Are We Actually Developing...?

Not everyone’s life is a bed of roses. Even today, when there are numerous claims that the world is progressing at an immense pace and that India is one of the leading developing nations of the world, the question as to whether this statement holds true is yet to be answered. This thought had been in my subconscious mind since a long time.

In the past many years when the thought of globalization influenced a large number of people all around the world, many businesses sprang up and many multinational companies developed and reached great heights. But amidst all this, it must also be seen that those who were poor became poorer while the rich became even richer, thereby widening the gap that would take much more time and labour to be filled up. It leaves a doubt for us to answer whether such a gap would ever get filled.

On one hand where some people are able to afford good education by paying a lot of money as school and college fees, while some brilliant ones are able to manage a scholarship or stipend for the same, there are many others who are not able to afford even the bare minimum amount of money required to meet the daily needs – school and college fees is a far bigger expectation. Governing bodies and the non-governmental organizations have been doing their level best in improving this scenario, but with the ever increasing cost of living, this problem is far from being solved even in the near decade. Moreover, with the access to drinking water also becoming difficult, thanks to the Rain God and to the increasing cost of packaged drinking water and mismanagement of water contained in the reservoirs, the poor and the needy are not able to afford drinking water in areas where the supply of water is scant. 

All these conditions persuade us to think and try to answer the question whether we are actually developing as a nation. We must understand that development is not just satellites, missiles and engineering and medical milestones, or fashion and media. It is to be able to provide in an honest manner, those requirements to the citizens of the nation that would enable them to lead a decent life, with food, clothing, shelter and basic education to their children.