There were two competing visions.Mahatma Gandhi has a vision of self-reliant villages, with a reinvigorates agriculture and craft prodution. He opposed modern urban industry because it dehumanized man. Jawaharlal Nehru had a modern scientific mind, and he was mcuh impressed by the economic gains of the Soviet revolution: but he was also committed to democracy. He had a vision of democratic socialism with the state leading the processs of industrialization. He spurned capitalism because it expolited and it created inequalities. Both Ghandi'd and Nehrus's deams were flawed, however, and we have spent a long time chasing after them. Gandhi distrusted technology but not businessmen. Nehru distrusted budinessmen but not technology. Instead fo sorting out the contradictions, we mixed the two up. e have had to deal with holy cows: small companies are better than big ones (Ghandi): public interpreises are better than private ones (Nehru); local companies are better than foreighn ones (both). THey so memerized us that the succeeding generation whose job was to jettison these foolish ideas , failed to do so, and did us incalculabe harm.

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Although Indians gloss over it, the British Raj was the most important event in the making of modern India - for better anf for worse. Britain gave us democracy, the rule of law, and independent judiciary, and a free press. I built railways, canals, and harbors, but it could not bring about an industrial revolution. It could not raise economic growht or lift the people out of poverty. It could not avert famines. The truth is that the Raj was economically incompetent. It just did not know how "develop" a country. Had it know it, Britain could have gained mcuh from having a larger market for its manufactures. It introduces modern education and helped create a small meddle-cass, but it die not educate the mass of the people. This was its other failure and linked to the first, for develpment is not possible without mass literacy.