"The process of change has to start somewhere. Rome was not built in a day. People will have to make it happen. They can start building on the broad based concepts of democracy, information technology, population or demography, globalisation, English and ideas. No country in the world has all these six things together. It is unique to India," Nilekani told IANS in an interview.
He was in the national capital on Monday for the launch of his book "Imagining India: Ideas for the New Century," which has been published by Penguin India. The book is the first in the series of Penguin's "Allen Lane - The Imprint of Ideas". The imprint, launched in 1967, is named after the founder of the publishing house.
"Imagining India" probes India's growth story over the last 60 years, examines the central ideas that have shaped modern India and offers perspectives on the past, present and the future.
Nilekani writes about how India's early socialist policies, despite the good intentions and idealism, stifled growth and weakened democracy.
The book analyses how the country's overwhelmingly young population has now become its greatest strength - and how IT is refashioning not just India's businesses, but also its governance and everyday life.
Nilekani does not stop at listing the ongoing processes of change, but plunges deeper into the heart of Indian real polity to debate about caste, politics, labour reforms, infrastructure, environment, markets and higher education.
"It is all about ideas. Ideas happen not because of diktats, but because society starts believing that the ideas are the best for them".
"For instance, the idea of English in India began as a language of outsourcing by the British - forging a collective linguistic unity. But post-Independence, it became the language of imperialism. The same language, however, came back in the globalised era as the language of outsourcing," Nilekani explained.
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