In a social party, or in the circuit of savvy politicians, celebrities, intellectual elites (not to mention what kind of), big corporates, policy makers or whizkids of the new economy, there is one statement making the rounds, when one is running out of conversation: “The Indian economy is doing very well. Consistently registering a growth rate of 7 or 7.5 is amazing and we can even do 10, is what the general feeling among these tribes is all about. Thanks to reforms and emergence of free market.” Such candid expressions also in public places have influenced or continue to influence even now the minds of the children of the lesser god—the common Indians. The urban elite or the affluent class (referring to the above composition) reasserts itself by advocating that speedy liberalization and open market is the only answer to the country’s overall growth, and development and eradication of long-time social malaise like poverty. Such repeated noises to which the “State” is also a party today symbolize mainstream India.interventions.
September 2006, volume 30, No 9