Lunch dabbas, late nights, and a nation at No. 4

When I was growing up, India’s economic rank wasn’t something we spoke about at the dinner table. We had other numbers to worry about, like school marks, electricity bills, and the queue number at the gas agency. Yet, somewhere along the way, without much fuss, the country kept changing… quietly, steadily, and with surprising consistency.

Last week, that quiet shift turned into a headline. India has overtaken Japan to become the fourth-largest economy in the world. It’s more than just a number. It shows years of people’s grit, homegrown jugaad (our clever fixes), big dreams, tough changes, hard work, and yes, a bit of chaos too. We have always done things our own way… a bit messy, unplanned, but it somehow works. And still, here we are.

There’s something about this that quietly touches the heart. We just didn’t wake up one morning and find ourselves in fourth place.

This was no overnight change. It grew from countless mornings full of hope. Parents saving for their child’s engineering degree, women starting home businesses with WhatsApp catalogs, students burning the midnight oil in their hostels for exams like UPSC or CAT. It happened because people believed their tomorrow could be better, and did something about it.

I still remember the afternoon, way back, when the long-awaited black rotary phone arrived at our Kolkata home. We had waited years, and our number finally came. That phone, with its heavy receiver and soft click, sat like a prize in our modest drawing room. In our middle-class world, progress wasn’t loud. It was a landline. It was a scooter. It was the first family trip to Puri by car.

Just a few lanes away, our local tailor in Delhi-NCR, who once stitched school uniforms and simple salwar-kameez sets, now takes orders through WhatsApp. His son, a first-generation college graduate, taught him how to use UPI. “Bas phone hilao, paisa aa jaata hai,” he laughed when I asked him how it worked. That little moment stayed with me. Because the real India’s growth isn’t just numbers on paper, it lives in people like him.

And now, the credit card is our new wallet. What was once seen with caution is now understood as a form of earning too, through points, rewards, and cashback. Whether it’s school kids buying books online or busy executives booking flights abroad, we have all figured out how to keep up with this new way of spending. It’s a small shift, but it says a lot. Yes, the economy is growing… not just in numbers, but in how we think, spend, and plan.

We once gave long, landmark-based directions: “Bhaiya, left after the temple, then ask anyone.” Now, we just say, “I’ve pinned the location on Maps.”

Cassettes and DVDs once filled our shelves with pride. Today, even our elders say, “Alexa, play Hanuman Chalisa.”

And remember birthday cards and long phone calls? Now, a tagged story, a reel, or a short video does the job… quick, creative, and gone in 24 hours.

A few decades ago, economic stories were tucked away in the business section… pages that most readers often skimmed past. They were filled with jargon and distant figures, disconnected from our lived realities. Today, a college student speaks of GDP rankings with the quiet confidence of a news anchor. We are talking bigger dreams now, and more of us believe we deserve to be part of the world’s big conversations.

Of course, there’s more to do. Inequality is real, infrastructure still needs support, and the divide between aspiration and access must narrow. Maybe it’s time to stop for a second. Just breathe it in. Not to boast, but quietly feel thankful.

We didn’t announce our arrival. We just showed up.  With lunch dabbas and laptops. With late-night shifts at work and lines of code. With millet festivals and Make in India booths.

Germany is next on the list, and sure, there are hurdles ahead. The real question isn’t “Can we do it?” — we already showed we can. It’s “How will we do it?” Will we grow kindly, with care and conscience?

That is the next story. But for today, maybe we just whisper to ourselves: Chalo, kuch toh sahi kiya.

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