Last week, Foreign Direct Investment in retail came up for debate and vote in Parliament.It was an opportunity to hear the views for and against the proposed plan. After many sessions of lost Parliamentary hours, it was great to hear politicians state their views for and against the issue.

Those for FDI in retail talked about the increase in jobs, a better deal for farmers, investment in infrastructure – especially storage, and better choice for consumers.

There were a litany of objections to it that ranged from our farmers will be doomed, to our small shop -the kirana store –  will shut down; from our children will become sales boys and girls to we will eat foreign potatoes. There were scares raised of job losses and monopolies, the MNC bogey, and China, not India will benefit.

Of the all the criticisms passed against FDI in Retail, the strangest was that it will be the second innings for the East India Company. A comment that got repeated multiple times. It tells you two things – that as a people have lost perspective of history, and a good headline matters more than the substance.

There is one very good reason why FDI in retail is nothing like the East India Company. When the East India Company landed in India – the India of today did not exist. There was no unified Nation. No single currency. No one army. No One Constitution. No one taxation policy. No common legal code.  The State as we know it today did not exist. There was a Moghul Emperor who sat somewhere far away – and a lot of semi-independent princely states that paid tribute to Delhi, but pretty much followed their own path on most things. Also, the Moghul Empire – headed by Jahangir – was already on the wane , the periphery were all so busy fighting each other, that they often  invited the outsider to take up arms on their behalf. Rulers who were so busy with their own glory they had money left over for a strong Army – and therefore invited the Company’s soldiers to protect them. The Company took full advantage of it. It is like the old Jataka story about the two cats who fought over a piece of cheese, and asked a money to arbitrate.

Today’s India is nothing like the India of 1600’s. In fact, it is nothing like the India of 1857 – when the Crown took over the country from the Company. It is not even like the India that got rid of the Crown in 1947. It is a far cry from the India that nationalized banks in 1969; the India that most of us grew up in the 1970’s and 1980’s is nothing like the India today; indeed the India of 1991 -when the first wave of liberalization took place was a markedly different India from today. 50% of India is under 25, a large portion of them do not even remember a pre-liberalized India. It is a confident generation, that has grown up in an India that is on the move, successful and a potential super power.

The trouble is India is a young country populated by people who don’t even remember the emergency – 70% of India is under 35 – run by politicians who have distinct memories of Independence. There is gap in the narrative. And that gap is in how young India sees itself – confident with the ability to take on anything- and the way politicians see Indians – needy of protection. You start telling this young confident India that a supermarket will colonize them – they will smile indulgently at you, wear their earphones, and turn up the music on their mobiles.

Fear is not the key. Hope is. A better tomorrow is, jobs are – politicians need to start speaking that language. This narrative of victimohood has outlived its sell by date. A new narrative is needed.