It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.....

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way." - A Tale of Two Cities -  Charles Dickens


Now that the year 2010 has come  to an end, one is reminded of the above quote.This best describes India in its present state. As I have said before India is going through the phase which Britain went through during the Dickensian era  and the United States in the early 1900's. 


At the risk of  repeating myself , India is in the sweet spot which comes not just in a lifetime, but probably in a millennium. Partly because of luck in the form of demographics which a few decades ago the doomsayers were saying would condemn India to  perpetual poverty and starvation, as predicted by Malthus a few centuries ago, but the young population  is now turning into a trump card for India

However not only did we overcome the food production ( with some help from the United States ) we are now in a position of exporting certain food grains. The rise in population instead of being  a ball and chain is being seen as boosters ( provided we can keep creating jobs) for our economic growth. 


This year has been the most eventful ( at least for the last five years since our return). On the positive side , the economy is predicted to grow at 9%. We hosted a successful Commonwealth Games . Indian athletes performed  well in the Commonwealth and Asian Games. All the major head of states Cameron, Obama, Sarkozy, Wen, Medvedev and others all visited India during the second half. With the exception of Wen, all of them said appropriately flattering things which made all of us feel good. 


On the negative side, the headlines also talked about the corrupt bureaucrats who organized the Commonwealth Games and reportedly diverted money to their own pockets, the Adarsh prime land scam in Mumbai, the 2G auction which apparently deprived the government of potential revenue of approximately $40.0 billion.. The Armed Forces which until recently had a relatively  clean image was also dragged into the mud because of the shenanigans of a former Army Chief. The Judiciary which is supposed to keep the rest of us honest found accusations being made against senior judges. Finally the media which prides itself on being unbiased was found to have feet of clay. Two of its  most prominent members had to defend themselves.Delhi  the capital of the country is becoming an increasingly unsafe place for girls at night. A recent newspaper item mentioned that four or five children go missing everyday from Delhi.  


I could go on and on about the positives and the negatives, but looking at the glass half full, I feel that perhaps we are reaching a point where thing will start to change. The very fact that all these issues are out in the open and being discussed is a positive sign. However what will convince me that the tipping  point has been reached  is when some of these scoundrels, politicians, bureaucrats etc who are accused are actually convicted and put behind bars without being granted any special privileges or allowed out for  frequent outings or supposedly  for medical reasons or on compassionate grounds. 

The Central Government should do what Nitish Kumar has just done in Bihar. He has passed a law where any government servant who is convicted has his ill gotten gains seized by the state and has started implementing it. Now if only other states could follow his example !!!