{"id":46288,"date":"2026-06-29T21:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T17:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/?p=46288"},"modified":"2026-06-29T21:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T17:38:12","slug":"the-pothole-and-the-runway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/the-pothole-and-the-runway\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pothole and the Runway"},"content":{"rendered":"

The pothole isn’t the story; it’s a symptom of two nations moving in opposite directions<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

London Letter<\/u><\/span><\/p>\n

By Shyam Bhatia<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A few days ago, driving through North London, I hit a pothole so deep that I instinctively checked whether I had damaged a tyre.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nothing unusual there.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet as I drove on, I found myself thinking about a recent journey in India along one of the country’s new expressways.<\/span><\/p>\n

Having spent much of the past half-century explaining Britain to Indians, I never imagined that I would one day compare a London pothole unfavourably with an Indian highway.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that is where we are.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pothole itself is not the story. The story is what it says about two countries whose trajectories seem increasingly to be moving in opposite directions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Britain’s road experts are worried. Very worried.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span>Campaigners opposed to the \u00a314bn Heathrow expansion demonstrate outside the court of appeal in London. Pic – AP<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

“The condition of our local roads has become a national disgrace,” says David Giles, Chair of the Asphalt Industry Alliance. His organisation’s latest survey estimates that local authorities face a road repair backlog of \u00a318.62 billion — roughly \u20b9 2.15 lakh crore, or about \u20a81,182.33 billion.<\/span><\/p>\n

The survey concluded there is: “No quick fix for local roads.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Pause for a moment and consider that figure.<\/span><\/p>\n

Britain needs the equivalent of more than \u20b92 lakh crore not to build new roads, not to build new expressways, but simply to repair what it already has.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, India is building.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nothing illustrates the contrast better than airports.<\/span><\/p>\n

For decades Heathrow symbolised Britain’s place at the centre of the world. Travellers arriving from India saw a country that appeared efficient, prosperous and confident.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today Heathrow is still one of the world’s great airports. Yet Britain has spent decades arguing about a third runway.<\/span><\/p>\n

The proposal has become trapped in consultations, environmental objections, planning inquiries, court challenges and political reversals. Governments have come and gone while the debate continues.<\/span><\/p>\n

At almost exactly the same moment, India has built an entirely new international airport.<\/span><\/p>\n

Noida International Airport, serving the National Capital Region, opened with plans to become one of India’s largest aviation hubs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Its chief executive, Christoph Schnellmann, describes the project as: “Bringing the world to western UP and bringing western UP to the world.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The contrast in language is striking.<\/span><\/p>\n

Britain’s infrastructure experts speak of a “national disgrace.”<\/span><\/p>\n

India’s infrastructure builders speak of bringing the world to Uttar Pradesh.<\/span><\/p>\n

One country talks about repair. The other talks about possibility.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, the comparison is not entirely fair.<\/span><\/p>\n

India is still building a modern economy. Britain built much of its infrastructure generations ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

Noida rose on largely undeveloped land. Heathrow sits amid one of the most densely populated urban areas on earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet those explanations do not tell the whole story. The deeper difference is confidence.<\/span><\/p>\n

India increasingly behaves like a country convinced that tomorrow can be better than today.<\/span><\/p>\n

Britain increasingly behaves like a country trying to negotiate every consequence of tomorrow before tomorrow arrives.<\/span><\/p>\n

The contrast is visible not only in infrastructure but in attitudes towards regulation and everyday life. Recently, a Nottinghamshire woman volunteering to distribute food to vulnerable families was issued with a \u00a3150 fine after a kale leaf became lodged in a supermarket trolley before the penalty was withdrawn.<\/span><\/p>\n

Elsewhere, a Hertfordshire couple who criticised their daughter’s school in emails and a parents’ WhatsApp group were later awarded \u00a320,000 (around \u20b923 lakh\/Rs 1.27 million) compensation after police admitted their arrests had been unlawful.<\/span><\/p>\n

Individually, such incidents may be isolated. Collectively, they contribute to a sense that Britain is becoming more comfortable managing risks, regulating behaviour and avoiding mistakes than embracing opportunities and taking bold decisions.<\/span><\/p>\n

The same contrast is visible in healthcare.<\/span><\/p>\n

For generations Indians looked westward for advanced medical treatment. British medicine enjoyed a reputation that was second to none.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today the reality is more complicated.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many Indians who have experience of both systems increasingly find that access to specialists, diagnostic scans and elective procedures can be faster in India’s leading private hospitals than through Britain’s overstretched NHS.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is not because British doctors are less capable. Far from it. Britain continues to produce outstanding medical professionals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nor does it mean India’s healthcare system has solved its many challenges. Millions of Indians still struggle to access quality healthcare. But for the expanding Indian middle class, a remarkable shift has occurred.<\/span><\/p>\n

The world’s best medical treatment is no longer something available only in London, New York or Boston. Increasingly, it is available in India itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am not alone in noticing this shift.<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier this year, BBC presenter Amol Rajan — one of the most successful journalists of Indian origin in Britain — described India as: “Extraordinarily exciting and energetic in a way that Britain doesn’t always feel.”<\/span><\/p>\n

He also spoke of India as a place: “Where history is being made.”<\/span><\/p>\n

For generations, the direction of aspiration was obvious. Ambitious Indians looked west. Today, at least some successful British Indians appear to be looking east.<\/span><\/p>\n

That does not mean Britain has failed. Nor does it mean India has solved its problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it does suggest that something profound is changing in the balance of confidence between the two countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

The same is true of daily life.<\/span><\/p>\n

A retired professional living in London may spend enormous sums on housing, transport, utilities and routine services.<\/span><\/p>\n

In India, the same individual can often afford a larger home, domestic help, private healthcare, restaurant meals and a richer social life at a fraction of the cost.<\/span><\/p>\n

None of this means Britain is in decline.<\/span><\/p>\n

Its universities remain among the world’s best. Its legal institutions are respected globally. Its financial markets continue to attract international capital.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nor does it mean India has arrived.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pollution, overcrowding, bureaucracy and inequality remain formidable obstacles.<\/span><\/p>\n

But something important has changed.<\/span><\/p>\n

For much of the twentieth century Indians looked at Britain and asked a simple question: “When will we catch up?”<\/span><\/p>\n

Increasingly, another question is emerging: “In which areas have we already done so?”<\/span><\/p>\n

For generations ambitious Indians boarded aircraft for Britain believing they were travelling towards a better future.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many still are. Britain remains a country of immense opportunity and enduring strengths.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet for the first time in decades, the calculation is no longer entirely one-sided.<\/span><\/p>\n

The young engineer leaving Delhi for London today may still believe his future lies in Britain.<\/span><\/p>\n

The more intriguing question is what his children will think twenty years from now. Will they continue looking westward?<\/span><\/p>\n

Or will they discover that some of the most exciting opportunities, the newest infrastructure, the fastest-growing industries and perhaps even a better quality of life are increasingly found in the land their grandparents once left behind?<\/span><\/p>\n

History has a habit of surprising us.<\/span><\/p>\n

For two centuries the traffic of ambition flowed largely in one direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

The next great migration story between Britain and India may not be outward.<\/span><\/p>\n

It may be homeward.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shyam Bhatia is a London-based Indian-born British journalist, writer, and war reporter. He has covered conflicts in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Sudan, and is a former diplomatic editor for ‘The Observer’.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 26 June 2026<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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