Old Wines in new bottles...?

CK Prahlad was in IIMA campus today and while he talked at length ( on LKP lawns) on re-framing outlook towards newer growth paths and strategy for India's development,what came out to me was old wine in newer bottles.The broad question is(which itself is too general)-if something very dramatic always existed ,why was it not seen before.My answer to that is that for few cases- every idea has its own time,and when the right time comes,then the world appreciates the value of that idea as a 'New paradigm'.Historically,its a proven fact that today's new paradigms become obsolete @ the speed of thought of human minds and also @ the speed of acceptance of the civilisation at large, goes to show that every human thought is transient and of only some relative value( as compared to any absolute value,which is difficult to prove)

If some of you are confused as to what I have just said,I'll leave you to ponder with this....

Rural,illiterate and poor Indians always existed,and were always the largest bulk of consumers as a single segment.If that is so,then does it constitute a new paradigm,if we suddenly realise that they are as much value seeking as their literate,urban and rich Indian counterparts!Was it a common sight,which everyone already understood,but marketers weren't interested in tapping them as consumers?...or is 'Reality( or perceived reality) a function of our conceptualisation skills...?'
For today's perceived reality is tommorrow's history...