Republic day needs retooling

In India, the Republic Day celebration is high on ceremony, marked by an anachronistic and quite absurd — showcasing of the country’s military might.

But when you look at India from the outside, it’s easy to recognise that India’s most potent ‘weapon’ of the Knowledge Economy age — which is winning it friends and influencing people on the world stage — is its rapid emergence as an economic powerhouse.

That’s really what has led countries and peoples to acknowledge India’s place in the world, deepen their engagement with it, and welcome Indian professionals on attractive terms.

The pier, built in the 1950s, has in recent months emerged as the zone of combat between a development-minded government and campaigners who are concerned that in its headlong rush to develop, Hong Kong is riding roughshod over its historical legacy.

The Indian Consul-General in Hong Kong threw a garden party on Monday night to celebrate Republic Day, and the warmth of the interactions, over a lavish spread that did full justice to the culinary diversity of India, drove away the cold of the winter night.

The occasion also provided the platform to celebrate the new air services arrangement between India and Hong Kong, under which air links between the two will more than double.

Private airlines, like Jet and perhaps even Kingfisher, will soon begin direct services to Hong Kong. Goldman Sachs private bankers and offshore banking service providers mingled with Indian, Chinese and other expat professionals and consular representatives from various countries and raised a champagne toast to India. It was a moment of tricolour pride… 

There are other instances to establish how India’s economic rise is opening the world’s doors.

For instance, even until about 20 years ago, the only ‘Indian degree’ that was recognised in Singapore was the Tamil tutors’ degree. In recent times, of course, that has been remedied, and an entire new generation of global Indians have made Singapore their home.

There’s even a new glossy magazine, India Se, which caters to the growing critical mass of well-heeled NRIs in Singapore. 

At the Indian Consulate party in Hong Kong, I ran into a Chinese girl with the most unusual name: Ganesha Leung. It isn’t just one of those self-anointed names, it’s her official name, as recorded in her Hong Kong Identity Card.

It’s a testimony to the fabulous wine that the Consulate staff served that night that I don’t remember the precise details of why she opted to change her name to that of the Indian elephant god, but she worships him, after a fashion, in her home.

She even advanced the theory that there were many similarities between the Indian god and the Tibetan god of wealth. I’ll do some more investigation on that subject, and report back with more details.