India Positive

by Chetan Bhagat

  INDIA POSITIVE

  Chetan Bhagat is the author of eight bestselling novels and three non-fiction books, which have sold over twelve million copies and have been translated in over twenty languages worldwide.

  The New York Times has called him ‘the biggest selling author in India’s history’. Time magazine named him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and Fast Company USA named him as one of the 100 most creative people in business worldwide.

  Many of his books have been adapted into films and were major Bollywood blockbusters. He is also a Filmfare award-winning screenplay writer.

  Chetan writes columns in the Times of India and Dainik Bhaskar , which are amongst the most influential and widely read newspapers in the country. He is also one of the country’s leading motivational speakers.

  Chetan went to college at IIT Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad, after which he worked in investment banking for a decade before quitting his job to become a full-time writer.

  The views and opinions expressed in this work are the author’s own and the facts are as reported by him, and the publisher is in no way liable for the same.

  Text copyright © 2019 Chetan Bhagat

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

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  Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Westland are trademarks of Amazon.com , Inc., or its affiliates.

  ISBN-13: 9781542044165

  ISBN-10: 1542044162

  Contents

  India Positive

  I NDIAN S OCIETY , I NDIAN C ULTURE

  How Blind Bhakts Can Actually Harm India’s Democracy

  Anthem Order: The Intention’s Good, but Imposition Isn’t

  Blame It on the Rain

  Why We Need a Ram Temple in Ayodhya

  The Great Opinion Wars

  Too Many Holy Cows: Let’s Just Stop Mixing Religion and Law

  Creaming the People: Caste-based Reservations Need to Be Recast for the Sake of a More Just Society

  Hypocritical and Impractical: With the Porn Ban, the Government Has Flaunted Its Control Freak Instincts

  Anatomy of an Internet Troll

  What the 2G Non-scam Tells Us About India’s Don’t-care Attitude to Corruption

  ‘Look, I’m So Secular!’: The Rise of Virtue Signallers on Social Media

  Official India Hates Fun

  Fifty Shades of Intolerance

  Will You Spend ₹80 to See India Win a Dozen Olympic Golds?

  P OLITICS , I NDIA-STYLE

  The Rohingya Are Human, Too: How We Can Deal with Refugees and Still Keep India Safe

  Shorts First, Soul Next?

  We Are All Anti-nationals: The Equation D+M>H Explains Indian Politics, but D+M+H Is a Better Combo

  To Get Poll Maths Right, BJP Needs to Remember Three Numbers

  In these San-sad Times, Call a Virtual Session of Parliament

  Netas, Do Us a Favour: Don’t Swap Favours

  Terrorism and Extremitis

  Gujarat’s Perfect Verdict: How Gujaratis Managed to Keep Both BJP and Congress on their Toes

  Self-goals a Bigger Threat to BJP than Rahul

  What the Shattered AAP Dream Tells Us about Ourselves

  Uri Changed One Thing: India Is Never Going to Compare Itself with Pakistan

  The Parable of PK: Having a Loud, Indecent Neighbour Calls for Out-of-the-box Solutions

  I NDIANOMICS

  28 Per Cent GST? At this Rate, India’s Movie Biz Will Be a Flop Show

  Don’t Let the 2014 Euphoria Turn into Despair

  Cracking the GST Puzzle

  The Government Is Bad at Running Hospitals, Let’s Have Modicare Instead

  Sell Air India for One Rupee: Right Now, It’s a Giant Black Hole Relentlessly Sucking in Taxpayer Money

  How to Tax with Love

  ‘Suit-boot Sarkar’ Doesn’t Want the Rest Suited and Booted

  Free Basics May Not Be Totally on the Mark, But Don’t Trash It

  It’s Time to Analyse OROP with Our Heads, Not Our Hearts

  The Three New I’s of Indian Politics

  Y OUNG I NDIA

  What Out-of-control DU Colleges Can Learn from Uncool IITs

  Indian Institutes of Politics: Lack of Autonomy for Universities Is a Killer, Literally so in Rohith Vemula’s Case

