Scaling new peaks

The process of building a modern India can and must be done, but when will we commit ourselves to an inclusive approach, where there is a certain minimum level of aspiration and achievement evidenced by every city, town and village in the country?

The nation exploded with joy on 29th June when the cricket team, after almost letting one more Cup slip away through lackadaisical batting and some mediocre overs of bowling, suddenly found their mojo. A superlative over by a bowler who is at the peak of his craft and form, Jasprit Bumrah and a catch that was straight out of sports fiction by Suryakumar Yadav, suddenly saw India pull out a fantastic victory from the jaws of defeat.

What does a win like this do for India? For many ardent followers and fans of cricket including this writer, who had felt that this team did not have the calibre to make it past the semis, it was a reminder that two great bowlers in form and two batsmen firing well in an innings can get a team through in the shortest format of the game. And for a nation which needs hero worship to keep us motivated, it provided a wonderful emotional end to the careers of Rahul Dravid and at least in 20 over cricket to our war horses of over a decade Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

For me, this stellar evening provided a fantasy ending to a week that had started with a 100-minute delay in delivery of bags at Heathrow Airport and appalling service at two cafeterias in Central London. A wonderful four-day trip followed to Inverness and the Isle of Skye in the Scottish Highlands and ended with watching two bad tempered debates - between Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer for the UK Prime Ministership and Joe Biden and Donald Trump for the US Presidency. Saddening indeed to see the choices two great countries of the past are being provided in their leaders for the next five years.

"I am hopeful that a truly “Viksit Bharat” will emerge where every Indian has the opportunity to contribute, like the Indian cricket team did, and we have real progress to boast about for the country and our fellow citizens"

Putting a real dampener to the end of a short break from routine was the decision to fly from London to Delhi rather than Mumbai. A two-hour delay in the flight taking off because of congestion over European air space led to us arriving in the national capital in the wee hours of a Friday morning. Three hours of rain then presented Delhi to us at its worst. An airport roof collapsed, our car arrived at the hotel 80 minutes late and after a delay in arriving at my first meeting with a Cabinet Minister, the next meeting had to be called off after crawling in traffic for over two hours. Making a timely escape to Mumbai on a night flight put an end to the Delhi ordeal and set off a sequence of thoughts on the future of people and the planet.

What ails us and dominates our thinking in these times? Against a context of the never ending wars in Ukraine and Gaza with the powerful nations of the G7 unable or unwilling to find any resolution, one wonders and worries about the ineffectiveness of democratically elected governments and leaders to control the actions of some tyrants.

And one feels a sense of despondency and chagrin watching leaders in speeches and debates roll out a litany of falsehoods and excuses for the lethargy in their administration with more interest in casting aspersions on their opponent than on a robust plan for improving quality of life and job opportunities in their countries. The USA is a clear case in point.

In what one cynic termed as a war between the old and the unholy, the sparring between Biden and Trump in the opening debate showed the obsession America has with protecting status quo. All praises to the vibrant corporate sector in the US, which rises above petty politics and truly takes the nation forward.

We are not that much better in our own country. The fiasco of the examination paper leaks, the crumbling infrastructure in our cities even as newer airports and highways spring up in various parts of the country are all symptomatic of a malaise of focusing on growth in new edifice construction at the cost of sustainable human quality of life. I have no quarrel with the process of building a modern India, it can and must be done but when will we commit ourselves to an inclusive approach where there is a certain minimum level of aspiration and achievement evidenced by every city, town and village in the country?

This is just a call to action not a retreat into gloom and despondency. As Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav pointed out, what actions we take in the next five years will determine the new opportunities we create for future generations.

The elected government has settled in and a 100-day plan will soon be announced and discussed in what seems to be a vibrant new Parliament. I am hopeful that a truly “Viksit Bharat” will emerge where every Indian has the opportunity to contribute, like the Indian cricket team did, and we have real progress to boast about for the country and our fellow citizens.