Some regions of the world have been portrayed to suggest one or the other of dominant features. Africa has been perceived for long by the West as a dark continent. Countries too have been described with suggestive adjectives and terms again as the West took notice. India described as the land of snakes and snake-charmers in the not too distant past is currently recognised as one among the top five economics of the world. United States of America, having been bestowed the status of a country of opportunities still has that badge intact. The people of the countries in Eastern Zone of Asia, said to represent yellow race may smack of discriminatory ethnicity. Europe’s some countries have hosted colonialists in the past, currently driven back to their respective territories, thanks to the uprising by people of former colonies, with India being the largest in area and most populous. If India is better off or worse off in the process showing the exit door to its former rulers can be debated with mixed views.

While colonial rule of the country is marked by both positives (as seen by moderates) and negatives (as seen by the fraternity of critics of British Raj) the path being charted by the land’s people at large and the leaders they have created over years is also paved for both smooth ride and rough as well as rocky surface. Which of these dominates is the question.

What image of India presents itself to different people depends upon the prism through which one peers, although judgement objectively is easier than saying. Reports about the daily happenings appearing in the print as well as electronic media from all nooks and corners of the land cannot but adversely impact the minds of those who are keenly following the goings on. While one cannot ignore the impressive record of achievements in many sectors of the nation’s economy, particularly agriculture and industry, one cannot also be blind to the daily incidents of (a) Deplorable conduct of politicians in the open, (b) Noisy protests against lax administration by the government, (c) Immoral acts by members of the ruling class, functionaries in the executive arm of government, academics and so on.

Safety of citizens at large, who are not protected by security staff deployed by the government, has figured in a report published this week in a popular daily. The observation by a two-judge bench of the Bombay High Court that India’s global image today is that it is a country of crime may even be an understatement, given the unprecedented rise in the crime of all kinds bugging the nation.