India - developed..?? Underdeveloped..?? Developing..???

I just read this…. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam's speech in Hyderabad.


“For fifty years we have been a developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developed nation. We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. We have 10 percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our achievements are being globally recognized today. Yet we lack the self-confidence to see ourselves as a developed nation, self- reliant and self-assured. Isn't this incorrect? “

Ok this was one of his vision.. So can I call India developed..

When I used to get up early in the morning during my college days I used to walk to my bus stop which is quite a distance from my house. It’s a 10 min walk. I used to take a shortcut to the bus stop. I would cross a slum area.. The first thing i used to see when I enter the road was that small kids shitting in the middle of the road.. And yeah even when I returned in the evening it used to remain there… I would see middle age women fighting for water near water tanks.. ah nice words I would hear in the morning from these women.. I would see youngsters playing carom.. They play all day.. How lucky they are.. No work... No tension… and then when I saw this , I was amazed. I saw a 65 year old man in a cycle with at least 20 kg of goods behind him. He was finding it so difficult to balance. But yet he manages. All I was able to do is just feel pity for him.. I see more than 100 small huts.. Some not even the size of my kitchen size. How do people manage to stay here… so after seeing these can I call India Developed…????

And at last when I crossed the road.. Now I would feel fresh air.. It’s the main road … I would gaze upon a new BMW car.. alto.. all big to small cars. My bus stop is siet bus stop. There is a ladies college near by.. I would sight oops sorry..see lots of girls in jeans, T shirt, salwars.. all with mobile phones in their hand. Most of them speaking with it.. and I also saw a vegetable seller using a mobile phone… Government had introduced a/c bus.. So from then I could travel in a/c bus to my college.. Sounds cool… and inside the bus I would see people listening to songs in their I pod. I see people Using blackberry.. I woul see tall buildings, new shopping malls under construction,New roads, new flyovers, traffic well organized… feels so good to travel in these roads.. and I suddenly start thinking.. India is developed man…

So now I am again confused.. The movie “Slumdog Millionaire” has generated a great deal of controversy for its no-holds-barred depiction of terrible poverty and exploitation in India. This was the comment by some critics. But they have not shown anything that does not happen in India. India is a country where one part of the people are developed and the other under developed. 10 of Asia's top 25 are Indian. Indian industrialist Mukesh Ambani, chief of Reliance Industries, ranks fourth with $29 billion in U.S. magazine Forbes' annual list of the world's top billionaires. On one hand larger then life malls, luxury foreign car showrooms are opening, on the other hand the agricultural sector, the backbone of the Indian economy is yet to show profits and improvements. One would not know whether to be happy for India or sad at the superficiality of its development. The rich are growing richer and the poor are growing poorer, thanks to the highly unequal distribution of income in the Indian economy!

P.S : If you have money in bank, in your wallet and few coins, then you are one out of eight privileged amongst the 100 persons in the world