INDIA

Countries like India and America are so large and diverse that it is impossible to define the societies they contain based on any criterion. The way things work in India – the bureaucracy, the poverty, the class system – have been that way for such a long time, these traditions are so ingrained, that it’s a wonder that there has been the sort of economic upheaval there at all.

The idea of “controlling” a place like India, to secure rule of law or human rights seems impossible to me, given the scale that the place encompasses. This seems to be the big divide between how the US and India work, in that there is a “plan” for America; the very founding of the state was “planned”, whereas things seem to occur “more naturally” in India.

And, yes, it’s also impossible to live in India and not become “Indianised”. I don’t think anybody ever really conquered India, not even the British. The place just gobbles up any foreign elements and turns them into its own.