[addicted]

Because India has made very little progress in rural areas. We've largely regressed. Just look at the farmer suicide situation.

This is my biggest frustration with the urban Indian middle class (which forms a very small slice of the population). We are almost completely unaware of how the rest of the country has been suffering over the last many years. A very visible example of this was the BJP India Shining campaign, which led to a massive electoral defeat. The BJP thought India was doing awesome because their entire worldview was centered around the Delhi middle class, while the rest of the country looked upon buses driving by with India Shining posters as a cruel joke. And the BJP faced the consequences in that election.

[harigov]

Maybe you are right. However, please remember that economy is as much dependent on public outlook as it is on other fundamentals like infrastructure, literacy, health, etc., If people think that the country is going somewhere, they will be excited to take risk and move forward in their life. So I don't see anything wrong with India Shining.

With respect to rural India, I honestly don't know enough to comment.