Mega-scams shattered state credibility, paralysed governance and ignited mass anti-corruption protests, turning graft into a political liability that eroded trust, weakened institutions and damaged the ruling establishment
This decade had in store for India ambition and drift, empowerment and disillusionment, rising global confidence, corporate expansion and sporting triumphs.
The UPA’s decade began by chance, governed through consensus and welfare, unravelled amid policy paralysis and corruption scandals, and ended by clearing the ground for Modi’s rise
Regional leaders turned state-level dominance into national leverage, weakening Delhi’s authority, reshaping coalition politics and forcing the Centre into dependence
UPA’s economy swung from high-growth global confidence to inflation, policy paralysis and capital flight, stabilising late under crisis management, but ending in exhaustion, lost credibility and an electorate unconvinced by belated recovery signs
A turbulent decade saw global terror, weakened states and shifting power, testing leaders, democracies and societies amid uncertainty
In this decade, India transformed welfare into legal entitlements through RTI, MGNREGA, Aadhaar and food security, expanding citizenship rights but failing to dismantle caste and minority disadvantage
Repeated terror attacks, from city bombings to 26/11 and Maoist violence, exposed intelligence failures, weak coordination and homegrown radicalisation, forcing India to confront the limits of security amid rising ambition
Repeated crimes against women triggered public outrage and tougher laws, but entrenched power structures, weak enforcement and social attitudes ensured that legal reform outpaced real safety and lasting justice
From an anti-corruption crusade into a political force that successfully converted RTI activism and public anger into electoral power, the Aam Aadmi Party was once unassailable in the national capital but failed nationally against Modi’s broader leadership appeal
Narendra Modi converted Gujarat’s electoral dominance and a development narrative into national authority, capitalising on UPA drift and public exhaustion to deliver India’s first decisive post-coalition mandate
Repeated disasters exposed India’s climate vulnerability even as global climate leadership grew, but weak governance, reactive planning and diluted enforcement ensured awareness did not translate into meaningful mitigation
Indian sport delivered historic victories and new heroes, but rapid commercialisation, weak governance and corruption scandals exposed its fragility, proving that sporting greatness without accountability is ultimately unsustainable
Indian cinema globalised, corporatised and digitised, embracing box-office metrics and superstardom while quietly losing its cultural monopoly as online platforms and fragmented audiences reshaped storytelling and power.
In the decade between 2005 and 2015, India’s public conversation was shaped not only by elections, growth curves and street protests but also by books that flew off the shelves, crimes that unsettled middle-class living rooms, and once-revered figures who fell from grace. These years reflected a society in churn, aspirational yet anxious, globally visible yet inwardly conflicted. Cultural success and moral collapse coexisted in the same headlines
How a boom decade transformed money, bodies, faith, intimacy and risk, leaving aspiration restless, morality performative and private lives reshaped
