Joan and I are in Mumbai to speak at a forum presented by GiveIndia, a group formed to increase the pitifully low philanthropic levels among the fast-growing upper and middle classes here.

On our tour of the city yesterday, our driver, Gautam, pointed out the towering new apartment buildings and offices of the affluent businesspeople in this growing economy. "Thats the front of the picture," he said. "The one they want you to see."

Then he pointed to the sprawling slums nearby. "And that is the back of the picture, the one you see when you look behind the nice front. It's the real story."

Actually, they are both the real story. This country, like many, is focused on growth and growth means opportunity for affluence (as the Rolls Royces we have seen show) or at least possibility (as the young go-getter entrepreneurs show).

That's where conscious sharing comes in. The understanding that we are on this planet to be part of something interconnected. The recognition that we are happiest when we are working in harmony to make others' lives better.

If we get this right, in India and the U.S. and elsewhere, maybe then the whole picture will be one we can all show off proudly.