India - The Path Chosen (Self Reliance With Integrity) Poem by Alok Agarwal

'Do not seek yourself outside yourself.'

In Aug 1947, when India became independent, the entire world was skeptical about the duration upto which we will be able to uphold the principles of Integrity and self-reliance in a unified India. But India was to prove otherwise. With such a myriad of cultural, political, religious, linguistic and ethnic backgrounds; it is a case study for world scholars to examine the soil of its personnel which has made unification of such diversity a living reality. It was infact the USSR that disintegrated in Dec 1991 rather than the Soverign, Socialist, Democratic, Republic of India.

Since time immemorial, India has been a beacon of civilization for the entire world. Starting with the Indus valley civilization and right up to the current age of Mars exploration, India has been a fore-runner in every field. Boasting of a rich cultural heritage, India has been a pearl of the world. The writings of Gita, the Vedas, the Upanishads have long been mentors of world leaders and taught them the significance of leading a lifestyle of integrity and making their nations self-reliant. With it being the pearl, its luster has attracted invaders - be it the Mughals or the British. The Mughals came with the intent of invading but later on adapted and amalgamated with the people living right of the Indus river whilst the British saw India as producer of raw materials with little or no respect to human life of Indians.

Even during the rule of the British, the concepts of self-reliance and integrity were few of the keywords that shaped the freedom struggle. The famous Dandi March for Salt Satyagraha is a living proof of a pinnacle that the world witnessed. In India salt has traditionally been associated with auspiciousness, loyalty and integrity. In colonial India, roughly 8.2% of the tax revenue was from the salt tax and impacted the poorest communities the most. Salt was next to air and water as a means of survival; yet, there was no freedom for Indians to make salt. Though abundantly available in coastal areas and simple technique of manufacturing by evaporation of water from sun - it had to be purchased from govt. shops only. By catching this pulse, Gandhiji successfully transformed the freedom movement into a movement of the masses.
Gandhiji believed that in order to successfully nurture a tree, the ingredients we use in its growth are also very important. Similarly, if India were to realize its dream of Purna Swaraj, then the path adopted to realize this dream must be pious and must emancipate in the lifestyle of its leaders. He was a true champion of self-reliance with Integrity. This act cut across religious, cultural and ethnic lines; and unified the people of India towards a common goal of Purna Swaraj. During the same time, concept of small scale cottage industries emerged. Boycott of foreign goods and adoption of hand woven Khadi goods made the common man take pride in its ethnic indigenous culture. Infact, the charkha was in one of the initial designs of tricolor before independence. Charkha was a symbolism of ‘self-reliance with integrity' of progressive India.

In the aftermath of Independence, up until 80s and 90s; we had maintained a largely socialist approach towards economy wherein many of the assets were govt. controlled. With the economic reforms starting early 90s and uptil now - the influx of foreign direct investment has increased multifold. With this, India is no longer a market within closed walls but a part of world market. The Indian companies and products now compete in an international arena along with other companies which is a need of the hour. India has progressed leaps and bounds and earning a name in itself in pharmacy, automobile, software development, food grains, fruits, vegetables, space industry, defense, textile, steel manufacturing, coal production etc.

The concept of ‘Self-Reliance' does not mean shunning the doors of the world but it is a process of inclusive economic development. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said 'Atmanirbhar Bharat is not about being self-contained or being closed to the world, it is about being self-sustaining and self-generating', pursuing 'policies that promote efficiency, equity and resilience' and creating 'wealth and values not only for ourselves but for the larger humanity'. He also defined five pillars of Aatmanirbhar Bharat - Economy, Infrastructure, System, Demography and Demand.

To support the concept of Self-reliance, the govt. had made various policy changes in the last decade and popularized slogans of ‘vocal for local' and ‘make in India'. Though these measures seem simple, but resonate deep with the common folk. The growth of economy starts from ‘agriculture sector' moves to ‘manufacturing sector' and culminates in to ‘service sector'. India already is in advanced stage in ‘agriculture' and ‘service' sector which make up bulk of its GDP contribution; but with the advent of ‘make in India' campaign, focus on ‘manufacturing sector' is now brought in the limelight. Some of the measures taken to achieve this feat include grant of economic package to small and medium companies, changes in definition of MSMEs, ease in public policies, rules, regulations etc. Due to such efforts, India jumped to 63rd place out of 190 countries in the world Banks' 2019 Ease of Doing Business Index from 130th in 2016.

India always advocated self-reliance with a pinch of external help but always sidelined any chronic financial aid from any country or world-bank. In the backdrop of Covid-19, from zero production of PPEs in March 2020; we have grown to 4,50,000 pieces of PPEs a day by July 2020 (in a span of 4 months) . The research and development schematics of Covid-19 vaccine can be linked to this concept of ‘self-reliance with integrity'.

The mark of a nation is being able to stand alone and to be looked upon with pride. In the recently concluded Olympics, we were pained to see Russian athletes not competing under Russian flag. It is a customary practice to play the national anthem of a country being played when its athlete wins gold medal. But this was not a case to be for our Russian counterparts. In 2019, the world doping agency had placed a ban on Russia for the involvement of its govt. in sponsoring doping programs. Thus, despite being a top sporting nation, it was ‘integrity' which let the whole nation down.

The Prime Minister of India has rightly said, 'At the core of Atmanirbhar Bharat is to create wealth and values not only for ourselves but for the larger humanity. We believe that an Atmanirbhar Bharat is good for the world'. One of the inferences that can be drawn from above statement is the fact that India is a country which nurtures the values of ‘Vasudev Kutumbukam'. We always talk about the world. We wish for growth and development of the world. This is a core value which is endearing to our political leaders. Both ‘self-reliant' and ‘Integrity' are the words that are woven in the fabric worn by my ‘Bharat Maata'.

The future seems bright. The govt. is playing its part. The people are playing its part. We are steadily marching towards realizing our dream of ‘self reliant' nation where there is inclusive development of all the individuals with ‘integrity' being the foundation pillar of our march.