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# System prepended metadata

title: Lab 8

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# Slide 6: Indian Advantages – Unintended

But over time, Indians also began to benefit in unexpected ways.
- They became familiar with modern technology, like trains and printing presses.
- The press helped spread nationalist ideas — Serampore Press, and later Indian-run papers played a big role.
- Trains allowed freedom fighters to travel and connect with people across the country.
- English education produced leaders like Gandhi, Nehru, Ambedkar, and Tilak.

# Slide 7: Technology for Resistance

Eventually, Indians used British technology against colonial rule.
- Newspapers like Kesari (by Tilak) and Young India (by Gandhi) created political awareness.
- Educated Indians questioned the British using their own laws and systems.
- Railways and the telegraph helped organize protests like the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1920.
- Technology became a weapon of the colonised.

# Slide 8: A Modern Parallel – Digital Colonialism

Now, let's compare this to today's world.
- Today, companies like Google, Meta, and Amazon dominate the digital space.
- We, Indians, create a lot of data every day—by searching, watching videos, shopping, and posting online.
- But foreign companies use our data to make huge profits, while India gets very little. This is like digital exploitation.
- Just like during colonialism, we are dependent on external systems.
- Now, data is the new raw material. Are we becoming a digital colony?

# Slide 9: What the Past Teaches Us

So what can we learn from history?
- Technology is powerful, but only if we control it.
- The same technology that started as a tool of control became a tool of resistance.
- Today, India must invest in its own digital systems — like India Stack, UPI, and ONDC.
- The goal should be digital independence and innovation.

# Slide 10: Conclusion

In conclusion:
- Technology under the British was a double-edged sword.
- It started as a way to control us — but eventually helped us fight for freedom.
- In today's digital world, we face a similar choice.
- Do we stay users of someone else's systems?
- Or do we become creators and custodians of our own future?

Thank you.