Frédéric Soltan/Corbis via Getty Images (Old India); Dirk Kruell/laif/Redux (New India)

STANDARDS

Common Core: RH.6-8.7, RI.6-8.1, RI.6-8.4, RI.6-8.8, SL.6-8.1, W.6-8.1, W.6-8.7

C3 (D2/6-8): Civ.6, Civ.10, Civ.12, Eco.1, Eco.2, Geo.2, Geo.7, His.1, His.2, His.5

NCSS: People, places, and environments; Production, distribution, and consumption

A Tale of Two Indias

The world’s biggest democracy has a booming economy. But many Indians are still struggling to escape poverty.  

Jim McMahon/Mapman®

Down an alleyway littered with trash is the two-room apartment where Sushmita, 14, lives with four other family members in Delhi, one of India’s largest cities (see map, below).

They’re part of the wave of Indians who’ve moved from villages to big cities in search of better lives. Yet Sushmita’s family struggles to make ends meet. Sometimes there’s no electricity. The apartment has one bed. Sushmita’s parents and sister sleep on the floor

Twelve miles away on the eastern side of the city, Anirudh Joshi, also 14, lives in another world. His neighborhood is known for its parks. His family’s apartment boasts both an air conditioner and a flat-screen TV. Anirudh even has his own smartphone.

Aditya Kapoor

“There are no equal opportunities.” -Sushmita, 14

I have everything provided for me,” he says

Anirudh and Sushmita reflect the two sides of India today. On the one hand, India’s economy has boomed in the past quarter century, lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. Last year, economists predicted that by the end of 2018, India’s economy will be the fifth-largest in the world.

On the other hand, millions are stuck in the old India, a place that’s very poor and uneducated. About 20 percent of the population still lives on less than $2 a day

India has come a long, long way when it comes to its economy,” says Anubhav Gupta of the Asia Society in New York. “But it still has a long way to go.”

Progress and Problems

Aditya Kapoor

“I have everything provided for me.” -Anirudh, 14

Modern India was born in 1947, when it gained independence from its colonial ruler, Great Britain. (The British divided the country into Hindu-majority India and the Muslim country of Pakistan.)

For decades after independence, India’s economy was heavily controlled by its socialist government, and the nation made little progress in tackling poverty

But in 1991, the government began turning away from socialism, loosening economic regulations, and opening India to foreign investment. The economy took off. Since then, India’s middle class has more than doubled in size.

With 1.3 billion people, India has the world’s second-largest population (after China) and is the world’s largest democracy. It’s now seen as a rising global power that the United States will have to compete with in the decades ahead

Despite such gains, large parts of the population have been left behind. About half of Indians in rural villages lack toilets, and about 25 percent of Indians can’t read

India’s progress is also hampered by its caste system, a traditional social hierarchy that dates back to the ancient origins of Hinduism, the country’s majority religion (seeHow the Caste System Workssidebar, below).

The Power of Youth

One of India’s great strengths, however, is that about half of its population is younger than 25. By 2020, experts predict, India will account for 12 percent of the world’s college graduates

Aided by these young workers, India’s economy is expected to grow quickly. That makes young people like Anirudh feel optimistic.  

For inspiration, he looks to his own family, which has moved up the economic ladder in just one generation. Anirudh’s father, the son of farmers, grew up in a village of 100 people. As a child, he walked two miles to school and did farm chores when he arrived home

He got ahead by studying hard and eventually going to college to become an accountant. Having a reliable profession enabled him to move his family to a nice area and send his children to a private school where classes are taught in English. That’s a huge advantage in India because most business is conducted in English there, and speaking it fluently gives any young person a leg up.

Rags to Riches
A video about Ashok Khade, who rose from being one of India’s “untouchables” to great success

Big Ambitions

The family is able to afford a few  extravagances, like the hired car that takes Anirudh to school. Some of those luxuries are helping Anirudh succeed. For example, he uses his smartphone to watch physics tutorials on YouTube

Anirudh hopes to become an accountant like his father. That’s partly because math is his favorite subject, but he also sees the career as a surefire way to prosper.   

I want to [be] somebody who is well respected,” he says. “I want to earn good money. I want to do good for others.”

Left Behind?

On the other side of the city, Sushmita lives a very different life. She wakes at 6 a.m. to clean the house before walking to the government school she attends. There are 57 students in her class. Classes are in Hindi, one of India’s many languages. She doesn’t own a cell phone, much less a computer

Sushmita’s father, a carpenter, can go months between jobs. Her mother works long hours as a maid. When Sushmita gets home from school, she must make the family’s dinner, plus do her homework

She dreams of being a teacher but faces tough odds. Many Indian colleges are very selective, and Sushmita will be competing against better-prepared students

India is a country where there are no equal opportunities,” she says. “The rich can find their way around by paying money. Others cannot find their way into the same opportunities because they don’t have money.”

Small Steps Forward

Still, Sushmita knows she has it easier than her parents did when they were growing up

They were pushed into working from a very early age,” Sushmita says. She feels lucky her parents intend to let her finish school

Steps like that make Anubhav Gupta, the India expert, hopeful about where the country is headed.

The problems it faces seem vast, but so are its ambitions,” he says. “I’m optimistic because India has a very hungry and forward-looking population, and they’re going to keep pressing the government for progress.” 

Additional reporting by Kai Schultz

CORE QUESTION: Why might India’s caste system slow the country’s progress?

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