Tears to cheers

One small step in the journey of the sovereign democratic republic of India in these 78 years can be summed up in “tears to cheers”. Indians born 21st Century would not know what tears majority of the population had shed in the previous Century. Even 78 world class books will not provide a complete view. But the Indian films had faithfully captured the reality and essence of that India in tears. That India produced the best poetry and music as “our sweetest songs are those tell of saddest thoughts”. That India was also dominated by alien notions of communism and socialism etc. Before the turn of the century, India had discarded fully communism and socialism and all other isms. Today more than 95 Crore people are covered by social security according to the ILO. The World Bank report shows that extreme poverty rate in India has declined from 27.1% in 2011-12 to 5.3% in 2022-23, which means that the number of people living in extreme poverty fell from 344.47 million to 75.24 million and 269 million people were lifted out of extreme poverty. Today’s India is cheerful and determined to achieve greater heights. In these 78 years we the people of India have crossed insurmountable hurdles and become the world’s 4th Economy. The challenges today are more geopolitics related, but nothing can deter us. Our journey these 78 years was not stopped even for a day, because we are a knowledge society, hardworking and entrepreneurial. The full potential of our youth needs to be realized. They ought to be given support and rewarding tax laws, so that they enjoy the fruits of their labour without cutting corners.

M L Gupta