(((I can remember when this prospect would have been raised in reverse: "Can the World Save India"? Those were the days of "lifeboat ethics," when the developed world was supposed to slice off hopeless India like a gangrenous limb. In fact, I was *living* in India at that time.)))
(((Either I'm an old man now, or the political pundits in New Delhi have come one hell of a long way since the late 1960s, or possibly both.)))
Link: Can India save the world?- Hindustan Times .
"Humanity is embarking on a bizarre journey into the future. (((This part, I totally agree with; the rest of it has a slight jasmine-incense whiff of wishful thinking))) Subconsciously, we all believe (or would like to believe) that we live in a rational, well-ordered universe. The reality is closer to the opposite. If this sounds unbelievable, consider the following analogy. Imagine 660 passengers boarding a ship that is sailing into unchartered waters. After boarding, all 660 retreat into their cabins. No captain or crew is taking care of the ship as a whole.
"Sadly, this is a literal, not metaphorical description of how spaceship Earth is sailing into the future. Globalisation has shrunk the world. All 6.6 billion inhabitants now live in a single interdependent universe. From financial crises to health epidemics, from borderless terrorism to global warming, we are moving into a world where more global governance (not global government) is needed to manage the growing interdependence. Instead, precisely when more is needed, humanity is either shrinking or weakening global governance. This essay will explain why. It will also argue that perhaps only one country can solve this crisis — India.
(((It would serve me right if I ended up as a really old 90+ wrinkly Arthur C. Clarke style figure living under a Global Indian Raj. I'm up for that, fellas, really – a corner by the fire, some vintage Bollywood tracks, a few easily digestible papadams, everything's hunky-dory.)))
