What can India offer?

As an Indian born person living abroad, I often ask myself what aspects of my Indian heritage I can be proud of. Indian history has for a thousand years has been one of foreign subjugation. The achievements of the last thousand years, have largly been that of foreign invaders. During a recent trip to India, I marvelled at timeless elegance and beauty of the Taj Mahal, the majesty of the Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri, but at the same time, was conscious that these beautiful architectural achievements were "imported" in a way, from the great Islamic cultures of the middle ages.

In the more recent achievements, such as in the past 100 years or so, the debt to the West is all too obvious. The influence of the Western world is to be seen throughout India, in social interactions, in cultural activities, in politics. The modern India is keen to emulate the West, in clothes, in mannerisms, in language, so much so that in many of the Blockbuster Bollywood movies, the settings are entirely foreign, often shot in the Europe, or the Americas.

And yet, this cannot be helped, because in some ways, India was left far behind during the years of its slavery. We did not take part in the Industrial and scientific revolutions, nor in any of the political revolutions. Our cultural rejuvenation only started when the British came to India. Even our past was hidden from us until the Europeans came to India and dug up historic remains, deciphered forgotten languages, and rediscovered our past.