Is Mahendra Singh Dhoni more than a cricket captain for India?

Yeah, even I think what the title suggests is pretty weird!

I've always heard/read of old times' India, seen it a little bit during childhood. One thing that has not changed ever is the passion for the sport of cricket. If I speak about love for cricket in India, it'll be like underlining for billionth time!

While growing up I used to watch Indian teams that were king at home on dusty pitches with outfields resembling nothing but deserts.

Those were the times when one dive on Indian grounds could risk your bones, when most of the players who could be best described as 5'5" 50 kg bodies which spoke of malnutrition & poverty in India, when tours were just meant for holidays & shopping, when all media could talk was margins of victory - Indian victories if we played home or other country's if we played away. Yes, those were the times when Indian commentators used to lambaste Indian batsmen for showing even minuscule sign of aggression, when Indians saw nothing but Miandad's sixer or Imran Khan's yorker in their nightmares!
Aah, those were the days when India played the Gentleman's Game Gently!

Not anymore!
Dhoni's team is full of hefty youngsters - they don't look frail or weak when standing with an Aussie, they don't get intimidated, they're not scared, they can kick A**es with bat/bowl/words!
They never take anything lying down, they give everything back perhaps with more vengeance!
And mind you it's not just the aggression - it's aggression with talent and performance.

What made a guy like Sehwag be so arrogant in batting like the way he does? Has anyone seen a front view of his bat?
In a country that still treats 'sex' as a taboo, how come Zaheer Khan acknowledges the 'best chest' award by Mumbai girls? How can Yuvraj be so confident of having the 'best ass'? (are we talking of India here? :O)
Why wasn't Ganguly ashamed of ripping off his shirt on Lord's balcony where anything less than a coat is 'indecent'?
Why doesn't Dhoni treat Sachin, the god, special? Why such a 'senior' person covers the boundary in death overs? Did anyone ever even think of anything like that before in Indian cricket?
How come the captain of the Indian cricket is cool under pressure? Where's all the burden of billions of Indians' expectations?
This bloody team beats other teams in their backyards, they're not afraid of traveling, they're not afraid of Murali's, Warne's, Akhtar's!

Mumbai crowd harasses Andrew Symonds till he gets away, Indian cricket pressurizes 'white' nations to play according to their conditions, 'whiter & richer' cricket countries form a union against India & still fail to affect: Isn't that unusual for India?
What happened all of a sudden?

If people still think this is limited to just cricket: look around again, see Indians around you if possible.
Every youngster today relates to this Indian cricket team, we have come far & beyond!
Bollywood & cricket have inspired India a lot, but this is the time when India has affected Cricket!
Look at this team: they're not guys from Mumbai or Delhi, they're from a small UP village or a Maharashtra small town or from a very poor Muslim family in Gujarat town. They have not had their childhood dedicated to cricket.

On the same veins, look at Indian youngsters - they're no more like their parents. Many of them are not even dependent by the time they turn 21. In the country that taught 'save-when-you-earn', they buy things they want when they want. Where pubs/discs are a no-no, the new India makes plans for parties every weekend. In a country where holidays meant visiting a religious place with family, they go holidaying with friends. - is only money & spending capacity (or technology) responsible for all this?

Not really.
India's truly going places and this may just be that time of metamorphosis. Look at the attitude shift, Indians are no more ashamed of their color or even their habits.
And just like the cricket team, this is not just the outlook - but there's talent to back it up too.
Ofcourse, there are problems just like Indian team's losses. However, what strikes you the most is how India handles these losses/failures these days?

Isn't Dhoni someone who truly represents the new India? The India my generation belongs to?