India Uncut

Dhiraj Nayyar writes in the Indian Express:

Markets have brought with them not only a huge range of goods, services and TV channels, but also a culture of individuality, opportunity and merit, quite distinct from the more parochial culture of caste, region and religion which ran and, in some places, still runs deep in India, especially in the functioning of institutions of the state. This is no surprise. The guardians of the state are only human. And humans are fallible, which makes the state fallible.

So what does Qazi Tauqeer, a winner of Fame Gurukul, have to do with all of this? Well, Nayyar makes the point that just a couple of decades ago, when Tauqeer was born, young people in India had nowhere near the array of choices and opportunities that Tauqeer, and all of us, have today. A liberalising India has created many more platforms for talented people, and we are finally moving towards a meritocratic society. There's still a long way to go, but we'll get there.

(For those Fame Gurukul watchers who point out that Qazi wasn't the best singer, and Rex and Arpita and blah-blah were better, let me reassure you that Rex and Arpita and blah-blah will also earn lakhs through live shows after the exposure they've got, as so many of the Indian Idol finalists did after that show picked a winner. It's not a zero-sum game, and there's enough there for everyone with talent.)