History has come a full circle!

Britons would rather have been born Indian says a recent study in UK. India beat off not only the other major emerging economies, but the US too. Caught by a near triple dip recession, a whopping third of Britons say their economic prospects would have been better if they had been born in India. Something for Indians to be proud of!

‘Certainly the view here is that among the growth economies, India is rather doing well,’ Chris Worrell, the author of the study said. In fact, it seems Brits would rather have been born in India than anywhere else. After six years of economic hardship, 32% of people surveyed in a year-long ‘Future of Britain’ study named India as their preferred country of birth with the figure rising to 36% among the 16-24 year-olds.

There is a sense of people being aware that Britain is no longer the power that it was economically, and that growth will be driven by new economies. The slump is bringing out British qualities last seen during World War II; people are saving more, eating out less, buying only necessities, cancelling gym memberships, selling off possessions and taking up second survival mode with 41% expecting the 2-5 years of recession.

‘But young Britons emerge far less pessimistic than 35-55 year olds. Younger people are more outward looking and receptive to other cultures,’ said Worrell. Following India, Brazil was the choice of 29%, followed by Russia (28%), China (27%) and USA (26%), according to the study conducted by the communication agency OMD UK.

At least India has something to cheer about! We are not doing that bad. The world is taking notice of our economic growth.