India, a nation on the move

As a foreigner living in Indonesia for many years, I generally concur with the views expressed by Mr. Kevin O'Rourke (Your Letters, Aug. 10, 1998).

My personal experience in dealing with Indonesians -- both in the work place and outside -- has been very pleasant. But then, I fundamentally believe that if you are good, others, too, will be good to you. Everything starts within us. It is he who usually complicates our lives and our relationships with others.

However, Mr. Kevin's advice to Mr. Todd Gregory not to visit India is completely off the mark, and the comment, may I say, is unwarranted. Many foreigners who have been to India have told me that they always carried happy memories of their visit. It all depends on what one looks for in an alien country. I can assure you that foreigners are always welcomed with folded hands and are treated with great respect in India.

Of course, there are some unwritten codes of conduct to be observed by people visiting India. For instance, tourists should respect the local etiquette and should wear loose clothes. Kissing in public is strongly disapproved of.

India is a vast country but is not rich enough to provide good infrastructure, as yet. But, India is rich in many other ways. It is a country of very ancient civilization and culture. It is still the spiritual cradle for the rest of the world.

India should be justifiably proud of its democracy. The common man knows the power of his vote and he uses it tellingly at the time of general elections.

The respected magazine The Economist once wrote in its editorial thus: "Undoubtedly, India has so far failed to achieve its potential -- but the achievements (including economic achievements) of its democracy are real. Indian democracy fulfills its most basic and essential function. It gives ordinary people the chance to chuck their rulers out."

There was one occasion when an Indian prime minister visited Singapore a few years ago. Following the visit, there was a press conference. A reporter asked the prime minister: "How will you deal with the ills of democracy in your country?" The prime minister pondered for a while and replied, in a sage-like fashion: "Why, of course, by giving more democracy."

Such is the commitment by the Indian leaders for preserving the democratic institutions and processes. They are aware of the benefits and burdens inherent in running the greatest and largest democracy in the world.

The agricultural revolution which India went through in the 1960s made the country fully self-sufficient for its food needs. In early 1950s, India had a population of approximately 300 million, and the was country heavily depended on PL-480 wheat imports from the U.S.

India has come a long way since then. With the total population soon touching the one-billion mark, it is indeed remarkable that India has now turned out to be one of the largest rice-exporting countries in the region.

Fifty years -- this is a small period in a nation's history. India is surely integrating with the global economy but it needs to watch its steps so as to balance the dangerous pulls of globalism and the needs of localism.

D. CHANDRAMOULI

Jakarta