The Hindu’s lead on “India, the beautiful — but first, India the functional” lays out a clear priority for the world’s largest democracy: functionality over optics. It stresses that India’s foundational capabilities — infrastructure, governance, service delivery, and systemic efficiency — must be in place to match its global ambitions and cultural appeal. The piece suggests that until core systems work reliably, efforts to enhance India’s brand, attractiveness and soft power will remain constrained by everyday realities that citizens and investors face. This perspective reframes India not just as a land of rich history and diversity, but as a modern nation needing effective institutions, seamless public services, and tangible outcomes for people and business alike.

The editorial calls for gritty, ground-level improvements — from roads and digital access to public health and education outcomes — before lofty narratives of beauty can be fully realised on the global stage. It argues that strong functionality builds trust at home and abroad, enabling India to translate its demographic dividend and cultural magnetism into real economic and social gains. In this view, substance precedes style: a functional India creates a stronger platform for its beautiful narrative to resonate worldwide