Our talkative teens

The world8217;s largest democracy is hosting the biggest

debate of its 60 years of existence. We have always been argumentative, of course. But we have also tended to be far too enamoured of shibboleths and respectful of secular deities. Much of that awe and respectfulness is gone now and that wonderful result, which engendered so many convention-indifferent arguments across this continent-sized country, is a direct result of India junking the biggest shibboleth and deity 8212; economic collectivism. Look around and tune in to some of the arguments being heard around India as this 15th August is celebrated. Should industry buy land directly from farmers? Is industrial capital being exported, that too to the West, because Indian entrepreneurs are finding India too inhibiting? Can we have quotas while our education delivery remains poor? How close strategically should India be to America? Why make PAN cards mandatory for investment, since it can block out investors from the informal economy, whose capacity to invest is such a triumphal vindication of the nation8217;s economic course correction? Does the public sector really have a future worth fighting for? Are government salaries too low? Are skilled professionals being paid too much in the private sector? How fast is poverty falling? Should we involve the private sector in social welfare projects as some state governments are already experimenting? Not one of these questions was being asked when India celebrated 50 years of independence. The paradigm shift in public debate has been vast and, naturally, in a democracy of this size and of this awesome complexity, the arguments are furious, occasionally raucous.