Food for thought

“The Western difficulty in knowing quite what to make of India today is the mirror image of the debates that Indians have with each other. These do not want for passion or sincerity. One thing has not changed: Indians are their country’s most vociferous critics.When a series of bomb blasts ripped through commuter trains in Bombay last month, killing 183 and seriously injuring around 500 more, the teeming city of 18 million earned the world’s admiration for its display of community spirit, the swift response of its emergency services and, not least, that there were no reprisals against Muslims or any other group that might have been thought or rumoured to be the perpetrators. Indians were majestic in this moderation. This attitude must be maintained. [...] unlike China, India does let 100 schools of thought contend; and while that diversity can sometimes appear untidy, even anarchic, it cer-tainly does breed success” The London Times, "Inspiring India"