Acceptance of mediocrity is a mill-stone around our neck!

There are so many reasons for India still making the ranks of a developing country but the most important that comes to my mind is acceptance, and sometimes even celebration, of mediocrity in all spheres of the Indian society. Striving for excellence is taking the hard call, so, make do with the ordinary, the mediocre or worse, even Jugaad (Hindi term for ‘make-do somehow’). A natural corollary to this mental make-up is the ‘chalata hai’ (Hindi for “anything goes”) attitude. That attitude will do if the presently low standard of development is to be maintained but not for making a quantum improvement in any field.