We are one of the fastest growing economy in the world. The fastest growing Democracy. Atlast, we shed the Hindu rate of growth of the 80s. Predictions galore. India is the next super power. And already a mini superpower. And more stuff like that. How hopeful are we to achieve this status? How realistic is that hope? Is it like God will show up one day as a knight on a horse back? Or like Sachin Saurav and Rahul can win us a world cup? Even if we grow economically what is the quality of life we are expecting? What about the environmental degradation? And associated health concerns? Are we going to spend the new wealth on water and medicines? Can we ever match the western quality of life even with the new found wealth? Where do we stand today ?
The most basic and fundamental of all requirements, tolerance. How tolerant are we? We are quick to jump on people if we are called racists? Remember Symonds - Bhaji? Are we really racists? We are not. Racism is more diverse and encompassing than what we are? We are casteists, lingustic bigots, regionalists, religious fanatics and least of all, if ever remembered, nationalists. Who can dare to call us racists? It will be years before we get there. So when are we going to heal?
Nation first mentality. We have a bottom up mentality and we never reach the top. Except in rarest of rare cases. Indo US Nuke deal is one example. But to get there Cong let regional satraps run away with so many things. Regional aspirations overtake national interests. And almost all states bordering the international boundaries (or LoC / LAC ... whatever it is called) have problems integrating with the mainstream. North East is like a separate country. Kashmir is still boiling. Naxals are entering newer territories and have a new found vigor since the communists took power in Nepal. 60 years since Independence and we are yet to secure our boundaries. How long can we fool students with wrong maps? How much of the actual published maps are under Indian control? How much are under atleast the Military control? How much of it has civilian leadership?
Accountability. Something our politicians and babus never heard about. What are they accountable for? How long do they spend time in the Parliament? How many times do they sleep during the sessions? Do they perform any duty commiserate with the pay (Approx 16000 per month)? How much time a common man being paid that money spends at work as against these MPs? When they cannot even attend the sessions and ask the right questions and get things done, how dumb are we to vote them back to power time and again? On the other side, how many of us vote? No excuses. Name not in the voter list, recently moved, out of town, hot outside, sick.... Think about the Cinema ticket lines we stood in, time wasted watching cricket matches during work days, time spent on Diwali shopping, and ofcourse in Tirupathi queue. Did we ever complain then?
Corruption. I don agree Western democracies are perfect. They all have issues. But with a difference. We need not bribe someone to perform his duty. Bribe is to make someone do something to bypass laws. In India, to get a the govt servant perform his duty he needs to bribed. What does it take to clean this? Education? Integrity? Higher salary? Discipline? We are always ready to jump with on politicians about black money. Given today's real estate prices, how many of us own black money? Are we not corrupt? Are we not greedy? Its just that we did not get our hands on such money before and when we did, we proved we are no different than our favourite corrupt politician.
To be counted and respected we need to show more discipline in everyday life. The way we ride on the roads, dispose garbage, personal hygiene. No road is wide enough the way we drive. Any number of garbage disposal dumpsters will not solve the problem if we are not ready to walk to it and drop the bag off. No clean wall will be seen till we stop spitting and peeing as we wish. So we need to behave when we travel and at home.
We should stop claiming things and instead make the world notice us. Imitation is the best form flattery. So stop mimicing the west and make them mimic us. Don't stop with Yoga.
To be continued...
The most basic and fundamental of all requirements, tolerance. How tolerant are we? We are quick to jump on people if we are called racists? Remember Symonds - Bhaji? Are we really racists? We are not. Racism is more diverse and encompassing than what we are? We are casteists, lingustic bigots, regionalists, religious fanatics and least of all, if ever remembered, nationalists. Who can dare to call us racists? It will be years before we get there. So when are we going to heal?
Nation first mentality. We have a bottom up mentality and we never reach the top. Except in rarest of rare cases. Indo US Nuke deal is one example. But to get there Cong let regional satraps run away with so many things. Regional aspirations overtake national interests. And almost all states bordering the international boundaries (or LoC / LAC ... whatever it is called) have problems integrating with the mainstream. North East is like a separate country. Kashmir is still boiling. Naxals are entering newer territories and have a new found vigor since the communists took power in Nepal. 60 years since Independence and we are yet to secure our boundaries. How long can we fool students with wrong maps? How much of the actual published maps are under Indian control? How much are under atleast the Military control? How much of it has civilian leadership?
Accountability. Something our politicians and babus never heard about. What are they accountable for? How long do they spend time in the Parliament? How many times do they sleep during the sessions? Do they perform any duty commiserate with the pay (Approx 16000 per month)? How much time a common man being paid that money spends at work as against these MPs? When they cannot even attend the sessions and ask the right questions and get things done, how dumb are we to vote them back to power time and again? On the other side, how many of us vote? No excuses. Name not in the voter list, recently moved, out of town, hot outside, sick.... Think about the Cinema ticket lines we stood in, time wasted watching cricket matches during work days, time spent on Diwali shopping, and ofcourse in Tirupathi queue. Did we ever complain then?
Corruption. I don agree Western democracies are perfect. They all have issues. But with a difference. We need not bribe someone to perform his duty. Bribe is to make someone do something to bypass laws. In India, to get a the govt servant perform his duty he needs to bribed. What does it take to clean this? Education? Integrity? Higher salary? Discipline? We are always ready to jump with on politicians about black money. Given today's real estate prices, how many of us own black money? Are we not corrupt? Are we not greedy? Its just that we did not get our hands on such money before and when we did, we proved we are no different than our favourite corrupt politician.
To be counted and respected we need to show more discipline in everyday life. The way we ride on the roads, dispose garbage, personal hygiene. No road is wide enough the way we drive. Any number of garbage disposal dumpsters will not solve the problem if we are not ready to walk to it and drop the bag off. No clean wall will be seen till we stop spitting and peeing as we wish. So we need to behave when we travel and at home.
We should stop claiming things and instead make the world notice us. Imitation is the best form flattery. So stop mimicing the west and make them mimic us. Don't stop with Yoga.
To be continued...
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