An Independence day 5-point plan

Like on every August 15, we could, again, rehearse our favourite ritual: declare ourselves hurtling towards 'Viksit Bharat'. The tricolour flutters, speeches resound, national song and anthem are sung back-to-back, and hashtags bloom. But as the old pre-Independence saying goes, aspiration without perspiration is just feel-good. If India - and India Inc - truly wishes to graduate from 'wanting' to 'getting', it would do well to heed 5 basic things you're unlikely to hear today.

One, put your money where your mouth is. India Inc loves to avuncularly chat about sustainability, skilling and social responsibility. But, too often, the cheque is smaller than the tweet. A developed country is built not on slogans but on investments - whether in infrastructure, research or human capital. Two, going off-script. For a nation that endlessly invokes 'innovation', 'disruption' and 'AI', India remains notoriously formulaic. Corporate boardrooms and bureaucratic files actually cling to precedent as if novelty was sin. True progress demands risk-taking, and original thinking, not 'Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.' Three, make law real. Our laws are progressive, on paper, but implementation is thin. Labour laws, environmental safeguards, traffic rules, civic norms, entrance exam regulations - these must be operational, not electively so.

Four, value time. IST - Indian Stretchable Time - whether in project deadlines or in service industries from flights to banks, erodes efficiency. This problem needs tackling on a war footing if India is to sync not just with the world but itself. Five, trust in institutions. Bypassing or undermining regulators, courts, universities, systems in the name of 'jugaad' weakens the very scaffolding India's economic enterprise is built on. Independence Day should remind us that aspiration alone won't do. Putting one's back to the grind, not getting bogged down in 'cultural battles', and valuing qualitative details, are a better way to use all this nation-loving as fuel for genuine nation-building. Happy Independence Day!