  Indian Institute of Autonomy: Don’t Kill a Model that Works

  Letter to Kashmiri Youth: Even If You Don’t Like India, Here’s Why Your Best Bet Is to Integrate J&K With It

  Concluding Thoughts: Staying India Positive

  India Positive

  So it is 2019, and here we are on the verge of another big Lok Sabha election. It’s different this time, isn’t it? While there’s some election fever, there’s none of the frenzy of 2014. The pre-election analyses, predictions and rallies are in full swing. Each political side is making its promises, of course. They are also trading barbs and attacking their opponents. And yet, it is no 2014. The rise of Modi and his promises of ‘acche din’, the anger of the people towards the Congress government, the first-time mass use of social media, and the fact that these were the first general elections after anti-corruption protests reached the streets, meant that Indians were heavily invested in the 2014 elections. ‘We need change’ seemed to be what India was trying to say. And a commoner chaiwallah like Modi had spectacularly come to power, securing a massive mandate. The people celebrated—they had done it!

  After all, this was change, wasn’t it? The PM changed. The ministers changed. The party ruling the country changed. People power had spoken! Time for ‘acche din’ now! Bye-bye corruption, and hello, new progressive India!

  The excitement of the 2014 elections carried over well after the polls. The honeymoon period of the new government was pure euphoria. When the Swacch Bharat campaign was launched and Modi came to the streets with a broom, many swooned. This was change indeed, they marvelled, look how India is changing now!

  Let’s cut to 2019. Ask people to be as excited as they were in 2014 about the government, and they will most likely give you nothing more than a smirk. Tell them to scream for change, and they are more likely to shrug their shoulders.

  Yeah, things are different, they will say. But nothing has really changed, has it?

  In fact, when I travel for my motivational talks, I sometimes ask the people I meet: ‘How is life radically different for you as an individual under this BJP government versus the previous Congress government? And how much of that is due to the change in government?’ Often, they struggle to find genuine answers. Here’s how a typical conversation goes:

  Me (talking to people in a Shatabdi train compartment): So what is different now in 2019 vs 2014?

  Passenger 1: There are more smartphones, cheaper data and more internet content.

  Me: That is true. But the BJP had little to do with this, as it is a worldwide phenomenon and would have happened even under another government, right?

  Passenger 2: There’s a lot more online shopping.

  Me: Same, not really particular to this government.

  Passenger 3: We have new currency notes!

  Me: For sure, this may not have happened without demonetisation. Have to agree on this one.

  Passenger 4: We have GST.

  Me: Yes, but it affects businesses more. How about you as an individual?

  Passenger 4: For me, GST is merely another name for indirect taxes I used to pay earlier.

  Passenger 5: We also have some more metros, better roads in a few places and new airports.

  Me: Okay!

&n
bsp; Passenger 5 (continues): Then again, these were already in the pipeline and might have continued to happen under any other government.

  Me: Anyone else?

  Passenger 6: There are some policies, I am told, to give LPG, bank accounts and medical insurance to a lot of poor people.

  Me: But we are talking about you, the average middle to upper middle class Indian travelling on this train. Has your life changed much? Or rather, would it have been very different if we had a different government during the last five years?

  Passenger 6: (thinks … shakes head)

  Me: (smiles)

  Passenger 7 (watching me for a while and speaking finally): Why are you asking so many questions, anyway? It’s India. Nothing really changes here.

  The conversation above represents a popular opinion. Yes, things are different. And yet, not a lot has changed.

