[India is] a living contradiction. Jewels may well be concealed in the cloaks of beggars. . . .India presents a paradox. It is profound and primitive, deeply spiritual and darkly superstitious, both universalistic and maddeningly provincial.
-Dr. Mani Bhaumik
FEW OBSERVERS comment upon India's paradoxes-whether in the social or cultural sense-as profoundly as Dr. Bhaumik, but paradox is indeed clearly central to the debate regarding the country's future. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh clearly has a very similar view to Dr. Bhaumik of India's complex society. The vaunted economist, widely credited with framing India's sharp turn to a market economy some 15 years ago, has the daunting task of making the fast-growing climate he created work, economically and socially. As one close confidant told me, "Dr. Singh faces our paradoxes several times a day, every day. Thankfully, he remains optimistic."
The conundrum facing India today is this: Which side of the many economic and social paradoxes will prevail? Can enthusiasm and determination reverse the long decline in virtually every sector so that economic-and with it, social-growth will continue? Or will the neglect of decades cause the sensational growth of the last few years to stagnate? The optimists, from Prime Minister Singh to bankers and industrialists and even to small-plot farmers in remote villages-indeed, most Indians-believe the obstacles to continued growth can and will be overcome. If they are wrong, the boom of recent years could well become a blowout.
