Let’s start by stopping comparing India with other countries…

 

“Comparison is the thief of joy”

 

The power of comparison enables humans to pick the best of things. We compare our children to others, bikes and cars before buying. We compare our country to the ones that are better then ours but one thing that we don’t do is keeping all the verticals of comparison in mind.

Comparison, most of the times, takes place when an individual or a group wants to prove their choice better than those of others. People who use iPhone always brag about their choice over other brands, while the ones with Samsung about theirs. This phenomenon is so common and intense that most of us end up playing marketing agents for the brands we use. Same could be said about comparing countries, we all have people in our lives who don’t miss a chance comparing India with other countries.

The topics most compared include the likes of India,the presence of amenities, job opportunities, woman safety and other social factors. It is common to find a group of engineers talking and complaining about work opportunities in the country, easy to find senior citizens complaining about developments in the health industry and easier to find youngsters comparing Bollywood to Hollywood. Media compares the conditions prevailing in the country to those in the developed nations and never misses a chance of earning TRP’s by showcasing what can be termed as the partial information. This element of partial information not only voids the complete logic of comparison but fills people with anguish over their own nation. When we compare two cars, we take all the details in consideration. Their make, the fuel economy factor and what not. It would be wrong to judge a car based entirely on its looks. Similarly, isn’t it wrong to compare the country without taking in account all the facts and figures? It indeed is.

The country that we hear the most about is America. People love to praise the nation and boast of the same in regards to the levels of cleanliness, job opportunities, fire power, corruption and everything possible. Lets start with some history and see where we really stand when it comes to comparison between India and the United States of America.

                                                 Comparing India & USA                                 

• Both the countries have been colonies of the Great Britain while India got its independence in the year 1947; USA was free as early as the year 1776. We often complain about the development percentage in the country since we got free. India started taking decisions on its own roughly 68 years ago and America had that privilege more than 235 years ago. Now, if we compare the development level that existed in America 100 years after its Independence, I am quite sure it would be much lower than India.
• It is often debated that the American economy is the strongest in the world. Even the World trades internationally in American dollars but when depression arrives, it is the first country that gets hit while India has remained unaffected in most of the depressions. The effects of the depression in USA include cutting away jobs without prior notice, leaving individuals out in the open. Here in India, labor laws prevent organizations from doing that.
• The world and some of us Indians complain of the education system in India. One thing that one should ask them is if the standards are so low then why in world the best brands hire Indians taught at the same institutions to work for them. It is said that every fifth employee in the Silicon Valley is an Indian.
• When it comes to corruption, USA gives good competition to our country. Joseph E Stuglitz, professor at Columbia University, also the winner of Nobel Prize for Economics had quoted in the year 2014 that USA is a good competitor for the title in corruption. Yes there are officials and parts that are corrupt in India but saying vaguely that America is not a corrupt country is also an dishonest argument. There are powerful lobbying groups and other factors that prove the claim to be unnecessarily tall. Professor Stuglwitz had also said that America’s growth policy has been anti poor and anti middle class while here in India the present government is taking more than required steps to make sure that it’s poor and middle class is able to lead comfortable lives.
• As per Wonderlist.com USA leads the list of countries where the number of rapes are higher than any other. It simply means that people who see USA safer for women then India haven’t got their facts right. It is interesting to note that United kingdom follows India on the list. When people blaming India don’t get chills on comparing these heinous acts, you should not feel the same while answering them.

There are several other instances which can easily be mentioned here but let’s just hope that our fellow Indians and the world wakes up to the truth and not what is shown. It is always good to use your own brain, check facts and figures before believing what others have to say. After all, it is our country and in most cases theirs as well, which they are throwing mud at.