The external affairs minister, Yashwant Sinha, recently stated that the “India Shining” advertisements effectively showcased the work done by the National Democratic Alliance. The campaign draws upon an impressive list of economic achievements — the projected 7 per cent growth rate, foreign exchange reserves touching $100 billion, the gross domestic product forecast of a healthy 8.1 per cent. These statistics however do not tell us that the infant mortality rate in India is 68 per thousand live births, that nearly 28.6 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line and adult literacy rate is a poor 58 per cent. The dichotomy suggests that a prospering economy and an unimpresssive human development index is perhaps an inherent feature of a nation undergoing globalization.

However, globalization is not a mere synthesis of individual economies, capitals, finance, services and technologies. It entails paradigmatic shifts in our belief systems, cultural mores and perceptions. The central theme, which binds these changes, is the notion of integration.

The idea of the global village can be made operational at the local, regional or state level. It can manifest itself in the form of collective solidarity, exchange of ideas, respect for diversity and tolerance of difference. These are the hallmarks of a globalized society. Yet, as recent events show, Indian society continues to remain shackled by bigoted interests, and its people, instead of coming together, are growing apart.

Divide and rule

On every Valentine’s Day — a clever marketing exercise by multinational companies — the Shiv Sena burns card shops and threatens those who want to celebrate it. These protests are not directed at the economic exploitation by the multinationals, but at “protecting India from evil Western influences”. But then again, the equation of all evil with Westernization and hence globalization shows the Sena’s half-baked understanding of history.

The Sena is strangely indifferent to the plight of Mumbai’s mills despite the fact that the opening up of the Indian economy sounded their death knell. Celebrating Valentine’s Day is not mandatory in a globalized society. But censoring those who want to, and engaging in culture policing have no place in it either. The West Bengal government’s banning of Taslima Nasreen’s Dwikhandita and the plunder of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune by the Sambhaji Brigade are examples of the same myopic affliction.

Parochial ties

There is a similarity between Bal Thackeray’s call to free Mumbai of non-Maharashtrians and the violence between the people of Assam and Bihar — regional pride, which eclipses the real economic causes. Such sub-nationalism, apart from being blatantly populist, is also detrimental to India’s social fabric. Despite the availability of technology to bridge the distance between cultures, languages and ethnic identities, a frightening social, cultural and political insularity is growing in India. There is poverty and inequality not just in our economy, but also in our minds. The refusal to discuss anything “alien” to our cultures — homosexuality, empowerment of women and equality — is an example of our mental penury.

The contradictory features of Indian globalization are unmistakable. A vibrant economy and social insularity, record grain reserves and hunger deaths, secularism and the Gujarat pogrom, Kalpana Chawla and honour killings all have a place in this country.

The question is whether India can globalize by filtering out the negatives. The answer, unfortunately, is in the negative. Globalization has given India the freedom to make informed choices — economic, social and cultural. Sadly, the lack of education, compounded by politically induced xenophobia, has resulted in the misuse of this freedom. India has to live and perhaps learn to fit the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle. So while the country may shine on paper, it continues its tryst with creating a great divide on the ground.