Volume 29, Number 20 · December 16, 1982
How Is India Doing?
By Amartya Sen
'Thou by the Indian Ganges' side / Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide / Of Humber would complain,' wrote Andrew Marvell, outlining to his coy mistress the things they could do if they had 'but world enough, and time.' While not many rubies have been found on the banks of the Ganges, India's reputation as a land of riches is as ancient as the history of its poverty. That mixed reputation has changed in recent centuries, and India is seen these days primarily as a land of poverty, famines, disease, squalor, caste, untouchability, separatism, and chaos. This reputation, while exaggerated, is not altogether undeserved. But things don't stay stationary, and some changes have occurred in the last few decades. We have to ask: which way is India going? A sixth of humanity is involved.
Feature, 5373 words
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