Where is this country heading?

There was a time, a couple of years ago when I really felt that Indian economy's growth story was here to stay and that we were to be the golden generation in India reaping the benefits of this growth. Make no mistake, we have grown, our incomes have grown considerably as well and we are enjoying a life style that our parents could only dream about. On the other hand, prices are rising all the time and I jokingly mention to family and friends that I probably need an additional 0 added to my income every 2 or 3 years just to cope with the cost of living.

But is our growth story here to stay? I would have said yes if someone asked me this question two or three years ago but now, but not anymore. The government, bureaucracy, the civic bodies and just about any sort of government machinery in this country is in bad need of reforms and the worst part is that the babus ruling this nation just don't want to admit that we have a problem. We are growing at 7% when most countries are struggling to register 3 or 4 % growth says the government and this is an insane argument. Our growth rates are high because of the base effect. We are growing from a small base and this amplifies our growth.

There is a total paralysis of policy making and no single person in this government has the balls to put the country before himself or herself. The opposition is no better and I fear that maybe a decade down the line, India will be talked as just a huge country that wasted a once in a lifetime opportunity. I hope I am wrong.

We as the people of this country are so much stuck with this concept of Jugaad, that we have lost the ability to straighten things out the right way. Our civic sense is perhaps the worst among the developing world. We just don't seem to care about the other mans plight as long as our needs are taken care of. Right from driving our cars or two wheelers to  getting admissions in schools, we all only seek the short cut path to achieving things. 

Well for anyone reading this, I am probably stating the obvious but where do we go from here? What kind of India are we going to leave our children? I have no answers right now, just a deepening sense of gloom on where our great nation is heading.