I was recently invited to participate in a panel discussion during which the young moderator posed a query — what did I think of a New India? This was an interesting subject that made me reflect.
Like most around me, I too had been engrossed in leading a routine life till about a decade back. I would also often crib about a stagnant life. It was as I turned 60 that I started indulging in self-reflections about the way my life had evolved each decade since birth.
The first decade saw our family living a more frugal life. We acquired a radio set six years after my birth and a refrigerator two years later. Even though the voltage fluctuated and light was often dim at night, we had electricity at home. Our homes had fans.
The second decade witnessed a carefree me, not much stressed about what I would do after school or college. The government had invested in the creation of innumerable public sector undertakings. There were enough jobs. We also graduated to having desert coolers at home.
The mid-third decade saw me buckling down to the onerous professional responsibilities and simultaneously getting used to married life and raising a family. Though, to be fair, it was my wife who was at home to bring up our two daughters. I spent more time in the railway control rooms to ensure smooth running of trains. My young age and diligence made me dream about one of the topmost positions in the railways sometime towards the end of my career. My promotions ensured that I had an air-conditioned cabin in office and I was able travel in the upper first class air-conditioned coach for office tours. But we were still happy with fans and desert coolers at home.
The beginning of the fourth decade saw me travelling for a 12-week official training to Japan. This was my first overseas trip. The money that I saved from the allowance ensured that I was able to take my family for a holiday to Goa by flights. We stayed in resorts, inexpensive, but better than the official guest houses that I had been exposed to so far. I went for my next overseas official trip to Europe. I also opted to move to Delhi in a railway public sector undertaking. It was towards the end of this decade that I came into my own professionally. I travelled extensively within India and outside for work.
I could save enough to buy one second-hand air conditioner. We slept in the single room, but it felt heavenly in the sweltering summers of north India. A home loan from the department on easier terms also ensured that we could afford to buy a decent sized house in an upcoming small-town locality.
The beginning of the 21st century was also the start of my fifth decade. The government had hiked salaries though successive pay commissions. We no longer lived hand to mouth. We could spend lavishly by our middle-class standards and still be left with a saving. We could afford decent education for our daughters. We could encourage them to fly and pursue their dreams. I could afford to buy air-conditioners for all the rooms in our house. I could take my family on annual vacation by flights and stay in hotels or resorts. Professionally too, government’s continued investments in infrastructure saw me busier than ever as we won contracts after contracts.
The end of this decade saw me quitting the government to join the private sector. This too was a new experience. The salary I took home far exceeded the wildest imagination and gave me financial security. I happily shifted to my own apartment in a condominium complex. I could afford more gadgets at home. I had the financial safety net to quit working and indulge in creative passions through writing. Life has changed, and continues to get better, for many people, be it the middle-class or the daily service providers. We do not realise it from one day to the next. If we look back each decade, or in slices of five years, or even from year to year, it has been a new India. It is more than a slogan. It is a continuous process. And, this is how it will be — for us and the next generations.
(The author is an electrical engineer with the Indian Railways and conducts classes in creative. The views are personal)
