What can Indians learn from the rest of the world?

Work is worship. Well, almost always. - Learn that from the Americans.

Be friendly and smiling - Learn from the Nepalese and Bhutanese.

Be very very proud of who you are - Learn from the Japanese. Shinkansen-style.

Think big - No one beats the Koreans at that. Lucky gold diggers!

Never say die - Russians all the way. Come attack us, and discover for yourself!

Be a friend in need - Russians all the way! Thanks guys for all you did for India.

Focus on the micro and the finesse - Achtung! Germany leads the way.

Be very thankful - Learn from the Afghans.

Once an enemy, always an enemy - Yo, Pakistanis! (Umm, not exactly)

Me correct, my philosophy correct, you horribly wrong - Saudis rock.

Revolt like there's no tomorrow - Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité

I am the world, need no more (Aham Brahmasmi) - Kim to the North

Love your peace and empty spaces, and burn the most carbon per capita - Down under

Give the best public healthcare at reasonable cost - Salute to my former colonists

Rise like a phoenix, even if you were almost dead - Israel, Israel, Israel

Think gigantic - Umm, my Chinese friends are teaching that the hard way right now to the rest of the world economy!

Claim what's yours. Make it yours. Don't let others steal it. - Long live the American and European patent offices. 

Don't play with my privacy. I'm warning you Google! - European Competition Commission rocks

Play the powers against each other - Sri Lanka. Hmm.

Keeping others' secrets forever. Well, almost - Panama, Liechtenstein, Switzerland!

Deep philosophy, nature's secrets, mankind's place in Universe, effective organic medicinal formulations - We Indians really must learn that from our own ancestors.

Thanks!
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What did the British East India Company do to India?

The Brits came, they saw, they were amazed, they plundered, rendered the local economy rootless, they left. A single statement that summarizes the British East India Company's (and later the British Raj's) stay in Indian sub-continent from 1700s to 1947.

When trade and politics are completely intermixed, there is no way a trader can remain solely one, and a politicians can afford not to trade. The brutal death of Indian economy under British rule is a proof of the above axiomatic truth. The East India Company found India very rich, and left it poor beyond imagination!

Despite the Company officers' blatant corruption, genocidal tendencies and ruthlessness, the British Monarch and Parliament allowed it to continue so for decades, as it was fuelling their Industrial Revolution. Thus, the East played the biggest role in enriching the West.

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Various pointers to what actually happened -

• It is important to understand the background of Europe in the 15th century. All the newly emerging nation-states were assuming that the only way they could stay ahead of the rest was for them to hoard as much gold and silver as they could.