India's poverty

[niranjan]

According to Forbes magazine , India was the richest nation in the world in the 16 th century.

It was systematic economic exploitation during the British rule in the subsequent centuries that reduced India from being the richest nation in the world to one of the poorest nations in the world.

However , now that India is independent, she is making rapid strides to being a developed nation.The advantages India possess is good leadership and the fantastic genetic potential in her people that comes with being an ancient civilization. Already India boasts the third largest pool of scientists and engineers in the world , after the U.S. and Russia.

Her economy is growing at the rate of 8 % per annum, and now India is now being described as the next Asian tiger and rival to China, by expert economists

[Guest guest]

Stating that India was the richest nation in the 16th century does not make sense since most of the peasant population lived on subsistence income and only the feudal landlords were rich. Per capita income is not the same as people being wealthy.

 

Today, India's economy is growing at 8 percent. However hundreds of millions live in slums with their children malnourished and covered with flies. People need to stop judging the quality of life via GNP or GDP parameters. India has, for hundreds of years, been riddled with a suffocating caste system that forces lower caste people to suffer various indignities. Even the middle and rich classes are superstitious and see no conflict between cheating & being abusive to weaker people and going to temples at the same time.

 

India has a long way to go before it can hold up its head with pride.

 

 

 

According to Forbes magazine , India was the richest nation in the world in the 16 th century.

It was systematic economic exploitation during the British rule in the subsequent centuries that reduced India from being the richest nation in the world to one of the poorest nations in the world.

However , now that India is independent, she is making rapid strides to being a developed nation.The advantages India possess is good leadership and the fantastic genetic potential in her people that comes with being an ancient civilization. Already India boasts the third largest pool of scientists and engineers in the world , after the U.S. and Russia.

Her economy is growing at the rate of 8 % per annum, and now India is now being described as the next Asian tiger and rival to China, by expert economists

[niranjan]

 

India has, for hundreds of years, been riddled with a suffocating caste system that forces lower caste people to suffer various indignities. Even the middle and rich classes are superstitious and see no conflict between cheating & being abusive to weaker people and going to temples at the same time.

 

India has a long way to go before it can hold up its head with pride.

 

 

It is a fact that more than 70 per cent of the ancient Hindu Rishis, or enlightened masters of India, belonged to the lower castes.

Valmiki and Vyasa , who wrote the epics Ramayana and Mahabharatha respectively, belonged to the lower castes.

In ancient times , one's caste was determined by one's temperament, talents and inclinations. Caste was not a barrier to the lower caste people, who rose to the level of the upper castes through their talents.

This was the reason why Kshatriyas like the Buddha and Vishwamitra , became Brahmins or men of spiritual nature and why a Brahmin like Parashurama became a Kshatriya.

This is also the reason why shudras or low caste people like Valmiki , Vyasa, Vasishtha, Narada, Drona, Karna ,Thiruvalluvar were raised to the position of a Brahmin or Kshatriya , in virtue or their superior learning or valour.

Much more of this information can be found in Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's book "Heritage of the dalits".

Shankaracharya and others , were the great caste-makers. They would sometimes get hordes of Baluchis and at once make them Kshatriyas, and also get hordes of fishermen and make them Brahmins forthwith.

It was with the advent of the foreign invasions in India, that the caste system became rigid, and migration of people to different castes were stopped.

Even then, enlightened masters from the lower castes such as Kabir, Ravi Das, Sri Narayana guru were revered by the upper castes as well.

When India gained independence due to the efforts of Hindus like Gandhi, perfect equality was thrust upon the masses of India , no matter to what caste one belonged to, thus reestablishing and continuing the ancient tradition of India.

Even the constitution of independent India , was created by a Dalit called B.R.Ambedkar.

It will take some time for the deadweight of tradition of the rigid caste system to be removed from India. But as enlightened Hinduism and Buddhism, as preached by Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and others are reaching the masses, slowly these shackles are being dissolved .

 

 

India doesn't need economic might to hold her head high with pride. It is her culture and heritage that holds her head high with pride.

[niranjan]

 

Even the middle and rich classes are superstitious and see no conflict between cheating & being abusive to weaker people and going to temples at the same time.

 

When a civilization is ancient, superstitions and prejudices untempered by reason are bound to creep in. This is because of lack of proper education and lack of proper knowledge of religion.

 

As I said in my previous post, as the teachings of enlightened Hinduism and Buddhism as said by Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda,Sri Ramakrishna , Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and others are reaching the masses, we will be able to witness increasing cultural literacy and eradication of superstitions and prejudices in the Indian society.

[Guest guest]

It does not matter what caste was thousdand years ago. It matters what it is now. Now it is suffocating the lower caste people. Theoretical statements about how the caste system came to evolve are meant to justify its existence. Vivekananda's teachings are not followed by any one. Corruption is rampant at all levels and the Indians who work in the IT industry seem to be the most materialistic people in the world without any concern for ethics or compassion.

 

India can hold its head up high, not based on its past culture - none of the present Indians have any thing to do the past - but only on what it can show NOW.

[niranjan]

 

Vivekananda's teachings are not followed by any one. .

 

Swami Vivekananda has influenced thousands of eminent personalities and will continue to do so in the future. Both Mahatma Gandhi and Subhash chandra Bose , the architects of India's freedom movement, has acknowledged his influence on them.Similarly has Aurobindo, Swami Chinmayananda , Rabindranath Tagore , Dr.Palpu (the founder of the S.N.D.P. movement in Kerala for the upliftment of the lower castes ),Guru Golwarkar and others have acknowledged his influence.

There was an article in the newspapers stating that Bengali youth in increasing numbers are being attracted by Swami Vivekananda and are reading his works. This is the same with the youth of other states as well. It is an undeniable fact that his popularity is increasing day by day.

[niranjan]

 

Corruption is rampant at all levels and the Indians who work in the IT industry seem to be the most materialistic people in the world without any concern for ethics or compassion.

 

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What do you have to say about philanthropists like Narayan Murthy and Azim Premji , who has set up foundations to help underprivileged children and eradicate poverty and illiteracy.

[niranjan]

 

India can hold its head up high, not based on its past culture - none of the present Indians have any thing to do the past - but only on what it can show NOW.

 

The above statement is your own perspective and I am not interested in arguing with it as I have stated my perspective myself in my previous posts.

 

The reason for the Japanese's intense patriotism is their pride in their culture and heritage and it is this pride that gives them the confidence and motivates them to be an economic superpower.

 

Similarly Indians should have pride in their glorious culture and heritage, and this pride will give them the confidence and motivation to be an economic and military superpower.

 

The past was great, but the future can be greater. All it requires is pride and hard work.