5 min readAug 30, 2026 06:22 AM IST First published on: Aug 30, 2026 at 06:22 AM ISTAlmost from the day that Narendra Modi became prime minister, he has urged Indians to dream big dreams. At international events he has boasted often that India no longer has small dreams. And we have been reminded so often that by 2047 India will be a developed country that on social media, there are jokes about how the prime minister seems to believe that 2047 is the year that comes after 2026. Following Modi’s lead, his chief ministers routinely tell us in expensive full-page newspaper advertisements and glittering TV promotions that their states, in keeping with ‘the vision of Modiji’, are aiming to become trillion-dollar economies by 2047.It is a good thing to dream big dreams. I totally support big dreams and have been very proud of the pace at which the Modi government and sundry other ‘double-engine’ governments have speeded up the building of glittering, new highways. They look dismal as they disintegrate when the rains come, but that is another story. I also support the idea of building ‘smart cities’ and bringing high-quality urban services to rural parts and have said more than once that Modi’s toilet-building programme has been transformative. Those long lines of men squatting beside the tracks is no longer a common sight when you look out of the window of your Vande Bharat trains. But, in building big dreams some very important small dreams have been forgotten.