4) MODERN INDIA10

The Indian Union, after independence from Britain in 1947, followed socialistic economic principles and slowly nationalized even banking (1970). The inherent problems with a centralized socialistic system led to rampant corruption and red tape, stifling the growth of industry. Fortunately, though late, the union government lead by Pamulaparti Venkatanarasimharao11 (P. V. N. Rao or P.V.) took a U-turn in 1991 and opened the economy. Even after the change in the leadership from Congress (I) party to a coalition government at New Delhi the liberalization is continuing and is slowly, but steadily, tearing down the bureaucratic rajyamu (raj, regime), built over hundreds of years beginning with the British.

For many a westerner, India evokes a picture of Maharajulu (Great Kings) and snake-charmers. For the West, India had always been a land of mystic beauty and fabulous wealth. There was a lot of ambivalent enthusiasm toward India. But, lately there is another picture emerging, i.e., India as a vital and pulsating economy out of the clouds of despotic kings, foreign rule, and more recently of the bureaucratic license regime.