Rebranding INDIA

How do you brand a nation of people who belong to over 700 tribes and speak over 19,500 living languages? What if they have existed as the world's oldest and most diverse civilization for over 10,000 years?

A name is a name. The name India referred to the people who lived beyond and around the Indus. The Greeks were probably the first to refer to this country by that name. When a young India gained independence from British rule, the constitutional debates shortlisted two names for the new country - 'India' and 'Bharat'. The latter name referred to the land that was ruled by King Bharata in the epic Mahabharata. The name India was used in English (though it was essentially Greek) and Bharat was used in Hindi language. The world called the new land 'Republic of India' - its official name in international records.

Between 1608 and 1947, the British loot reduced India’s share of global GDP from 25 per cent to less than 3.8 per cent. The Britishers left India to the dogs. They expected the new country to writhe in poverty, religious riots and political instability. Indians seized the opportunity and grew the country into a US$ 4 trillion economy and transformed it into the world’s largest democracy with 1.4 billion people. India has a long way to go. Its per capita income will be a measly US$ 2,601 in 2023.

The country has been a marvellous ‘work in progress’ until now. It has inspired other aspiring low-middle-income countries to take its path, ever more so after the 2014 elections when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power. He revolutionised India’s governance and technology adoption. His government invested in new infrastructure, doubled the number of airports and length of national highways and made India more investor-friendly.

Its tourism brand ‘Incredible India’ has been one of the most successful tourism brands the world has seen. Indians have adopted this unique identity for over 75 years. So why change the name and the brand now?

Nations change their names and brands after important historic events. They do it when they divide or merge, want to erase a painful past like a bad ruler who has tainted their nation brand image and identity or when they are maimed in wars. There are several examples of this throughout history. But India has had no such adverse events for several decades.

So what inspires this change? The answer lies in politics. By 2027, the face of India’s democracy would have changed. Most of India’s population will be in its north and the ensuing revision of parliament seats will ensure that over 65 per cent of its parliamentarians will be voted into office by the country’s lesser-developed and poverty-ridden northern states. These states have gone through lax governance, corruption and nepotism over several decades since the 1970’s. Successive ministers have told these northern people that the governments have not been able to deliver because English has remained India’s ruling language. The real issues like corruption and lawlessness have been brushed under the carpet. In 2024, when the current regime runs for office again, the government wants to impress upon people that a new era has dawned on them and that the goodies of development will now reach them, albeit late.

Changing a country’s name is not cheap. Billions of dollars will have to be spent on official stationery, currency notes, passports etc. The chaos in changing air routes, international seaport register and other global logistics will take the best part of a decade. For a nation trying to be a US$ 10 trillion economy in the next seven years, this change in name will only be an aberration, uncalled-for.

For over 10,000 years, this civilization has thrived through many names and forms. Several millennia have passed without any growth strategy. During most of its time, plain luck was India’s only strategy. Some of its former prime ministers had ‘decided’ not to make several decisions. Despite all this, India is where it is today. The country has managed to push ahead with a vessel the British left to sink. That is the power of the idea of India. How many other countries have survived 10,000 long years?

For politicians who can’t think beyond the shadow of their flags, the idea of India has lived past its time. But the idea of India didn’t start with a mere parliamentary motion in 1947, nor will it die with another in 2023. It is an idea that proves that age is just a number. That brand will outlive the opportunism of a few politicians.

 #NationBranding #PlaceBranding #IndiaToBharat #TheIdeaOfIndia