User talk:Pagarem8

Why India is the greatest country in the world ?
1. India has a strong family set-up and value system which gives a spiritual perspective to life.

In this set-up, you are not free as a human being; you are bounded by family and societal barriers. The way families have traditionally been set-up in the Indian culture gives you rules, restrictions, and emotional restraints. How-much-so-ever we like to be free, a certain amount of restraint and ability to control emotions and urges is necessary for life, which this Indian culture provides.

The idea of restraint does indeed give you character to deal with situations and a stronger perspective of life. The ones who wish for a free fun-filled life and can end up with random divorces and random out-of-wedlock kids and random for-fun habits, may be living a free life, but freedom is soothing only for a limited time—with freedom come weaknesses, with restraint come strengths. Developing restraint is a better way of maintaining satisfaction. Something that is at the core of the Indian way of life.

Shortcomings of this aspect: 1) Expectations of limitless restraint, 2) Patriarchally motivated aspects of restraint.

2. India is great for its demographic variety. India is the mother of the Indian Subcontinent—the region that boasts of a plethora of cultures, religions, languages, and lifestyles. That this civilization has existed despite such diversity, through the longest period known to any civilization across mankind, is remarkable. This country has accepted everyone generously, over the centuries. Before secularism was defined by the modern world, India was already an example of a secular nation.

Just like kind, noble, innocent gentlemen do not survive the test of real life that is otherwise full of selfish, rogue elements, India also had its problems; and most problems India has had till now, were due to its soft and generous approach. Despite that, India has survived, because we allowed many others a home in our nation—a nation that they could call their own.

Shortcomings of this aspect: Like in any human civilization, we are prone to communal tension and differences in opinion in some regions.

3. The third aspect that makes the Indian civilization great is its longevity. The nation has survived massive challenges over thousands of years, and stands in its current form today—somewhere torn, somewhere stronger, but existent and fast-developing.

In my view, only these three aspects (except for their shortcomings) make India a really great and remarkable nation in the world. The rest of the points that people usually think makes it great, are either not really exceptional or not really a qualification for a great country:

1. Seventh largest country: not a qualification of a great country. Russia then, why India?

2. Second-most populous country: not a qualification of a great country.

3. World heritage sites and buildings like the Taj Mahal: not a qualification of a great country; most beautiful architecture was the work of the Mughals and the British who came from outside.

4. Productivity of Bollywood: Oh, some people mention this too. Every nation has a popular culture; nothing exceptional.

5. Intellectual history: Most civilizations have an intellectual history—it’s a human trait. We have an older intellectual history because our civilization is older. Does not make us exceptional.

6. Great people like Gandhi etc: A great man is contextual in history—his role, his beliefs, his impact have a lot to do with the political and social state of the country at that point in history. There must be several potentially great men who could not reach the greatness of Gandhi because they were born in an independent India or in a post-apartheid South Africa. Greatness is contextual. Every civilization has had great men, great leaders, great thinkers—some greater than others. But when we talk of a nation, we needn’t look at particular people, but the civilization as a whole. So India is the land of Gandhi and Vivekananda, but India isn’t the greatest country because of them. They are at best, ambassadors of the nation’s greatness—they are but, a component of this great civilization. Pagarem8 (talk) 10:29, 1 September 2016 (UTC)