One of the better weblogs on India out there is Amit Varma’s India Uncut. His insightful posts are always a fun read, and it doesn’t hurt that he sees a greatness in India that even most Indians can’t find. Unfortunately, and despite the current growth spurt, too much of India is caught up in some bizarre, time-warped alternate reality that applauds the shackles of Nehruvian Socialism as a modern day religion. Those who don’t elevate the failed state of Nehru-stan, take comfort in bewildering revisionist pseudo-religious tenets. For 2008, Varma’s got 17 ideas to ponder, daring ‘true’ Indians to really think about the land of their heritage…

To survive in India, I sometimes think, one needs to be a wishful thinker. There is much about India that is beautiful and inspiring, but there’s quite as much that is terribly frustrating. For decades since our independence, we have languished as a poor country - and even though we opened up parts of our economy in 1991, much of the country is still desperately poor. Our imperial overlords handed over power in 1947 to a government that was almost as oppressive - one that we now take for granted. There are so many ways in this could be a better country, even a leader among nations.

Read it in full: A Wishlist For 2008 - The India Uncut Blog - India Uncut