“There
is nothing good to say about this country” Satvik said to the surprise of the
audience and the elders sitting on the dais.
The
Chandni Housing Society members were celebrating Independence Day and after the
flag hoisting the members had assembled near the flag post. About 100 society
members were present. The president Rahul Joshi a retired Indian Foreign
Services officer, secretary Jaheerudin and the chief guest Father Emanuel from
the neighborhood church were on the dais.
Satvik
continued “What should I be proud of? Infrastructure is horrible. We have roads
in between potholes. We have bad storm drainage systems . Even a lesser
intensity rain is enough to flood our roads.
Corruption is everywhere. Without
warming the hands no work is possible in many offices. There is little place
for honesty. Many times I wonder why these people should be paid salaries. They
do not do any work without being paid extra.
Population is the major problem of the
country. We see people everywhere. Inequality is in all the spheres of life. Many
are living below poverty line and few are ultra rich.
No doubt that the best brains are
leaving the country for good and not returning back”
He finished and walked down and sat on the chair in the last row. It was Independence Day celebrations and this kind of speech was
least expected from anyone. It definitely did not go well with the audience.
Jaheerudin looked visibly disturbed. He
got up and walked to the mike and started “I heard Satvik beta talking. He is
highly educated person. But I am pained by the way the new educated people look
at our country. If your mother is not in good health do you disown her? If your
country is not having many good things, do you stop feeling proud about it? We
are born here, live here and die here. If we want the country to be good let us
start working towards it” saying so he went back and sat on his chair.
Rahul Joshi looked at Father Emanuel. Father
smiled at him and asked him to address the audience. He came closer to Joshi
and said “Sir you have seen the world closely. Please make it a point to
explain to our new generation the importance of our motherland and why they
should feel proud about her”.
Joshi smiled back at father and walked
to the podium. He started “My dear brothers and sisters of Chandni Housing Society,
warm Independence Day greetings.
We all are lucky to live in this country
which is the largest and most vibrant democracy in the world. We have to
remember today the sacrifices made by our forefathers fighting the British to
get freedom for this great nation.
Imagine one hundred thousand British
people controlling about 350 million Indians. It is like 3 to 4 people
controlling Wankhade stadium filled with 50000 spectators. How could they do
it? They could do it because we were not united and we were not aware of the
hidden agenda of the British who came as traders and ended up ruling us.
Now no nation would dare to dream of such thing. We have far superior
military capabilities now. Despite all this we are always using our strength to be in
preparedness to protect our boundaries rather than to attack other countries.
Agreed that we have bad roads and many
roads are dug by the authorities to lay pipelines and cables. All this is happening for improving infrastructure for the future. Traffic
is being disrupted due to the construction activity of the metro rail network
in the city and the authorities are laying huge pipeline crisscrossing the city
to ensure adequate drinking water supply for generations to come. The issue
here is the delay that occurs in repairing the roads back. They need to improve
on that.
Corruption is spread like cancer in the
society. Do we not agree that only when we are ready to bribe someone, the
person becomes corrupt? Many a times it becomes impossible to get a work done
without bribing. I would say that somewhere someone has to take a bold step and
ensure that he does not bribe anyone. Once precedent is set things may
definitely fall in place.
We are the second most populous country in the world. We have the largest Hindu, Jain and
Sikh populations in the world. We have the second largest Muslim population in
the world. We have very diverse society and our concept of secularism is
tolerance towards all religions.
I had the opportunity to visit the Sakha
Yakutia republic of Russia during my posting in Moscow. It is almost the size
of India and has less than one million people living there. The capital city Yakutsk
has a population of three hundred thousand and the average temperature is -28 deg C in January and may go down to -64 deg C during peak
winter. The question that came to my mind was not how people lived there but
why people lived there. I spoke to many residents there and they told me that
it was their city and they would love to be there and harsh weather was not deterring
them.
We are lucky to have tropical climate in
our country where in all the 365 days we have pleasant weather suitable for
easy human living. Let us look at the residents at Yakutsk and be happy that nature
has been very kind to us.
The huge population is our strength. We
add one Australian population every year. We have a middle class population as
big as the population of US. The external
economy crises will not have devastating impact on our economy as we have a
robust economy driver by huge internal consumption.
Many well educated Indians leave the
nation for better pastures. They are settling in America, Europe, Oceania and
the Middle East. They are not forgetting
India in the process. In fact I have met many of these people and sometimes I
get a feeling that they are more Indian than us.
They are remitting money back home and
are acting as good will ambassadors of our nation.
Satvik if you are complaining about
wrong things around you in India , you will find many. You look for one you will find hundred.
Instead find an opportunity in every challenge you come across. India is a
growing economy and has huge potential for investments and development. Realize
that a nation is not made of mud, rocks and trees but it is made of people. The
nation reflects the people residing in it. If you want change in the nation be
the agent of change. The change may be small but work on it. If every Indian
works towards changing something for the better, the nation will prosper fast”.
After few more minutes Rahul Joshi
completed his speech and sat on the chair. Father Emanuel did not take much
time delivering his chief guest speech. He was crisp in blessing the audience. He
praised Joshi for his motivational speech and said “Satvik after listening to
Joshi sir has your opinion about our nation changed?”
Satvik got up from the chair and said “It
is not that I do not like my country. I love it more than anything in my life.
I spoke out of frustration. After listening to Joshi sir there are no doubts in
my mind. Am pragmatic and look forward to a bright and developing India. Instead
of asking what the country has to give you, question yourself about what you are
doing for the country.”
Great narrative... Right timing... Time to start doing a bit to the betterment of this country... Vande Mataram...
ReplyDeleteGreat narrative... Right timing... Time to start doing a bit to the betterment of this country... Vande Mataram...
ReplyDelete