What has Changed?
#1 India has witnessed a tremendous rate of growth over the past 70 years, which has resulted in it being the third largest economy in the World in terms of GDP, on basis of Purchasing Power Parity.
#2 India’s space organization, ISRO has achieved a massive amount of success in a short span of time. The Mars Orbiter Mission, also called Mangan, made India the 4th Space Agency to reach Mars, and the first Asian Nation to have the achievement.
#3 India is gradually becoming a market target for the biggest companies in the world. While this might have some negative aspects, but on the whole, India’s conditions and culture does indeed have an effect on how these big companies make products and services for the country.
#4 No one can exclude the game of Cricket when talking about India’ achievements. India has the highest amount of viewers of the sport and won the 1983 and 2011 editions of the World Cup. Along with that, India’s cricket Board, the BCCI earns the highest margins of profit through cricket matches, series, and tournaments such as the Indian Premier League (IPL), which attracts the World’s Best Cricketers each year.
#5 After Independence in 1947, India required a lot of upgrades in the fields of defense and Military. The Indian Military and defense did improve up to a certain extent. However, it was in 1962, after the Sino-Indian war that India realized that it was still severely lagging behind in terms of defense capabilities as compared to other countries.This led to a military cooperation with the Soviet Union for the development of Advanced military technology. India still isn’t the best in the World when it comes to defense, but the efforts of the Indian Army have highly improved our capabilities and protection at the borders.
#6 At the time of India’s Independence, India was a country lacking a proper education system, healthcare, and transportation facilities, and was severely behind the other developed countries of the India. The average Indian had a lifespan of merely 32-35 years during that time. Now, after so much progress, Most of the urban population in India lives without the worry of basic diseases and illness affecting their lives in a critical way, Transportation is much more efficient than before, it still is crowded due to the large population. But that’s a whole different matter.
#7 As of 2017, India has the second largest population in the World. By the mid-2020s, India’s population is expected to become the largest, beating the currently most populous country, China. However, most of this population exists in the rural areas of the country.
What hasn’t Changed?
#1 India adopted the political system of Democracy after its independence. It was an immediate change from the British Colonization before 1947. However, the ability to sustain the system of Democracy in a culturally diverse country such as India was highly doubted by many. Take the example of Pakistan, it wasn’t as diverse as India, yet the Democracy hasn’t yet been stable in the country. India and Pakistan got their Independence at almost the time time, with the difference of just a single day. But while Pakistan is still struggling to hold its government, India’s political system has always been stable. Yes, there have been cases of corruption and emergency in the government, but as a whole system which was born in a short span of time, it has been surprisingly firm so far.
#2 Before the Independence and until now, India is home to millions of poor people who haven’t had access to education and employment over all these years. While there has been immense growth in the urban population of India, the progress of the rural population largely remains stagnant. There have been new measures and schemes introduced to elevate the lifestyle of India’s rural population which has benefitted a lot of people, yet the majority is still inside the prison of poverty.
#3 India’s diversity is largely the same as it was before the time of independence. This fact could be perceived as either positive or negative. But what’s more important is the unity of the country that has remained intact through all these years. There have been issues of intolerance and clashes between communities recently, but if we respect the cultures and traditions of others, and don’t impose narrow communal values, then we might remain united for many years to come.
