The Indian Attitude: Unwelcome questions on a stray subject

This has become even more apparent in the recent past
and some people on both sides of the fence (and on the
fence) have spoken about it. But obviously the concept is
deep and extends far beyond cursory comments, into the
general public, the media and the government.

It is increasingly common to see many Indian middle-
class people with a "bugged-with-life-and-hell-breaking-
loose" attitude! Are there any justifications for this
apparent pessimism?

- Is this just a way to vent their frustration?
- Are they crumbling under competition leading to stress?
- Is there past trauma which has had an irreversible
effect?
- Is it down right laziness and lack of initiative?
- Is it indirect denial? ...leading to the blame game?
- Is it poor grooming and nurture?
- Is it due to a stagnant social systems leading to
economic rigidity?
- Is it utter lack of confidence in the governance and
society as a whole?
- Or is it just the-rotten-apples with the good ones being
less conspicuous?

There are a billion other articles talking about other
aspects where this effect manifests itself. But the
fundamental issue lies here, in the "attitude."

India, right now, is on the path to improvement and as an
oft-repeated advert proclaims, "India is shining". A kind of
feel-good atmosphere permeates Government media and
rightly so. There is a high GDP growth rate of 6.7% along
with an upswing in agriculture and the swelling of the
buffer stock of food grains. Assisting the same are the
foreign exchange reserves of 102 billion dollars and a low
inflation rate of 6%, a definite improvement from the past.
But even then why is the general outlook of Indians so
dismal?

One reason might be the common Indian is trying to
measure up to the wrong standards. The standards which
apply to America and other developed countries do not
apply to India. Whenever we talk of development in India,
we have to do so keeping in mind its history, political
turmoil, and the social atmosphere from which India is
emerging. The only standard India has to measure up to
is the standard that it has set for itself through its past.
India has its own personality. It, like every other country,
is unique in its own way.

Still the question remains: Can we question the attitudes
of common Indians? Are we looking at the world through
Jaundice eyes?

Contributed by Shyamanta Saikia, Kansas, is an
undergraduate majoring in Computer Science and
Aerospace Engineering.