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Psycho-Social Analysis of the Indian Mindset pp 195–219Cite as

Mindset in the Larger Context

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Abstract

The immediate context of person, place and time is framed in the larger context of socio-economic and political reality, recent global influences of Western origin and the cultural heritage of traditional thought and spiritual orientation. The Indian mindset oscillates in this double-layered, multifactorial space coping with the existential reality, availing of opportunities by fair or foul means, suffering from the cultural inertia and longing for realizing cultural ideals. Poverty, caste, corruption, violence and fragmenting politics restrict the Indian mindset to negative thought and behaviour. While globalization has resurrected Indian optimism, it has also fanned opportunism and increased inequality. Conservative ideas of cultural origin occupy a large space while pushing ideals to the back seat.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Playing off from the term “British Raj”, the term Licence Raj or Permit Raj was coined by C. Rajagopalachari, the last Governor-General of India and a statesman. It refers to the elaborate system of permits and licences that were required for people to set up any enterprise in India till the end of the 1980s, initiated by Jawaharlal Nehru, and the ensuing political and economic corruption and stagnation resulting from this system.

  2. 2.

    www.mapsofindia.com/indiaagriculture.

  3. 3.

    UGC (University Grants Commission). The World Bank Report on India Country Summary of Higher Education. https://www.usp.ac.fj/worldbank2009/, 2011, 2012. New Delhi.

  4. 4.

    http://www.engineering.careers360.com/top-engineering-colleges-india-2013.

  5. 5.

    Answer to Lok Sabha Starred Question no. 37, dated November 23, 2012, by the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, point (a), http://www.gconnect.in/news/number-of-mbbs-and-pg-medicine-seats-in-india.html, accessed on May 7, 2014.

  6. 6.

    The Economic Times, January 18, 2013.

  7. 7.

    The NASSCOM Report, Indian IT-BPO Industry. Retrieved December 15, 2012.

  8. 8.

    United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Geneva, Switzerland.

  9. 9.

    Top 10 global acquisitions by Indian companies, siliconindia News, June 23, 2011, http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Top_10_global_acquisitions_by_Indian_companies-nid-85123-cid-3.html; http://www.biztechreport.com/story/1459-indian-companies-acquisition-spree-overseas, accessed on May 8, 2014.

  10. 10.

    Urbanization at 31.16 % in the 2011 Census.

  11. 11.

    India needs better natural disaster planning: WB, July 20, 2008, http://news.oneindia.in/2008/07/20/india-is-high-risk-country-better-natural-disaster-planning-needed-1216542865.html, retrieved on September 18, 2012.

  12. 12.

    From the CIA World Factbook, cited on http://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?c=in&v=69, accessed on May 10, 2014.

  13. 13.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_India, retrieved on August 21, 2012.

  14. 14.

    Statement of Food Minister, K. V. Thomas, in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of the Parliament), New Delhi.

  15. 15.

    Global Hunger Index: India ranks 67th in food security, Zee News.com, November 28, 2011, http://zeenews.india.com/business/news/economy/global-hunger-index-india-ranks-67th-in-food-security_34705.html, accessed on May 10, 2014.

  16. 16.

    Ruddar Datt (1 January 2008). Growth, Poverty, and Equity: Story of India's Economic Development. Deep & Deep. p. 134.

  17. 17.

    http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/india_statistics.html#95, accessed on May 11, 2014.

  18. 18.

    http://www.livemint.com/Home-Page/NX5IF0yZtnkCFz4vzxtt5N/India-medical-tourism-industry-to-reach-6-billion-by-2018.html.

  19. 19.

    PISA 2009 Technical Report, 2012, OECD, http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/60/31/50036771.pdf.

  20. 20.

    Address at the 150th Anniversary Function of University of Mumbai in 2007. http://pmindia.nic.in/speech/content.asp?id=555, accessed on April 23, 2013.

  21. 21.

    http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_inc_equ_un_gin_ind-income-equality-un-gini-index.

  22. 22.

    http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings, accessed on May 11, 2014.

  23. 23.

    2010 EPI Rankings Released on January 25, 2012.

  24. 24.

    The National Sample Survey (1999–2000) and the National Family Health Survey (2005–2006).

  25. 25.

    Arthashastra, examination of the conduct of government servants. In Book 2 (Chap. 9): The Duties of Government Superintendents.

  26. 26.

    As quoted in http://jaago.indiaonline.in/corruption-in-india-65, accessed on May 19, 2013.

  27. 27.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_India.

  28. 28.

    The ADR (Association for Democratic Reforms) Report, May 13, 2013. http://adrindia.org/content/nexus-between-elections-crime-and-money-ten-years-election-watch.

  29. 29.

    http://www.x-rates.com/average/?from=INR&to=USD&amount=1&year=2011, accessed on May 19, 2014.

  30. 30.

    The ADR (Association for Democratic Reforms) Report, May 13, 2013. http://adrindia.org/content/nexus-between-elections-crime-and-money-ten-years-election-watch.

  31. 31.

    The Times of India. The Records Bureau on Crime in India 2012. Report on Jun 4, 2013.

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  1. Psychology and Management, ASSERT Institute of Management Studies, Patna, Bihar, India

    Jai B. P. Sinha

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Sinha, J.B.P. (2014). Mindset in the Larger Context. In: Psycho-Social Analysis of the Indian Mindset. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-1804-3_9

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