In the early 20th century, Einstein’s theory of special relativity gave new significance to the speed of light. He held the coefficient of light to be constant giving rise to the model for space-time continuum. Time therefore could now be stretched like an elastic, as it can be compressed like a spring; a phenomenon we see today in modern-day India.
It is unfathomable that only some 30 years ago Indira Gandhi’s state of emergency was able to trample down on civil liberties, political dissent, and succeeded in curbing economic growth in India. Unlike fossilized rock, with 61% literacy rates and a $630 per capita GDP, India today bears no resemblance to her hindering past.
There are various reasons for this. India has seen a declining inflation rate for the past 3 years. Just last year, the CPI declined from an 8.3% in 2008 to a 5.4 in the first quarter of 2009. The booming IT industry has provided services to not just foreign enterprises, the trickled down affect has in-fact impacted workers from all walks of life. With more money and purchasing power, the demand for goods and services (foreign and local) is on the rise – evident from the current-account deficit increase from a 3.2% to a 3.7% in 2009.
But this is a good thing. The exposure of Indian workforce to the global economy - be it talking in a Texan accent on one of the many thousand call-center phones, or filling in the tax-returns for Bob Smith in Sydney, Australia – all have impacted the psychological mind-set the Nation and her billions of inhabitants.
Even though it took some 60 years for Nehru’s dream to be realized, the friendship forged between Indian workforce and the western multinational conglomerates is a relationship that is here to stay. Nehru often said of himself to be the last Englishman to rule in India, and it is crucial to point out that the outlook he instilled in public and civil structures, that very philosophy made it possible for India to not only embrace western ideas but also retain her Indian-ness.
The Economist reported recently that the global financial crisis is to hit India hard. Budget deficit is to increase to a 7.2% of GDP in 2010 as the government increases her stimulus funds. Interest rates are to deplete further almost following in the footsteps of the exchange rates. But where all this might be true, the power of India in the geopolitical realm would only become stronger.
Fareed Zakaria, in his recent book titled The Post-American World outlined that in spite of all her problems with internal and external terrorism, ions long Kashmir crisis, issues with the Tamil Tigers, and the often sluggish relationship with her neighbors; India today will remain a haven for foreign businesses and enterprise. The reason is simply: Nehru’s Dream.
Unrivaled in the world, the marketability of the Indian workforce today can be compared to the global fascination of Indian gems, spices, and textiles during the Colonial era. The high literacy rates and lower costs are not the only drivers that attract Microsoft and Hilton to India, but as Zakaria points out, the economic sensitivity of its expanding labor mentality is unparallel in the world.
Let me explain. There is no one India, there are thousands. The multitudes of languages, dialects, customs, traditions, castes, religions, and gods; all might give the impression that the diversity cannot be controlled and is ripe for unrest. The truth is far from this. This diversity and multi-ethnicity gives its labor-force flexibility and rationality which no other nation inhabits.
The fact that you can find a group of people amidst its 1.2 billion population for any kind of project, gives the Indian workforce an unhindered advantage. The plurality of religions and ethnicities brings with it a sense of tranquility and respect for the other, especially when absolutism of one deity or custom over others is simply not possible. The capitalistic dream has so perfectly been encapsulated by her workforce, that even tough exceptions exist to this rule: the wholeness of India rests in her diversity.
India will not become a super-power like the United States in a traditional sense. Not because it cannot, but because the time for uni-polarity – as Zakaria points out – has seized to exist. The regional economic supremacy of India in South Asia will go hand-in-hand with her geopolitical influence. With the United States worried about the border towns of Afghanistan, the tribal regions of Pakistan, and the lawlessness of Swat and FATA, India will have to play a more geo-political role and shun its petty differences with its neighbors and look at the macro picture – a timely and mature policy already demonstrated by Delhi in the aftermath of the Mumbai bombings.
Narendra Modi, BJP chief minister of Gujrat and one projected by The Atlantic Monthly to lead the next government of India, is one that needs to be mindful of the expectations from India. Manmohan Singh rightly realizes that power stems from regional and global respect - something that Modi’s ultra nationalist agenda is oftentimes at odds with.
There are high-hopes from India especially the role she can play in developing a sustainable Afghanistan. But Modi continues to embody policies that resulted in the 2002 communal riots in his state leaving over 2000 Muslims killed. If such are Modi’s designs for India’s future, all of India’s recent successes will be put to shame especially when sustainability of the business-friendly environment might erode. Nehru’s dream of a modern, progressive India that holds South Asia together cannot afford deviant ultra-nationalistic ideals especially when they are at odds with the multicultural wholeness of India.
Economic growth and financial models are mere numbers, something that can be replicated by any nation: Dubai or Malaysia. But growth arising from philosophical visions of nation-hood are harder to come by. That’s why innovative powers like the United States or Japan were able to achieve a hegemonic structure, solely because growth was organic not cloned. India today has all the ingredients for a perfect crème brûlée, but she has to avoid time-travel and make sure that ultra-nationalism remains un-fossilized. 
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