QUESTIONS:
Will India be able to learn from the missteps of the West regarding ecology, energy and education?
Will they recognize earlier in their economic and social development that material resources are finite yet human resources (such as creativity, innovation and expression) are infinite?
Will India achieve a true global consciousness that recognizes the unique contribution of all cultures?
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ANSWER:
Dear Mr Pompei
Thank you for your honest questions. When I am reading them between the lines, (an old habit I have a tendency to fall back into way too often) I notice that it sounds like you are standing with cold feet. Is that an accurate observation?
What I hear is that you want some kind of proof that India will handle it’s new economic power in a way according to your values. That is an understandable reaction to India’s transition from one world to another. With economic power come great responsibilities. I have to make you disappointed though. I don’t have the knowledge needed to make a decent reading of the future. However, being in India I have the opportunity to ask the stars in almost every corner of the street. For the fun of it I therefore turned your questions to a fortuneteller after he charge me 30 rupies. He made the Indian nod and said: “sorry, only your own future madam”. A bit disappointed I instead took a stroll back to my hotel. I come to think of Anand Chandra Tamang, a retired old man once a force to be reckoned with in India Navy Defense. He was living at the same dormitory as me and I had only seen him in nothing but his bath towel and a bouche of daly newspapers under his arm. I usually referred to him as “The Bathing Chinese” due to his Chinese feature but that has nothing to do with it really.
Anand Chandra was this particular day sitting down at the balcony as always wearing nothing but a bath towel. He was deep into the Sunday’s Paper when I pulled out a chair in front of him and asked for five minutes of his time. I was lucky, Anand Chandra was more than willing to talk to me about your questions. We talked about values and west verces east.
Anand Chandra was soon letting me know that the future of India lies in its history and that people in the west therefore has nothing to be scared of. “India is an ancient country” he said. “The western world can learn a lot from the history and knowledge that has passed through thousands of generations in India”. Thanks to that he said, is there a high level of consciousness through out the country in terms of ecology, globalization and development. India has been around for so long that knowledge lies in the roots of it’s development.
I glanced down at the headlines in front of Anand Chandra. The first spread was called “Inner Spaces”. I looked at the left column called Soul Search. Headline: Start small or big; do your part. Further down: Big question for you: What are you doing to help build a new and better world?
Dear Mr Pompai. I am sorry for not giving you a more deliberate answer to your questions. I guess what I am trying to say with this letter is that you shall not worry. India will most certainly make terrific missteps when developing in such a high speed just like all other countries done so far (including India many times around through history) but I am optimistic. I can’t think of any country that is more likely to learn from its ancient history and have such a consciousness deep down in the roots of its people. When I asked Anand Chandra what he though would be India’s contribution to the world in the nearest future he just smiled and said “India will give the world skilled, really skilled manpower”. And with one billion people, that sounds quite hopeful in my ears.
Yours sincerely, Elin Frost
