India as a great power: Know your own strength

[neehar]

This will explain.

No state can achieve greatness by feeding off its citizens to achieve military greatness instead of feeding its citizens. India may become the 4th largest spender on bombs and guns in next 6 years and claim greatness, however the same country ranks 135th on international human development index and is home to one of the largest malnourished population on earth.

It applies to Pakistan as well, as we spend more than we can afford to but Pakistan isn't willing to claim greatness nor do we have any hegemonic desires. This is why i said that India should invest in its citizens instead of buying arms, or keep a balance to achieve real greatness. For example Indian defense budget is around 36 billion a year while the Education budget is around 9-10billion.I am no friend of India, i would rather have India carry on with ignoring development of its own citizens which will do to India what no enemy can.

if at all theres growth with sustainability in anycountry thats india.yes we have poverty,hunger and every other issue but the good news is we're getting out of it.india stands as a global leader in agriculture today.we stand in the top 3 producers of the world in most categories.so things are getting better.our country pulls out about 1-2 crore population from poverty every year.thats the population of srilanka.u know whats better our gini index which measures the inequalities in the population is much lower than so called biggest economies like u.s and china..so we're not only growing.were developing..and that to at a faster rate..our country is spending more than double of ur gdp on development...thats sustainable development..

 

[Koovie]

OT: We will never be a great power like some people think... We will always maintain our more or less neutral stand in the political arena.

We might have one of the largest economies and a potent military which both are expanding each year towards the top of the world, but we will not intervene in conflicts which dont threaten us.

Our political system, our people, our religions etc are so diverse that we can hardly align us with a specific side.

Our military has only one job: Protecting India and her citizens and not fighting other peoples wars.

 

[KRAIT]

Well come tell me that when you skip a couple of days meal. You are far from being poor so don't gloat. It is real pity for both india and pakistan that people who sleep with their stomach full keep bragging about how they can starve them selves for sake of greater india or pakistan. You and me cant even begin to understand the misery of people who have to watch their loved ones sleep without anything to eat.

I have survived on 40 rps a day. Only two time meal of two rotis and achaar when I was in college. And sometimes Maggie two times.

I have lived in my dad's village just for experience. I know what hunger, heat, water is. Don't tell me what poverty and India is. I don't want to mention other things otherwise you will take it as something of boasting.

 

[IND151]

Military greatness at the expense of a state's own citizens doesn't bring greatness, it brings chaos. Good luck to India for becoming a "great power".

We are not neglecting our citizens. we have lifted millions of them out of poverty;we spend less than 3% of GDP on Military.

We with our efforts and sweat have turned what was a poor nation in 1947 into a 10th largest economy,4th largest steel producing nation and 6th largest automobile producer in world and a Sovereign,Democratic Regional Superpower, the Republic of India

 

[Kompromat]

I have survived on 40 rps a day. Only two time meal of two rotis and achaar when I was in college. And sometimes Maggie two times.

I have lived in my dad's village just for experience. I know what hunger, heat, water is. Don't tell me what poverty and India is. I don't want to mention other things otherwise you will take it as something of boasting.

You have one hell of a diet

 

[Jade]

The tragedy is that India doesn't play to its strengths. If there is a resolve on India's part then it shows. The NSG waiver and recent repatriation of Italian marines are examples.

 

[KRAIT]

You have one hell of a diet

Bhai Cig n Tea. Few biscuits. Maggie. These are life saver for people like us.

Cig and tea kills the hunger.

 

[Pandora]

I have survived on 40 rps a day. Only two time meal of two rotis and achaar when I was in college. And sometimes Maggie two times.

I have lived in my dad's village just for experience. Don't tell me what poverty and India is. I don't want to mention other things otherwise you will take it as something of boasting.

Good now compare yourself with those who cant even get that much to eat. People who have to eat from junk thrown out from peoples houses. Being born in a village doesnt make a person poor. Every one knows that in college and university life people can hardly get to eat a single meal not because they are poor but they are busy. Consider yourself one of the lucky ones.

 

[Kompromat]

Bhai Cig n Tea. Few biscuits. Maggie. These are life saver for people like us.

Cig and tea kills the hunger.

