India Booms

The home of four major world religions, India has always been a melting pot of traditions, a crossroads of trading and cultural routes, taking pride in its multi-lingual, multi-ethnic status. Now, with massive economic growth and an increasingly nationalistic democracy, India is taking on a new and ambiguous role in the world. Sixty years after achieving independence, India is a full-fledged nuclear power, but is home to 40 percent of the world's malnourished children. The economy is booming despite an enduring anti-materialist philosophy. At the forefront of some of the world's most cutting-edge technology and research, India is also home to some of the most conservative and intolerant religious ideas in the world. But what do these contradictions and changes in India mean for us?