It's an understatement to say 2003 was "Not a Bad Year for Mother India"
2003 was one of the best years India ever had. Booming
foreign exchange, tech did well, party in power voted back in,
a good monsoon, assertive international diplomacy, some
crowd-pleasing cricket wins... and, of course, it just
couldn't be India without the customary:
"DISASTERS, CARNAGE AND STAMPEDES"
"Fifty-one people were killed when three coaches of a train of
the Konkan Railways derailed(...). Then 36 people died from a
fire which broke out in a rear car of the Golden Temple
Express. At least 100 people were killed in Himachal Pradesh
when a flash flood swept through a make-shift tent site(...)
As many as 40 people were feared dead and 30 others injured
after a stampede broke out at the Kumbh Mela in Nashik. (...)
In a another disaster, 21 people were burned to death because
of a row over jobs at a tea plantation(...) Terrorist strikes
continued (...) killing 52 and wounding more than 150 in India's
economic capital."
I daresay it would be a mistake to overly dwell on these mere mishaps.
Next year, the juggernaut that is 21st-Century
India will plow serenely through that welter of gore to
confront the world with this dazzling line-up of Bollywood beauties. The Indian military-entertainment complex
is visibly picking up steam.
