So .... am I glad that British ruled India ?

This is what can be said about the "British rule was good for India " debate.
It started after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave a speech in Oxford (Via Hindu), which in part lauded British rule.
The part which lauded were,

"However, what is significant about the Indo-British relationship is the fact that despite the economic impact of colonial rule, the relationship between individual Indians and Britons, even at the time of our Independence, was relaxed and, I may even say, benign"

and...

"Today, with the balance and perspective offered by the passage of time and the benefit of hindsight, it is possible for an Indian Prime Minister to assert that India's experience with Britain had its beneficial consequences too. Our notions of the rule of law, of a Constitutional government, of a free press, of a professional civil service, of modern universities and research laboratories have all been fashioned in the crucible where an age old civilization met the dominant Empire of the day. These are all elements which we still value and cherish. Our judiciary, our legal system, our bureaucracy and our police are all great institutions, derived from British-Indian administration and they have served the country well.
Of all the legacies of the Raj, none is more important than the English language and the modern school system. "

In my previous post I had preferred to agree with alka diwedi,
here I will try to enunciate my thoughts.

What is my position on this ? Well it is this.

British did have some positive influence (more on this some time later) on India.
I agree.
If there were no British rule there will not be above positive influence .
Here I disagree.

Now peole who take above position assume this , British Rule or no interaction!
This assumption in my view is incorrect.

Since ancient times India has always been in constant interaction with outside world, through trade and through war. It was a major centre for trade along with china in asia.
People forget that British colonized India in the first place because of its land and resources.
Gold was the operative word in Gold,Glory and God

European enlightenment and subsequent Industrial revolution are among the most important events in the history of human civilization and there is near certainity that it would have reached even if little late. I could think of two possible scenarios

Indian merchants come in contact with new ideas, they in turn spread it.
British remain in India but only as a marginal player in presence of a strong central authority.

The mechanism for any of these scenarios could be simple or convoluted, but in my view it is certain that Industrial revoultion would have come to India.

Reformers, many of them saints, in south and in north worked against social oppression and dogma, the point ofcourse is while India was not a perfect civilization in middle ages it was not stagnant either so it is not complete truth that british started social reform in India.
If anything it can be argued that British aggravated caste inequities,
by impoverishing farmers with high taxes,draconian laws and oppressive revenue collection system and by dispossesing Indians artisans and tradespeople of the markets and resources.

Now when people say that British rule was good for India or even British rule had positive influence over India, in my opinion they are subconsously trying to rationalise British rule,
the reason for this is ofcourse that since most of us are never encouraged to explore our history whatever we know of our civilization is from advent of British rule and hence this desire to search for some light which can explain our nations.
Our meekness reminds of that episode in Ramayana when Lord Hanuman has to cross sea to reach Lanka and he is in self-doubt, I think that India is passing through such a phase.

In conclusion , I do not think that British rule was good and to talk of any positive influence is rather irrelevant.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh touched other issues in his speech regarding British legacy, I will try to organize my thoughts on it later.