Why India will never be a major power in the world ?

Many people hype the notion of the BRIC economies and surmise that India will be a superpower in the next 50 years. Here I will state some of the reasons, which in my view, hinder India's dominance in the world stage.

In order to become a major world power, a country should be able to set an agenda at the world stage. Since 1000 AD, Indians have always fell prey to the foreign powers, be it the intruders from the middle east or the white powers from the seas. Indians have not set any agenda at the world stage in the last 1000 years. They have always followed the agendas set by other people.

Besides, there are structural and institutional problems in Indian society that will impede its ability to become a major world power. First, Indians lack structured thinking. This comes from the beliefs people have about the world in which they live. When you believe in multitude of gods, it makes nice stories for young kids, but it hampers your ability to group the society together on the basis of common belief and attack the enemy, rather than be attacked as has always happened with India.

The above does not mean that individual Indians will not shine in the world. In fact individually Indians will do very well, as they have all the abilities that others in the world have once they realize their potential. It is just that in order to become a major world power, a society needs to have a cohesive outlook about itself. This is sadly lacking in the Indian society. In India people see themselves as members of a group, clan or caste. This division in the society is not conducive to putting an organized complete interface for the rest of the world. Indians are too divided as a race and people to be a threat to the rest of the world.

Because historically, India has always suffered defeat in the war with foreign powers, the Indians lack confidence that is needed to be a nation that is a superpower in the world. The upper classes in India created a society based on varna which in the long run turned out be their greatest undoing. As foreigners with ever fairer skin appeared the Indians looked up to them, rather than looking down on them. These are not the characteristics that one hopes to see in the citizens of a country wanting to be a superpower.

Religion

The first principle of any religion is - "No improvisation". If one looks at any other area of human endeavor, one finds a constant aspiration to do things better. It could be the technology that we use in our every day lives or even the way we manage relationships around ourselves. The goal is always to improve things.

On the other hand most religions of the world are static fixed systems. If you try to go from your religion today to your religion 2.0, you will face very stiff resistance. In some religions you may even risk your life.

Why do then religions find such a large following. In my view people who are easiest prey to a religious order are those that are emotionally lonely and without love from family and their immediate surroundings. Such people try to find love of a god that is unseen and that is just an abstract idea for the most human beings. There is a line from a popular Hindi film song that echoes this very well - one who has nobody is looked after by God. The devotional worship and unthinking belief in old scriptures written in a different era fill the void in such people's lives.

Even when there have been some religions that were essentially version 2.0 of what was being practiced in their societies before, these became static and fixed once they became popular. I will not name anything here. You should be able to find out yourself.