Dehradun, Aug. 10 -- Not long ago we were told that good dressing meant wearing suits stitched on Saville Row, good education meant speaking in good English with a particular accent. We were told to follow rules written in European capitals and in the American boardrooms, and that the best actors and movies emanated from Hollywood. The West tried everything to convince us that we were lagging behind them and that we were a nation that worshipped snakes, elephants, trees, rivers . we were "uncivilised"!

As always, they fell flat on their face. They did not realise what was, and is, India's strength. Ours is not a civilisation that is artificial and built because of conquests, or revolutions. It is not a civilisation that was built in 400,...