The most beautiful thing about our country, India, is the spirit of secularism. Since independence, or should I say ages, India has evolved as a coherence of various cultures, religions, faiths and beliefs. So in the face of every national crisis or catastrophe, we, the Indians, have stood shoulder to shoulder to confront the problem. This unity is evident when a sea of crowd rises up to cheer a a splendid shot during a cricket match or when the whole nation mourns an act of violence by some lunatics on our homeland. When an actor or a singer is performing on the stage, or whenever we get a new prime minister/president, we never question about his/her religion or faith; he/she is just an entity to us. I think this is the most remarkable thing about India. That’s why they say, Incredible India.
We all are individuals in a country of billion people, fighting out each day with our own-selves to make a living for ourselves in this ever-changing world. After 62 years of Independence, we have made great strides in various fields, both in India and on foreign shores. The transition from being an under-developed country to a developing economy with the second highest growth rate, the achievements of Indians has been second to none. Sure this phase has been bumpy with incidents of religious and regional violence. But, the populace is wise enough to understand why such incidents happen. At times we have felt that our leaders have let us down and it seems evident that the people are a little above the curve than the politicians. Yes it’s true that certain individuals are not capable leaders, but one more thing that needs to be introspected is whether what we do every day helps that leader take the right decision? Whether our actions are in the national interest? If charity starts at home then change should also ripple out from homes too. If we enjoyed the “Change is Here” slogan/idea of Obama then we need to implement it into our own lives too so that our generations do not question our intellect. As it is beautifully said by Mahatma Gandhi, “Be the change what you want to see in the world?” That’s what we all need to do; to be a part of the process of a good change and development towards a sensible developed economy. A prime minister/president does not have a magic wand or binoculars to look at each inch of land of the country. It’s our moral duty to secure our boundaries too. If the security forces are protecting the national borders from assholes, then it’s our freelance job to make sure that internally we do not have any such assholes creeping up. If we are Maratha then we have to commemorate Chatrapati ShivaJi by fighting against the injustice than just naming a railway station on his name. Je Apaan Punjabi hone aan, taan punjabiyat dikhao saade desh de against conspire karan waleyaan de against. It’s better than roaming around in open jeeps and shouting out OYE!! at the top of our voices. If we are Kashmiri then we have to kick the assholes holed up somewhere in our state waiting to terrorize the state and nation. Atleast we can do this to help that soldier from Kerala fighting in Siachen.
The government establishment on its part has to make sure that the citizens are motivated and have faith in the politic. One of the answers to the problem is development, pervasive throughout the country. From North to South, West to East. Get every citizen in confidence and involved in the nation building. Traveling across two countries, I have felt that foreigners have genuine respect for our nation and the people. They are mesmerized by our culture and ideals and all the great people we have produced. We have to continue growing and get better each day. We work really hard and let’s continue this effort. The idea is not to reach utopia, but to raise the living standards of every individual in our country.
There is a nice piece of text I read in “World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman. I will rephrase it here.
“When a child in India walks on the road with his father, and looks at a nice mansion across the street with a couple of cars in the parking. He turns to his father and says, Papa! I will work hard and God wiling someday I will be like that man.”
This does sum up our country’s inherent nature.
Jai Hind!
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