  Nothing really changes here

  The last passenger is right at one level. ‘This is India, nothing really changes around here’ is something a lot of people say in our country. I don’t fully subscribe to this view as I find it an overly cynical take on the state of affairs. However, maybe because I am older (and hopefully wiser), I am more patient with alternate views and see the point these people are trying to make. After all, it is true that by now we have tried various types of governments and leaders. In the last ten years alone, we have tried:

  The Congress (and UPA) in power

  The BJP (and NDA) in power

  A coalition government (like the UPA II)

  A strong and stable majority government (like the Modi government)

  A leader with a soft and gentle image (like PM Manmohan Singh)

  A leader with a tough image (like PM Modi)

  That is a lot of different things to try, isn’t it? But despite all these changes at the top, India trudges along in much the same way. 2019 is not too different from 2009. If you are a student, it is hard to get into a good school or college (we’re approaching a crisis in education, but that’s a separate discussion). If you are a job seeker, it is difficult to find employment. The cities are choked and traffic is a nightmare. Government offices are still slow, dusty and corrupt. Good healthcare is either unavailable or too expensive. You need contacts and/or money to get anywhere. So the rules are different for the powerful and the well-connected. For the average Indian, life is a struggle.

  The situation described above is true in 2019, but was also true in 2009. So the cynical uncle in the train who says ‘This is India, nothing changes around here’, isn’t entirely wrong.

  So, one wonders: why write books like India Positive ? If things didn’t move much from 2009 to 2019, why talk about where we need to be in 2029? For chances are we will still be here, as ‘nothing changes around here’.

  This is where I differ from Uncle Cynic. For the statement that nothing has changed isn’t true. Maybe what is implied, and probably more accurate in our context, is this: not much has changed, or things haven’t changed fast enough . That’s a valid criticism. And it is quite different from ‘nothing changed’ or the seriously depressing ‘nothing will ever change’.

  It doesn’t matter

  The fact is this: even though little has changed, we still learnt three irrefutable things after experimenting with various types of governments and leaders. One, India is moving along, progressing, albeit at a slow pace. Two, no matter who is in power, your life doesn’t change dramatically under any regime. Hence, irrespective of the prime minister, the ruling party or their election promises, as far as you and your individual life is concerned, it doesn’t matter.

  This ‘it doesn’t matter’ is no cousin of the cynical ‘nothing ever changes’ statement. It doesn’t mean one shouldn’t care about who is in power. Neither does it mean that no matter who comes to power, you are screwed anyway.

  What it means is simply this: India is so vast and varied in so many ways that no one leader or regime change is capable of altering the life of an average individual within the relatively short time span of a term or two in power.

  This doesn’t mean life won’t change. But the change is not dependent on whether BJP or Congress is in power, or Mr Modi or Mr Singh being the PM. Sure, smartphones and mobile data have transformed the lives of Indians in the past decade. Online shopping changed retail. Rideshare apps altered the way people moved in our cities. Change happened, but your favourite leader or party didn’t have as much to do with it as you thought it would.

  There are two ways to look at this. One, it can make you feel helpless. What do you do when the government at the Centre, which got there by your vote, doesn’t seem to matter so much? Two, it can be liberating. It tells you something else. That by coming out on the streets in 2011 or voting for change in 2014, you have now tried it all. Now, in order to really change your life, you cannot rely on politics or a particular leader. The solution is going to be someone else. The solution is going to be you !

  Being India Positive

  If 2009 was the UPA/coalition government/soft PM experiment, and 2014 was the NDA/majority government/tough PM experiment, maybe it is time in 2019 to do something different. Rather than relentlessly trying to get the perfect government in place, maybe we can try to work on ourselves. For instance, rather than counting on the government to give us jobs, maybe it is time to focus on improving our own skills so that we increase our employability. Instead of ranting against politicians on social media, maybe it is better to use social media to improve your networking and further your own career.

  The ten-year experiment of trying out various governments and leaders has also taught us one more thing: nobody is amazing, and nobody is terrible . There’s no point in getting worked up against a particular politician or political party.

