A few years ago, I met a British undergraduate, born to Kashmiri parents in England. A very dedicated student of science, he was aware of the taxes he was paying and concerned about where they were going. Not to mention his good knowledge about his Kashmiri roots and culture. He worked part-time and the title of his job his mother simply described as a bus conductor in Kashmir. He was earning around Rs 1400 per hour.

“Which party would you vote for?” My friend pursuing a master’s in Germany asked a local. “As a student, there’s nothing there for me in any of the parties’ agendas. So why should I vote?” He replied. Beyond indifference, it showed a clear understanding of how things stood. Such civic sense is instilled early into young minds which my children will have to learn in their 20s on their own.

Germany provides ground for an interesting analogy. Germany is the world’s third largest economy and the size of the state of Rajasthan. With an income tax of about 40%, education is free not only for the natives but for the international students as well. People criticize the state, but they also trust its basics.

Germany is followed in GDP strength by India only yet the status of the latter pales in comparison. Instead of economic reforms, the politics in my country unfortunately run on identity and the sentiment of different ‘isms’. The common voter is not enlightened enough to ask for better and hence our politicians do not know to push a campaign on the basis of utilitarian agendas. Hyper-emotionalism runs deep everywhere in this part of the world: from cinema to politics to ordinary human relationships. We are yet to learn how to calm down.

When the political champion of economic reform, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu campaigned for his election in 1999, unlike his ambitions to bring his state to the centre of global investment in technology in India, he spoke the language voters understood: traditional emotions. And he won but delivered to the state of Andhra Pradesh and its erstwhile capital, Hyderabad his true intentions. Naidu, being a Ph.D. candidate in economics in his day, is a trained economist. Since 1989, this economic reformer has not lost his seat even once from his constituency. His policies made him a star not only back at home but brought him international recognition as well, as he deserved.

My friend in Germany did not need to pass a German language proficiency test to make his place in Deutschland, since he is pursuing masters and not bachelors. His father had to cover a blocked account amount of Rs 11 lakh for him, as required by the law. The money was released monthly. As it goes in the First World, my friend took up a part-time job. Being a student, the state allowed him to work up to only 20 hours a week. The minimum wage stood at €12.82 an hour, roughly Rs 1,350, enabling my friend to return the entire sum of Rs 11 lakh to his father and earn some pride from his family.

While the food and other commodities are pricier than in India, the food items in India do not pass the European standards and simply face refusal. Nevertheless, Germans recoup the huge taxes they pay in the form of free education, cheaper transport and other public services. No paradise lost.

Now if we go back about a century, after the First World War, the same country was facing hyperinflation with people burning banknotes for fuel because notes were cheaper than wood. The war indemnity was finally cleared in the year 2010. Germany faced huge reparations after the Second World War as well which they had to pay in the form of invaluable physical assets like their scientists, advanced scientific research work, industrial assets, forced labour and machinery. With a huge war indemnity on them after World War 2, which they continue to pay, this small country managed to rebuild its institutions, rise to top 3 and provide free education even to foreigners.

Germany is one gigantic example of growth to an economically growing country which officially states that if you earn more than 32 rupees in rural areas and above 47 rupees in urban areas, you are not poor.

While one-sixth of the world’s population sits in only 2.4% of the earth’s total area, which is India – a country within which many small countries live given its diversity – statistically, it should also provide more genius minds, whether in the field of sports or academics. And it does. This land has given birth to extraordinary minds but they have been outsourced by the wormhole of more promising nations.

So what should it mean to live in the world’s fourth largest economy? As a common unaware citizen, I have given power to a set of men and women to make the better use of the taxes I pay and the resources native to my land. To make an informed division of funds to different government sectors. To create sustainable evolution and not a mere fleeting revolution. While the disheartening numbers can be a challenge to work with in this country, someone somewhere has to start.

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