India's massive population and rapid economic growth is oneof the biggest stories of the century so far.
But with this huge growth comes all sorts of big challengesrelating to bureaucracy, crime, culture, commerce, and social ills.
We regularly hear reports of massive power outages, falsedeath certificates, and farmer suicides.
Other stories are associated with unimaginable riches andextravagance.
Billionaires build entire skyscrapers and live in them ashomes: Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani built a 400,000 square foot, 27-storybuilding called Antilla that was estimated to cost $1 billion. His family andtheir staff are the only occupants of his home.
They also spend tens of millions of dollars on weddings:India's wedding market is an estimated $11 billion and wealthy Indians arespending money not just on food and ferrying guests about, but also on"thank you gifts" and invites.
Millions of tons of grain rot in storage even as thousandsdie of malnutrition: Some 6 million tons of India's grains, worth $1.5 billion,could rot, while 43 percent of children under the age of five are underweightand 3,000 children reportedly die from malnutrition-related illnesses everyday.
Parents induce labor to deliver babies at auspicious times: superstitiousparents in India are known to have c-sections, or to plan ahead and inducelabor at times that are considered auspicious. Some Hindus believe that beingborn at a certain time will better a child's future.
Forest officials are authorized to shoot and kill poachers:The western state of Maharashtra authorized its forest officials to shoot andkill poachers on sight without fear of prosecution. Poaching has driven manyspecies to extinction and is threatening many others.
Anti-bureaucracy activists get transferred endlessly todifferent jobs: India has the worst bureaucracy in Asia, according a report byHong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy. A new poll by KPMGshowed that 71 percent think fraud is "an inevitable cost of doing businessin the country."
One anti-bureaucracy activist was transferred 43 times, fromjob to job, because people didn't want him around.
Hundreds of thousands of farmers commit suicide:
Farmers with massive debt burdens have been committingsuicide since 1995. Over 250,000 farmers have reportedly committed suicide.Many accuse foreign companies like Monsanto of selling farmers overpriced seedsthat are forced on them by the government.
People are declared dead when they're actually alive:
Santosh Kumar Singh fought for nine years to prove that hewas alive. His brothers declared him dead and stole his land after he married awoman of a lower caste. False death certificates are frequently issued in landgrabs.
People are arrested for liking a Facebook status: A womannamed Shaheen Dhada posted a status on Facebook questioning a Mumbai"bandh," or shutdown, after the death of politician Bal Thackeray,known for using various forms of intimidation to achieve political ends. Herfriend Renu Srinivasan liked the post. Both were arrested for their actions andthe incident sparked a furor about the lack of freedom of speech in India.
Realtors advertise buildings just for Brahmins: Even thoughit is illegal to discriminate on the basis of caste, creed, religion, orgender, developers and realtors often advertise apartments for rent/sale forcertain religious groups or certain castes.
People put up photos of deities on building walls to preventpublic urination: Nearly 50 percent of India's population is said not to have atoilet at home and public defecation is a huge problem. BBC columnist RahulTandon wrote about a home where people had put up photos of Indian deities toprevent people from urinating on their walls. This was also mentioned inRohinton Mistry's 1991 novel, "Such A Long Journey."
Tens of thousands of children are employed in its illegalcoal mines: An Indian non-profit believes that 70,000 child miners illegallywork the coal mines in just one part of the country called Jaintia Hills.Parents often send their children to the mines instead of school since theybecome a source of income.
Power grids go down and cause half a billion people to losepower: In July India faced a massive power outage that left 600 million peoplewithout power. Some agricultural states were accused of exceeding the powerquota assigned them during a weak monsoon season. But India frequently facespower outages, many of which are blamed on corruption.