  Of course, it doesn’t come across that way when you log on to your social media. Twitter is flooded with Modi-haters and Rahul-baiters. Both fan clubs relentlessly praise their leader and bash the other. After seeing what has been happening in India for the last ten years, are they seriously deluded, to think one is pure gold while the other one is pure trash? Above all, why are they wasting so much of their own time, energy and passion on such negativity on Twitter? Is it going to boost their careers? Not for most people, unless they are in politics. Is it going to fix all of India’s problems? Well, no. So what the hell do they hope to achieve by this passionate time-wasting on politics anyway?

  It’s hard to convince the social media warriors to change their ways. Maybe it is better to let them stew in their own negativity. However, I want to address you , the reader of this book. Do not believe in binaries, especially when it comes to politics. Do not expect a particular government to offer solutions to your life’s problems. Do not become a negative person. And do not do what is worse: spread more negativity in this already negative world.

  The past ten years may have disappointed us, those who dream of India taking its place among the developed nations of the world one day. However, these years have also taught us a lot. Today, rather than talking about what the government is doing wrong, it is time we spoke about we can do right. There’s a whole lot of negativity out there. To stand out and shine today, you need to be what I call an ‘India Positive Citizen’. I will discuss what it really means to be one on a practical basis in the sections below.

  Becoming an India Positive Citizen will, for one, help you be a better person and do well in your career. But when there are a lot of us who are India positive, we will also help India become a better place and finally create the change we want to see in our country.

  An objective, non-partisan look at how we did (2009–2019)

  Being India Positive is not a call to be a PR or propaganda agent for India. Far from it. Being India Positive calls for an honest assessment of what we have done right and what we haven’t. Neither unnecessarily harsh India-bashing, nor justifying our mistakes or over-praising our country, but an objective look at the achievements and mistakes of the last ten years. Let us examine ou
r performance in both economic and social terms, as summarised in the table below, and discussed in the following section.

  India’s Performance (2009-2019)

  Economy overview

  Society overview

  Where we did really well

  Online business boom Startups

  Better tax compliance and GST

  No major regional- or caste-based conflicts

  Some drop in corruption, fewer scams

  Decriminalising Section 377

  Empowering people with the internet

  Where we did okay

  GDP growth

  Attempts at non-caste, economic-based quotas

  Some schemes like NREGA, Ujjwala, Jan Dhan and Ayushman increase equality and standard of living

  Where we messed up

  Missed manufacturing boom

  Low job creation

  Hindu-Muslim polarisation, including lynchings

  Education system still in shambles

  HOW WE DID: ECONOMY

  What we did well

  India saw a boom in online businesses, in line with the rest of the world, over the past decade. However, given our low internet penetration in 2009, we grew faster than the rest of the world. Data became much cheaper over the last five years, increasing internet usage and thereby boosting online businesses even further. One look at the newspapers around Diwali, and you will see the flood of online shopping ads, something that didn’t exist a decade ago. This online boom has also led to a startup culture, with hundreds of angel and venture funds investing in thousands of startups. Many of these startups became unicorns (valued at over a billion dollars). This is one of the true economic achievements of India in the past decade.

  We have also seen far higher tax compliance from businesses—whether in terms of income taxes or the GST filings, making Indian businesses far more organised than they were a decade ago.

  What we did okay

  Estimates vary, but the general consensus is that our GDP grew at a rate of about 8 per cent per year over the past decade. While there are endless debates over which government delivered more growth—the UPA or the NDA—the difference in average numbers over both their terms is small. While India remains one of the fastest- growing economies in the world, this growth rate is not impressive, given our low base and our expectations in 2014. Many expected a stable government with a pro-business mindset to boost economic growth, compared to a coalition government ridden with scams. However, this did not happen. Maybe because of the slowdown due to demonetisation, or because we could not pass crucial land acquisition bills, we were not able to jumpstart our GDP more effectively in 2014–2019 than in the 2009–2014 period. (On the other hand, other countries including China and some South Asian economies, grew in double digits when they were at similar GDP levels as present-day India.) We did okay, but we could have done much better.