HOPE & DISAPPOINTMENT

India’s promise is undeniable and its talent abundant, yet politics and empty rhetoric continue to undermine its prospects

- Kaushik Basu

Last month, I travelled across India, listening, observing, and taking stock. While the journey was energising and often inspiring, it left me with an open question: Where is the world's most populous country headed?

My trip began in West Bengal’s Purulia district, a relatively poor region marked by beautiful landscapes of lakes and rolling hills, some crowned with small, ancient temples. Purulia’s population is a mosaic of cultures and tribal communities. Among them are the Santhals, an Adivasi community whose ancestors arrived in the subcontinent thousands of years ago, long before the Indo-Aryan migrations around 1600 BCE reshaped its social order.

In the midst of this stark terrain stands something remarkable: the Filix School. Founded in 2014 by two women, it has grown into a state-of-the-art English-language institution, drawing students from villages near and far. I was there to teach during the school’s week-long Discover the World of Economics course, an annual programme - now in its second year — that invites upper-secondary students from across India. A select group joins local village students for five days of lectures and field trips.