EVERY INDIAN DREAMS OF TURNING INDIA INTO A SUPERPOWER. BUT HOW WILL HE/SHE CONTRIBUTE TO THIS, DREAM? THAT IS RATHER A TOUGH QUESTION! WE ARE A COUNTRY OF 1.2 BILLION PEOPLE, AND EACH HAS THEIR OWN DREAM. AND IN THIS ETHNICALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE POPULATION, EACH DREAM IS DISTINCT. SOME MIGHT BELIEVE IN ONE DREAM, OTHERS MIGHT DIFFER.
INDIA IS TRADITIONALLY CALLED BHARAT. ‘BHA’ MEANS LIGHT AND ‘RAT’ MEANS ENGAGED.THUS EVERY BHARATIYA IS ENGAGED IN SPREADING THE LIGHT OF KNOWLEDGE. BUT HOW WILL WE ACHIEVE THIS IF WE ARE TORN APART BY PROTEST AFTER PROTEST? PROTEST AGAINST BOOKS, NOVELS OR EVEN ARTICLES THAT HAVE A SLIGHTLY CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF OUR BELIEFS.
THE MOST HEINOUS THEFT THAT IS TAKING PLACE TODAY IS NOT THAT OF THE NATIONAL COFFERS. IT IS THE THEFT OF OUR RIGHTS! WE ARE BEING DEPRIVED OF LIBERTY AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION. EVEN WHEN A MOVIE DEPICTS AND IDEA AGAINST A COMMUNITY’S BELIEF,WE ARE SHAKEN FROM OUR ROOTS AND RATTLE THE NATION WITH PROTESTS. WE ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY INTOLERANT. SOME PEOPLE CLAMOR THAT NEW IDEAS DISTURB OUR CULTURAL FOUNDATIONS. BUT I BELIEVE THAT IF A CULTURE IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO SUSTAIN ITSELF THEN IT SHOULDN’T EXIST. ITS TIME THAT WE LEARN TO BE TOLERANT AND KEEP AN OPEN MIND TO NEW IDEAS.
WE INDIANS ARE HYPOCRITES! ON ONE HAND WE WORSHIP GODDESSES, AND ON THE OTHER HAND INDIA HAS BEEN AS ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACES FOR WOMEN. THE PROBLEM IS NOT ONLY WITH OUR ADMINISTRATION BUT ALSO WITH OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM WHICH HAS FAILED TO TEACH STUDENTS ABOUT GENDER EQUALITY. INDIA IS THE LAND WHERE PHILOSOPHERS LIKE GARGI AND MAITRI FLOURISHED AND ALSO A COUTRY KNOWN FOR RAPES. SOME SAY THAT RAPES TAKE PLACE IN ‘INDIA’ AND NOT IN ‘BHARAT’. HOWEVER THE STATISTICS BEG TO DIFFER. ITS TIME WE REALISE THAT THE HAND WHICH ROCKS THE CRADLE IS THE HAND WHICH RULES THE WORLD.
THE GOVERNANCE IN INDIA IS ALSO AT ITS WORST! NO HEED IS BEING PAID TO THE COMMON MAN AND THE BASIC AMENITIES THAT HE NEEDS. THE WOMB OF MOTHER INDIA HAS BECOME SO SICK THAT IT HAS STOPPED PRODUCING THE KIND OF POLITICIANS THAT WE HAD DURING THE ENTIRE FREEDOM MOVEMENT. GOOD GOVERNANCE NEEDS TO BE ACHIEVED, WHATEVER THE COST MAY BE!
WE ALSO BOAST ABOUT INDIA BEING A THRIVING DEMOCRACY. BUT ON CLOSE OBSERVATION, IS THIS TRUE? ‘DEMOCRACY’ MEANS ‘RULE OF THE PEOPLE’, BUT WE DON’T SEE THIS HAPPENING AT THE GROUND LEVEL. PEOPLE VOTE ONCE IN EVERY FIVE YEARS AND ARE THEN FORGOTTEN BY ELECTED POLITICIANS. THEY DON’T EVEN HAVE A SAY IN THE GOVERNANCE, ECONOMIC AND FOREIGN POLICIES AND ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES. THESE POWERS ARE VESTED IN THE HAND OF A HANDFUL. INDIA WILL BE A SUPERPOWER ONLY WHEN THE PEOPLE START QUESTIONING AND CHALLENGING THE POLICIES THAT WE ARE OTHERWISE FORCED TO ACCEPT!
ECONOMICS: DOES IT WORK IN INDIA ON THE BASIC FUNDAMENTALS OF DEMAND AND SUPPLY? THE EXECUTIVE CLASS IN THE COUNTRY IS INFESTED WITH CRONY CAPITALISM. TAKE THE ISSUE OF FDI. THE GOVERNMENT REFUSED TO PASS THE FDI BILL EVEN THOUGH ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES CLEARLY SUGGESTED THAT IT ACTS AS AN INCENTIVE DOMESTIC BUSINESS HOUSES TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY. CONSUMES ARE EXPOSED TO MORE CHOICES AT AFFORDABLE RATES. DEMAND AND SUPPLY ARE THE BASIC DYNAMICS ACCORDING TO WHICH THE ECONOMY SHOULD WORK. THUS, PEOPLE MUST BE CONSULTED AND A COLLECTIVE DECISION MUST BE MADE INSTEAD OF A HANDFUL OF ELITE DECIDING UPON POLICIES.
WE INDIANS OFTEN ENGAGE IN PULLING EACH OTHER DOWN IN ORDER TO AHEAD. WE DON’T REALIZE THE POWER OF UNITY.
THUS, WE NEED TO REVIVE TOLERANCE, SHED VENGEANCE AND SELFISHNESS AND BECOME MIGHTY IN OUR THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS. WHY MUST WE STRUGGLE FOR SWARAJYA WHEN IT IS OUR BIRTHRIGHT? INDIA OF MY DREAMS WILL BE A PLACE WHERE MY BIRTHRIGHT WILL BE BESTOWED UPON ME UNCONDITIONLLY!