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Point<br />
Out<br />
COVER STORY<br />
CHANGING FACE OF INDIA<br />
WE HAVE MUCH TO LOOK FORWARD<br />
Apart from excellence in knowledge and skill, the human<br />
values in our culture are a treasure by themselves.<br />
The ideals of service, sacrifice, loyalty and friendship<br />
depicted in historical texts and folk stories point to a very<br />
refined way of life.<br />
»»<br />
Sri Sri Ravishankar<br />
Through several millenia, India<br />
has seen the ever flowing current<br />
of time take many turns in its<br />
history. In the ancient times,<br />
India was referred to as the 'Golden Bird'.<br />
In fact, the time when spirituality was at<br />
its peak here, prosperity was also at its<br />
zenith. Spirituality was very much tied<br />
with sciences - both academic and social.<br />
We find treatises written on a diverse<br />
array of subjects, from mathematics,<br />
astronomy, medicine and even politics<br />
and economics by ancient rishis. Even<br />
till the medieval ages, India had a major<br />
share of the world's exports. The quality<br />
of fabric, ornaments, spices and other<br />
materials coming from India was what<br />
attracted invasions from the Middle East<br />
and later the European colonialists.<br />
Apart from excellence in knowledge and<br />
skill, the human values in our culture are<br />
a treasure by themselves. The ideals of<br />
service, sacrifice, loyalty and friendship<br />
depicted in historical texts and folk<br />
stories point to a very refined way of life.<br />
So rich is our heritage that a thousand<br />
years of invasions and slavery could not<br />
completely erase it. Even in the struggle<br />
for independence, it was a movement<br />
based on non-violence that united the<br />
whole nation.<br />
Going forward, we must embrace both<br />
the ancient and the new; broaden the<br />
vision and deepen the roots. There are<br />
seven areas that India can be proud<br />
of and if paid attention to, can work<br />
wonders for our economy as well.<br />
1. Tourism:<br />
The variety of geographical landscape<br />
that we have is not available anywhere<br />
else in one country. Apart from scenic<br />
destinations, we have sites all over<br />
with rich ancient history associated<br />
with them. We can do a lot more to<br />
develop all these as international<br />
tourist destinations.<br />
2. Food:<br />
A few years ago, we had a vegetarian<br />
food festival and our volunteers<br />
prepared 5600 food items - seven<br />
tons of different types of food! And<br />
this variety was just from Gujarat.<br />
Likewise, every state has hundreds<br />
of dishes. Indian restaurants are a big<br />
hit in several countries. While pizza<br />
and burger joints are present in every<br />
city today, we have not done enough<br />
to showcase the variety in our food<br />
preparations.<br />
3. Music and dance:<br />
In India traditional music and dance<br />
20<br />
August <strong>2014</strong>