India is excitin!

Viewed from outside, the caption captures the mood of the typical Westerner. 

Little do they understand that India is not monochromatic in character nor monolithic in structure.

Unfortunately, in India, too, we have a huge number of people who don't get the same. They prefer democracy over development, secularism over survival, freedoms over duties, and human rights over human dignity.

They draw their inspiration from the economically successful West, without understanding its applicability in the cultural context of civilizational Bharat, which lives within India. Unlike our ancient history of magnificent development, much of the West's history is rather recent and consists of crusades, conquests, and colonization. Their constitutional psyche therefore emanates from guilt. 

Unfortunately, India's founding fathers took many leaves from the West to write their own constitution.

And so, the challenge with governance in India is that the leader must pick the path of least resistance, and that means he or she must act, churn out laws, or dispense policies that are constitutionally compatible, socially acceptable, culturally achievable, economically feasible, technologically tenable, parliamentarily passable, judicially unchallengeable, and geopolitically maneuverable.

Leadership therefore matters in India more than in any other country in the world, as it is very difficult to rule here. At any point in time, there are mutinies occurring in a few places.

And yet, the leader must somehow be elected by a majority of people who, less than 100 years ago, were divided into over 560 independent princely states.

For success, he or she must be ambidextrous, such that the person still connects with different and distinct groups across the subcontinental nation, even when such groups may not necessarily connect well with each other.

In the final reckoning, only a government that is philosophically plural, ideologically patriotic, socially engaging, culturally conservative, fiscally liberal, technologically experimental, and disciplinarily restrained can have a chance to bring about well-paced reforms for long-term transformation.

The current dispensation is cadre-driven and comes closest to what's offered above as a possibility.

The results are visible. India is rising in wealth and respect.

It is delivering socialism through market-led dynamics.

Congratulations to Narendra Damodardas Modi for being the most effective and the longest-serving Pradhan Sevak of India.

You made India exciting.

Bolo Bharat Mata Ki .... Jai Okay Please! 🇮🇳