are being impacted adversely on a short term. On the long run this move along with the other proposed moves like Aadhaar based cashless payment, caps on the gold limit that we are authorised to keep, cap on the real estate are making India more organised. 

   Is this the change we wanted? Let me look back around 200 years back (before the East India company came to do business here), India was culturally very rich. Our vedas, education system, religious values, philisophy were so rich. Where did we loose the track? We accepted (or call it forced) the western way of living, thinking it is for better. Is it really? I am not so sure. Our epics of Ramayana and Mahabharatha have more to teach us than the current education system can ever. Old styled Gurukulas taught more values and built stronger individuals than today's modern education. In today's world ask any company recruiter what they lack - it is an employable candidate.   The language 'English' which was learnt during the British regime has helped us get the IT, ITES, BPO jobs. Thank British system of education for that, else I would not be able to write this blog today neither were you able to read this.

Some food for thought:

   Are we trying to say our Indian names have more impact on our mind than the nomenclature we got from western world? Is this why we renamed our cities or was it just a political agenda?

- Bombay renaming back to Mumbai

- Madras renamed to Chennai

- Bangalore renamed to Bengaluru

- Calcutta renamed to Kolkata

   Should the real change happen in the country thru environment friendly infrastructure(please do remember the Delhi air quality), research based economic progress, quality education thru vedas, effective governance which is corruption free or change in the name of cities/country?

   True change happens when Patriotism is given prominence over the political gimmicks. Does politicizing our  'National Anthem' in theatres cause any change to a patriot? 

   Has the time come to start looking for a better India or naya Bharatha? Dreaming of a nation that is politically so powerful in this world is easy.  The path we choose matters and its impact even more. 

   Bhutan is now considered a most eco-friendly nation in this world. Their Gross National Happiness might be better than its GDP, but the country is on track to provide a safe environment for their next generations to come. Is this what we in India need to look for?

   Lot of Indians think there are two Indias emerging - one with capitalist mindset and the other communist. Which one is for you to choose?