Viksit Bharat 2047: Inspirational, Aspirational—And A Political Masterstroke

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It is an assurance and a promise that we have a clear path forward in the next 22 years. It is a responsibility and a demand upon us
A symbol has many layers and multiple connotations and meanings. It hides buried in our subconscious like a seed ready to sprout at the opportune moment. It reflects as the moon in an old pond, taking on the shade of the water and the light. It flashes across the sky and is gone the next moment as a burning streak of meteorite. The multivalent effect of a language that deals with symbols, whether they be an image or a number or even a sound, can span across several dimensions and fields of study.
Let us look at the call to have a Viksit Bharat by 2047. Why is it a slogan of marketing and diplomatic genius? Why is it inspirational and aspirational and yet a political masterstroke?
First, let us look at the most external significance. It is a timeline and a milestone. Not much is defined by what is meant by Viksit Bharat and that too is brilliant, if intentional. But a date is given and repeated constantly to alter the discourse. It is almost like a precise and professional corporate plan with a clear vision and mission. What sense does this give us?
It seems to me that it is an assurance and a promise that we have a clear path forward in the next 22 years. It is a responsibility and a demand upon us. We have things to do and have no time to get distracted by any non-serious issues. We have roads to build, airports to design, trains to track. We have jobs to create, equipment to export, and mouths to feed. We will create a roadmap for our future and all of us together will build a future we can be proud of.
Voila! That was easy. But now the hidden messages raise their head. And if we pay attention, we may notice how the number 2047 becomes a metaphor. It is India's rise as number three or even number two in the world. It is a matter only of time when we will take our rightful place in the community of nations. It is our second independence for August 15, 1947, was the day of our independence from the British.
This is important because a narrative needs to be seized. The shining city on the hill is ours for the taking and is within our reach. 2047 is who we are tomorrow, our manifest destiny, our great rebirth and return.
Imagine for a moment if it were 2045 or 2050, how much less of an effect it would have on us? Remember, our erstwhile President, APJ Abdul Kalam, touting his vision for 2020 with power point presentations and crisp timelines? It went nowhere. Because it did not have the backing of the elected leadership.
But with the PM taking it on and reiterating it at any opportunity with an entire chorus behind him, the narrative begins to shift into the political and geo-strategic. The world is noticing us. More importantly, we are noticing ourselves. Forget all the failures of the first 75 years. That was their fault. We are fixing it. We are giving you a new date that replaces any of their prior achievement which was not theirs anyway. We will usurp this last achievement that they cling to too and make it ours.
The day of independence is ours since we are the true nationalists. And this is our way of staking a claim on it. We cannot go back to the past. But we can recreate it in the future as our achievement, taking away all credit that they may ever wish to seize.
And, by the way, you who are serious about this journey need to re-elect us if you wish this to happen! For the other side will compromise our collection mission and goal if elected. You should not give them the prized chair for the next four election cycles if you are with us on our Mission 2047. Who in his right mind will argue with such an inspirational goal? And that is what a great leader does. He gives us stretch goals and pushes us beyond our limits. That great leader is here, and he has enunciated our seeking, given voice to our buried and subliminal longing.
Talk of Bollywood! Our great leader is an amazing visionary. He dreams big and works hard and is irreplaceable. And if we need to keep electing him for the next 22 years, we must. For our own sake.
There you go! A simple number works in multiple dimensions and takes on various hues. In the ancient Indian science of interpretation, there are three ways of looking at things. The first is abhidha, or what is straightforward, or that which is on the surface, the most external. There is then the lakshana, or secondary understanding. For example, when I invoke Agni in the Veda, it can mean the physical fire of the ritual or it can mean the principle of the energy, or the deva Agni who takes all our messages to the other devas and brings back their messages to us.
The third layer of meaning is vyanjana, that usually escapes our minds unless we pay attention. Modern marketing is adept at influencing our behaviors by creating these suggestions and influencing our behavior through these allusions. For example, if Shah Rukh Khan is shown eating a certain condiment, then if we wish to be like him, cool and sexy, we need to consume the same Paan Paraaga. And if other stars are enjoying it with him, then to acquire those mythic deva-like larger-than-life attributes, we need to partake of what they all consume too.
But thousands of years ago, when the marketers were not creating new ways to control our impulses, our Vedic Rishis uncovered the secret of the symbol. That a symbol can exist on several planes at the same time. And so, the Agni, that was just a physical flame, or a deva is also the representative of our pure awareness, the Purusha, and our Self, the Atman.
And so it is with 2047. There is something magical, mystical about it. This esoteric value is given to it by the tantriks, the numerologists. It is something mysterious that we all can become if we all follow the path given to us by the great narrator.
Multiple spiritual invocations happen at the same time. We are a civilization-state that has existed for 5000 years. Thus, 1947 is really not that important. And if it was, the date has been usurped by a civilizational shift, our new independence from the colonized state of our minds and hearts, from those who prevent us from having our civilizational renaissance.
It is a contradictory message, but marketing thrives on paradoxes and contradictions. Rather, it makes them more poignant.
Yet is there truth to it. For all those who love India want to see it happen, need it desperately for our own fulfilment. We need to transform our economics, our education, our health and defense and internal unity. This aspiration is our need and our demand. The call for Viksit Bharat by 2047 secretly fulfills it. That is why we are sold on it.
And if we argue against it, we are not nationalists.
The game is won. One hopes for the sake of the nation and our civilisation, that we are able to achieve this demand for our growing significance, and that this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. For in the world of prophecy, the articulation of a happening in the future makes it crystallise and makes the dream become real. Will it happen? Won't it? It depends on us.
In the meanwhile, let us savour the brilliance of the master who leads this vision-making with a sense of inevitability. We are grateful to him for we want it to happen so desperately that we will follow the symbol to the end. Or, until another one appears, in its own time.
The year 2047 is what we sought from him. He has delivered.
Pariksith Singh is author, poet, philosopher and medical practitioner based in Florida. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views.
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News opinion Viksit Bharat 2047: Inspirational, Aspirational—And A Political Masterstroke
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