FOR INDIANS SUCH as myself, the immense economic progress that China has achieved over the past two decades is a source of amazement, tinged with more than a bit of envy.
India and China were once regarded as the twin giants of Asia - two vast nations with a rich history and culture that had slipped into backwardness, but would soon retake their place among the world's advanced nations.
China clearly has shot ahead of India in fulfilling this promise. With single-minded dedication it has thrown overboard most of the baggage from its socialist past, and embraced the modern world with a vengeance. If it keeps growing at its present rate, and if its political system can adapt quickly enough to the social pressures that rapid growth brings, China within a decade or so will be on its way to becoming the workshop of the world, in much the same way Britain was at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. A recent Lehman Brothers study predicts that in two decades time, China will be the second largest economy in the world after the United States.
India, on the other hand, seems stuck in a rut. While its economy has been chugging along at a respectable rate for nearly a decade now, it is a nation that seems in perpetual danger of falling apart at the seams. Nothing quite works as well as it should, and even things that are taken for granted in other parts of the world - decent roads, reliable electricity, and a basic level of health and education for all - seem unattainable.
How has China seemingly succeeded where India has not? The obvious, superficial answer is that India has chosen an open form of government where every shade of opinion has to be taken account of, and where compromise, rather than tough decision making, is the order of the day. China on the other hand has a centralised, authoritarian government, which makes decision making a lot easier. But this argument does not really hold water. Countries like Japan with democratic, consensus-based governments have achieved high rates of economic growth and social progress. And the Chinese system of government is to a great extent based on consensus and compromise.
Rather than delving into the reasons for the different speeds at which both countries have progressed, the more interesting question is whether the Indian experiment of progress through a democratic political system can be described as a total failure, and whether China can be declared the outright winner in this unofficial race.
One way of answering this is to look at the difference between a mode of transport that is still common in rural India - a cart drawn by a bullock - and a state-of-the-art, supersonic fighter aircraft.
