India, May 31 -- It's that time of the year. Airfares compete with mercury in soaring higher and higher. I end up spending my summers, year after year, checking flights and hotels from my bed, paralysed by the shocks of heat and dynamic pricing. I have the privilege of air conditioning and an uninterrupted power supply, so maybe I'm not too keen on contributing to Indian tourism's targeted growth: 7% share of GDP by 2030. Going by the traffic jam reports from all the hill stations this weekend, however, I'm an outlier.

India's development conundrum is clearly visible in how we behave during the summer vacations. If we have the means, we jet off for a foreign holiday, trying our best not to encounter another Indian on the streets, at the ...