India Vs Bharat: Modern-Industrial-Urban Vs Traditional-Agricultural-Rural

India and Bharat. Two different countries. Or at least, two different parts of the same country. "India" is industrial/urban/modern, while "Bharat" is agricultural/rural/traditional.

This is a popular theory. Then the question arises: Exactly how much of the country is "India" and how much is "Bharat"?

The answer depends on exactly what criterion you use to divide the two:

Divide	Parameter	India	Bharat
1. Industrial – Agricultural	Employment (Industry + Services vs Agriculture)	50%	50%
2. Urban – Rural	Location (Cities + Towns vs Villages)	30%	70%
3. Rich – Poor	Income (Middle Class vs Lower Class + Poor)	10%*	90%

*My estimate for 2010.

Thus we can identify different 'India's and 'Bharat's.

Now these categories (industrial-urban-modern and agricultural-rural-traditional) do not merely represent differences in occupation, location and income/lifestyle. They represent something much bigger. They represent two different ages in the history of man: the Agricultural Age and the Industrial Age.

Now historical Ages differ from one another materially, no doubt. For example, they differ in food, clothing, shelter, tools, etc. But they also differ from one another "mentally" – that is, in mindset or worldview. By mindset/worldview, I mean the sum total of a human being's tastes, interests, opinions, attitudes, outlook, values, norms, knowledge, awareness and beliefs. Each Age has its own mindset/worldview. Accordingly, there is an Agricultural Age mindset/worldview and an Industrial Age mindset/worldview.

Now if we take this mindset/worldview as a criterion, where do we draw the line between 'India' and 'Bharat'? Firstly, when it comes to mindset/worldview, the "urban" vs "rural" classification (30% vs 70%) is misleading. A more correct division would be metro vs non-metro. This reduces 'India' from 30% to 7%, and increases 'Bharat' from 70% to 93%. That is, considering mindset/worldview as a criterion, the 8 metros are on one side and on the other side are not just the 6,00,000 villages or the 5,000 towns but also the 400 "cities" (so called just because their population is more than 1 lakh). So we have:

Divide	Parameter	India	Bharat
4. Metro – Non-metro	Location (Metros vs Cities + Towns + Villages)	7%	93%

Now in these metros, it is only the middle class that has an Industrial Age mindset/worldview, not the lower class or poor. So what we are left with is the metro middle class (MMC). What % is this group? The McKinsey study indicates that about 25% of our urban population is middle class today. That gives us an MMC of about 2%. So finally we have:

Divide	Parameter	India	Bharat
5. Mindset / Worldview	Income + Location (Middle Class and Metro vs Lower Class, Poor + Cities, Towns, Villages)	2%	98%

Thus the real India–Bharat divide is 2%–98%. If you are reading this, you almost certainly belong to the metro middle class (MMC). That means you represent only 2% of India!

Note:

• I have used the names "India" and "Bharat" merely because they are the most popular terms used to denote this divide. The more correct terms are Agricultural Age India/Bharat and Industrial Age India/Bharat (quite a mouthful). For me, India and Bharat are one and the same.

• I am NOT saying that "India" (Industrial Age India/Bharat) is better/superior/preferable/more desirable than "Bharat" (Agricultural Age India/Bharat). I am merely noting the difference between the two.
  

• I am NOT saying that the Industrial Age mindset/worldview is better/superior/preferable/more desirable than the Agricultural Age mindset/worldview. I am merely saying they are different from each other.