WHAT IS THE CAUSE?

In July–August 1992, the Olympic Games were held in Barcelona, Spain. A total of 171 countries took part. Out of them, 64 countries performed well in different sports and won medals.

India, a country of 860 million people, could not win a single medal—not gold, not silver, not even bronze. Even in archery, a traditional Indian sport, other nations outperformed India. The top ten countries in the medal tally were: The Unified Team—a joint team consisting of twelve of the fifteen former Soviet republics, the USA, Germany, China, Spain, Hungary, South Korea, Cuba, France, and Australia.

This is not an isolated case. Those who travel abroad or follow global developments know that, at the international level, India’s presence is relatively limited. For example, it does not figure prominently among the leading industrial nations. In modern scientific research, its contribution is often not widely recognized. Similarly, in terms of quality, many of its educational institutions are placed among the lower ranks.

What is the reason for this backwardness? One observer explained it in these words: people’s minds are lost in trivial matters. They do not focus on the truly important issues of the time:

“Men’s minds are lost in trivialities, and not attuned to the challenging issues of the time.”

Whether it is an individual or a nation, the secret of progress in this world is to ignore small matters and concentrate only on issues that truly shape the future. Indians have not learned this difference. That is why, despite half a century of upheavals, they have made no significant progress.