I wonder if you have truck hotels there

 

[janon]

We with our efforts and sweat have turned what was a poor nation in 1947 into 10th largest economy,4th largest steel producing nation and 6th largest automobile producer in world and a Sovereign,democratic Regional Superpower, the Republic of India

Don't go all the way back to 1947. If we had done well since 1947, we would easily have been a middle income country or better by now. All our economic growth began in full steam only in the 90s, after Manmohan and Narasimha rao opened up the economy and radically altered our society. Twenty years into MMS' reforms, we are reaching heights that would have dizzied the previous generation. It's a shame that we languished under a socialist economic model for decades, with private enterprise not being given a chance to drive progress.

 

[KRAIT]

Good now compare yourself with those who cant even get that much to eat. People who have to eat from junk thrown out from peoples houses. Being born in a village doesnt make a person poor. Every one knows that in college and university life people can hardly get to eat a single meal not because they are poor but they are busy. Consider yourself one of the lucky ones.

Well, I can't say anything. You are in UK, I am in India. I see the reality much more than you.

Poor people are as self respecting as rich people. Most of them are really better person than rich. But can't generalize to that extent.

I wonder if you have truck hotels there

Naa yaar. High speed internet chahiye hota hai par.

Kaam ke liye.

 

[Pandora]

Well, I can't say anything. You are in UK, I am in India. I see the reality much more than you.

Poor people are as self respecting as rich people. Most of them are really better person than rich. But can't generalize to that extent.

I was born in a Pakistani village and lived there for about 7 early years of my life. I am far from being poor but i have seen closely that how much people have to suffer from it.

 

[janon]

I have survived on 40 rps a day. Only two time meal of two rotis and achaar when I was in college. And sometimes Maggie two times.

I have lived in my dad's village just for experience. I know what hunger, heat, water is. Don't tell me what poverty and India is. I don't want to mention other things otherwise you will take it as something of boasting.

Sorry krait, but that doesn't really give you an experience of what real poverty does to the human soul. Almost every college student in India lives an austere life, but the fact that they can even go to college puts them in a different league compared to people in absolute poverty. Being poor isn't simply about living on 40 rs a day - it is also about having no dreams, no hope, no future to look forward in anticipation, no past to look back in fondness. An average student's biggest worry would be about impending examinations, or about approaching a cute girl or boy. But to a man who lives in "real" poverty, the everyday worries would be whether his children or aged parents will get something to eat that day. Whether he will have to spend yet another night helplessly listening to the crying of his starving children. Yes, there are millions of people in India and across the world who lead such lives, and do not even dare to envision a future where that will change.

That kind of poverty, that sort of a life day after day crushes the human soul, crushes a person's spirit, destroys him as a man (or woman). A boy or girl who lived a decent life at home, and spends an austere time in college, with the knowledge that he will get a job once s/he finishes that phase, is NOT a suitable comparison.

Does this mean that we should spend less on defence? Of course not. It is not because of our military that we have such crushing, grinding poverty. And if we don't have a good military, we will only add to our existing social problems. But let us not try to brush away the fact that poverty is an EVIL, WRETCHED state for any human to live in. Let us not trivialize their plight by comparing how we lived in our college days.


@smuhs1 is right, it is completely inappropriate to compare the trials and tribulations of a college kid to that of a human being living in poverty. Especially the sort of poverty prevalent in some parts of our country, and the rest of south asia.

 

[EzioAltaïr]

India Gate itself is a symbol of foreign invasion we do not give much importance to that

You're kidding right? It was built to commemorate the martyrs of first World War. While the war itself was foreign, the soldiers were Indian.

 

[Hellraiser007]

I have survived on 40 rps a day. Only two time meal of two rotis and achaar when I was in college. And sometimes Maggie two times.

I have lived in my dad's village just for experience. I know what hunger, heat, water is. Don't tell me what poverty and India is. I don't want to mention other things otherwise you will take it as something of boasting.

Add 15 rs for that amount and you will get a plate Chiken fried rice

You're kidding right? It was built to commemorate the martyrs of first World War. While the war itself was foreign, the soldiers were Indian.

It was built by Britishers who used Indians to fight their wars. (no offence to Indian soldiers martyred)