Always there was hope. If all else failed, the promise of 2020 was there. It offered a target, and that always brings together effort, reso...
Always there was hope. If all else failed, the promise of 2020 was there. It offered a target, and that always brings together effort, resources and people in a marvellous way. It even offered a plan of action. Through all the ups and downs of the intervening years, from 1998, when India 2020 was published, to 2020, it became a guide to the future. It offered so strong a vision that, as 2020 ends, with all the downers it offered, the dream still survives.
It is worthwhile to go back to 1997, when I got the idea for a book that pinned down the fuzzy notion of a developed India and went to meet APJ Abdul Kalam, a meeting whose outcome India 2020 would be. The Indian economy was progressing at a reasonable pace, the streets were bright, shop-shelves had their share of attractive imported goods alongside the homespun fare, the cars were better with just that little edge for some that were roomier and more powerful, such as the Contessa which had been around for several years, and the more recent Cielo.
Land of dreams
India was on the cusp of a bright new future but not quite there. Imported goods were available but not freely, there was...
