Imagining the future of a child born today in the developing world

The Following Article is my entry to Concern Worldwide Writing Competition 2011

2011. A child is born in a country, which has second largest population and is the world’s largest democracy. India.

2011. India is growing at a rate of 8+ percent. Though, that is not indicative of the real scenario of the country. Like any other country, the rich-poor divide is not reflected in statistics. Having a three digit rank in the Human Development Index doesn’t add much to its pride either. Of course, the government is doing everything they can, to overcome the situation. But like in any developing country, the haphazardness of the state and venality of the regime results in the exploitation of the oppressed.

This child, however, is born in bourgeoisie family. And at this time of the century, the Indian middle class are rising fastest…

With the rise of Africa and eastern countries like India and China, the power peaks of the past are flattened. Agreed that America still have some hold over the post of decision maker of the world. However, unlike earlier, it cannot take decisions concerning world, without a discussion.

2021: India is now a permanent member of UNSC. GDP has doubled from that in 2011 and is growing at double digit rate. It is now also the most populous country. Thanks to the liberalization and deregulation of the education system among other things, and the growth and innovation in the field of schooling have ensured that the child is getting a world class education. India, having the power of a UN permanent member, bats for the developing nations, especially South Asian and African ones. This has brought prosperity and opportunities in these areas …. and a new found confidence.

After IT and service sector, India is foraying into the manufacturing sector. To do so, it is doing a revolutionary renovation of the infrastructure, be it communication, transportation or electrification, etc. …. This has been possible due to India’s stupendous growth rate and Returns on Investments, which is enthusing foreign players more than ever. However, poverty is still a major cause of concern, and so is self-sufficiency of the overburdening population. But one can take comfort in the fact that after the education revolution comes out of its gestation period, the population would be more of an asset than a liability.

2031: If we talk in terms of GDP, India has grown by more than 5 times. If we talk in terms of development, growth has been exponential. Education Reforms of yesterday are bearing fruits today. Thanks to the radical upheaval of all stages of education, it now produces creators and creates producers. Innovation and sustainability are the new mantra.

The ‘child’ is now 20. He, among many others, gets benefit of world class education as the industry-education interface allows them to gauge the exact market needs, so that they can hone themselves accordingly.

All the efforts to create infrastructure finally started paying dividends. The foundation of the country is super-strong. The government is investing heavily in agriculture and manufacturing sector. It understands that if self-reliance is to be achieved, they should better do their homework. After all, it was for this day the country’s human resource was boosted….

But most important result of education was awareness; the common citizens are now alert of all the steps taken by the government. Impatience has become a virtue. Nation wants transparency, accountability and a corruption free country. Every country has its moment of awakening…. this was India’s….

2041: An era had passed away. New era beckoned. Last few years have seen a revolution, an arousal. If there was any doubt in the fact that literacy and right ethics and morality can’t change the world, it should be dispelled now. The citizens of India put their foot down. Enough was enough. Corruption was hunted down mercilessly and transparency was insisted upon. Hordes of educated scholars decided to enter politics, including the ‘child’…. the average age of a politician went down like stock exchange on a bad day…

What followed was unprecedented: A new confidence in every person towards their government. Confidence of rest of the world, towards India, grew.

With grand strides in the manufacturing sector and second green revolution, the country is becoming more self-independent every day. Now, it was time for poverty alleviation. Not right time….. but high time….

2051:  India today can boast of the biggest and youngest population, which is an asset not only to the country itself, but to the whole world too. Of the country’s total population, a significant percentage is in working age group. Poverty in the developing countries is also taken care of. The young forces of politicians, in their 40s, of the developing nations, are resetting the demographic layout of the world.

What happened in India is, more or less, the story of many other developing nations. Where the fastest growing nations in 2020s-2040s were India, China, Brazil and Russia among few others, the 2050s would always be known as the time when African countries emerged from behind the shadows and that completely reordered the power distribution in the world.

China is a superpower, so is India. USA and UK, though still powerful countries, have shown a stagnated growth for almost a decade now. Africa is the emerging star, poised for a wonderful future like India was in the beginning of 21^st century.

Change is the only constant in the universe. A new world order is in place. Developing countries are no longer developing countries…. and the reasons for this are those people, who dared to dream….