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'It Was India's Good Fortune To Be A British Colony'

The man who once called India a functioning anarchy, John Kenneth Galbraith, in conversation with Arun Venugopal

Outlook Web Desk

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John Kenneth Galbraith's
What would you say your first abiding memory of India is?
Was that the first time you were in India?
Would you say that before you arrived you had some preconceptions about India and your relation to it?
Are there any qualities which you find to be particularly Indian?
Do you think Hinduism is central to India's identity or do you think that secularism is?
Do you think the rise in recent years of Hindu fundamentalism is counter to the diversity of Indian culture?
You've famously called India a functioning anarchy. Why and how did that happen; have you revised your views on that?
And do you feel the same way now or do you think things have changed?
Isn't it a shame that they have to come here to succeed?
In that sense do you think we are becoming more of a borderless world?
Do you think the legacy of the British diluted India's character?
As a nation with 80 per cent Hindus, do you think India would've been better off as a Hindu nation?
How do you view Indian priorities like the nuclear bomb, considering that India has so much illiteracy and poverty and disease and homelessness?
Do you think the Indian people have failed India or the politicians have failed India?
Can you name three truly Indian personalities and three truly Indian contributions to the world?
(America's ambassador to India in the Kennedy years, 1961-63, Ontario-born Galbraith has 45 honorary degrees from universities worldwide, has authored some 27 books—including two novels—and is internationally known for his development of Keynesian and post-Keynesian economics.)
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