These were the words published on 1st Jan 07 on the front page of 'Times of Inida'.
There are two Indian in this country.
One India is straining at the leash, eager to spring forth and live up to all the adjectives that the world has been showering recently upon us.
The other India is the leash.
One India says, give me a chance and I’ll prove myself. The other India says, prove yourself first and maybe then you’ll have a chance.
One India lives in the optimism of our hearts. The other India lurks in the skepticism of our minds.
One India wants. The other India hopes.
One India leads. The other India follows.
But the conversions are on the rise. With each passing day more and more people from the other India have been coming over to this side.
And quietly, while the world is not looking, a pulsating, dynamic, new India is emerging.
An India whose faith in success is far greater than its fear of failure.
An India that no longer boycotts foreign-made goods but buys out the companies that make them instead.
History, they say, is a bad motorist. It rarely ever signals its intentions when it is taking a turn.
This is that rarely – ever moment. History is turning a page.
For more than half a century, our nation has sprung, stumbled, run, fallen, rolled over, got up, dusted herself and cantered, sometimes lurched on.
But today, as we begin our 60th year as a free nation, the ride has brought us to the edge of time’s great precipice.
And one India – a tiny little voice at the back of the head – is looking down at the bottom of the ravine and hesitating.
The other India is looking up at the sky and saying, it’s time to fly.
4 comments:
Good one ...
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- Alok -
I agree with you that our time is Now, But How?
Optimism is good when it’s coupled with sense of practicality, pragmatism and authentic facts.
Looking on the periphery, it always appears too good to be true. These days we are daily (more precisely Hourly) inundated with the unrelenting flows of spirited fairytales, news, and success stories, growth stories of India and its people from our Government and much-hyped media.
Agree, India's GDP growth has been unprecedented almost at an average of 6-8 % over 5-6 years.
Agree, The average monthly income of an Indian for the first time in India's history has crossed Rs. 3,000.
Agree, we have a pool of talented work force that made India reach top in IT Service Industry.
Agree, Our Stock-markets have given whopping 65% returns of 6 years of period.
Agree, we are world’s second fastest growing economy in the world.
Looking at the above macro factors to feel upbeat, I have no rationale but to believe that Our time is Now.
Nevertheless, on the flip side, following factors of India make me worrywart and pessimistic.
One of the most appalling things India has is the fact that it has 30-40 million people living below the poverty line. That implies 40 % of the Indian population may or may not get daily food and do not have proper access to basic amenities of life i.e. Bijlee, Sadak and Pani or Roti, Kapda aur Makan. This also suggests that this section of people anyhow would not be able to obtain education. Now, India has another 20-25 million people who are above the poor level, but due to improper guidance, Government aid, uneducated parents could not obtain education. This statistics imply that 60-65 % of total Indian Population are uneducated and hence hindered in terms of their growth, both personal and economical. This uneducated population always brings about the uncivilized society. Human Development Index of India is worst than 127 countries. Average Indian has no growth as such in terms of human development.
Despite India has so-called entered the 21st century, still here Gender apartheid exists. Women are treated here as Sex Slaves, object of hatred or more precisely Object of spite malice. Whatsoever Indian husbands face in his day-to-day life, be it the loss in the business, or rift with boss, or fight with friends. All their pent-up frustration is bound to pass on to their Women by beating them up, maligning them by coarse language. Do you know 10 women are burnt every hour in our great country? Here in our country able-bodied men are always ready to pounce on the defenseless women in public places. But the unfortunate thing is nobody interferes. It's because nobody really give a damn. People of India are timid, insecure, and selfish when it comes to confrontation with Government, Police, Bureaucrats, or local Governance body. Take the example of recent brutal attacks on Women in Mangalore/Bangalore. Has anyone cared?
The data shows that 30% of the demands for bribes in India are from the police. The bureaucrats (BABUs) are born crooked and behave like they are authorized to take the bribe. Worst than that, Come 2015 it would be possible in our Country that for getting married also we need to bribe the registrar.
Continued in the next post...
Part 2 continues...
Off late, Terror has now become a significant part of every Indian's life. There is a lot of interest in fighting terrorism, but unfortunately the unrequited questions still haunts; do we have proper Law and Order in place? The question of trustworthiness of the country, where it takes 13 years to solve a 1993 spiteful Bombay Blast Case, where Most high-regarded place of India i.e. Parliament attack's convict do not get capital punishment after long 8 years just because he hails from the minority.
Government often forgets that India has larger minorities other than Muslims. For Government of India, Only Muslims are Minor and under-privileged; hence, always require a leg-up, from OBC quote for Medical, IIM, and IIT etc. to Special reservation. Question yourself is it attributable to several decades long Vote-bank Politics? Take Our Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mr. A. K. Antulya (read here a ‘Muslim’) created a gale when he insinuated that the killing of Mr. Hemant Karkare, chief of ATS have been the outcome of a conspiracy of radical Hindus seeking revenge for his targeting them in his investigation into the bomb blast in Malegaon town. What a baseless and unfortunate remark for our country and its leadership? Nevermind, this happens only in India.
What we have to say about the widening social divide between the rich and the poor, Rich are endlessly getting richer, and poor are getting poorer.
Our caste system and Cast reservations (ST, SC, OBC) has in aggregate had detrimental effects for Our country’s internal stability, and the lowest classes face significantly more disadvantages than the rest of section of Indians.
What we think about the Unrest in the Northeastern State, the ULFAs, the Maoits, and the Naxalites??
Ask someday any of the Northeast Indians; Do they feel proud to be India? Ask them do they even consider themselves as Indians?
Needless to comment about the Kashmir issue and infiltration of Pakistan-backed militants.
Take the critical problem of Electricity we face in India, Erratic and insufficient electricity supply has long been a serious obstacle to higher economic growth for our country. Power generation capacity stands at 120,000 MW which is far below the peak demand of 164, 000 MW.
Above points are nothing but dispiriting for me to think for the overall stabilization and upward growth for India for next 10years.
However, despite these many issues, problems, tribulations – communal, regional, civilizational; Our country and its people have stood apart and have taken our India at prestigious level to stand among the potential super power countries.
To me, what we, Indian, lack is a thorough form of discipline. We should develop within a sense of discipline and regulation. We only can shape our country the way we want it to be, for us, for our future generation, for our rich past and future.
Because,
India works because we, Indian people, make it work.
Jai Hind !!
Hi Nirav,
Thanks for such a beautiful comment. I do agree we do have problems but dont you think inspite of these problems we are doing good. I know we can do better and I am sure people like us will make this place still better.
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