It’s impossible for one to get through election season without feeling that India is poised at the edge of something big. The world is our proverbial oyster, apparently, and we just haven’t embraced the idea yet. This is possibly a feeling that emerged during the last election too, but I don’t recall the specifics. Speech after speech informs me that the next era belongs to us, that we are going to become a first-world country any day now, and that every other country will be begging for our attention if it doesn’t already do so. It’s a little overwhelming to think of all the good fortune headed our way, although it sometimes feels as if we have been waiting for over a decade now.

Sadly, a few things get in the way of my complete acceptance of this rosy picture. There are a lot of noises being made about unemployment, for example, along with warnings of how things are so bad that they could lead to serious instability a few years down the line. I am pretty sure the only people unemployed are those attending election rallies in person, but several academics and economists say that Indians are struggling to find jobs. They say we have one of the world’s youngest populations, and no idea of what to do with them. I refuse to accept this because the honourable government of India hasn’t said a word about it, which obviously means it isn’t a crisis. Still, it’s hard to drown out the naysayers because of how persistent and loud they are. I wonder if this means the future is going to be amazing, but not necessarily for everyone.