It was Jan 26th again. Another year went by with India being a Republic. What did we do on that day? Most of us sat around at home watching the parade on TV. School children would have attended school functions where some chief guest would hoist the national flag and make a speech which none of the kids will be interested to listen to. Then they go home and continue their activities like games, studies, TV etc. This is what we have seen, as children ourselves and now as parents. Elders at home may tell some stories of their past when they start with “India was never like this when I was your age…….”
True, maybe, I was not born at that time to verify it, but I would be inclined to believe the emotions in their words when they talked about their (and our) Motherland with Pride, Love, Affection, Care as if it was their mother and now express Sadness, Angst, disappointment, even disgust at the present state country is in.
True, maybe, I was not born at that time to verify it, but I would be inclined to believe the emotions in their words when they talked about their (and our) Motherland with Pride, Love, Affection, Care as if it was their mother and now express Sadness, Angst, disappointment, even disgust at the present state country is in.
What the hell happened??!!
Yes, it is the same question being asked by more than a few people who have seen the change, from what it was to what it is now. Stories passed down from generation to generation shocks us at the state we are at now.
I have heard my Grandfather talk about the country telling us how “our country” was when he was a kid, when he was middle aged, and also when he was almost 90 yrs.
It was divine, prosperous; people were nice, respectful, loved their land, gave everything for it, fought and punished those few who disrespected it, it was like their home, their family. There is definitely no need to even mention about heritage and history.
But the same country, sadly, is at it moral, ethical worst on this current day. How? Why? Did the land get up and just lose its manners? Did it just become a corrupt on its own? Did it decide one day to just plant hate in the minds of its people? Did it decide to sell out and loot itself? Of course NOT!!!!
It is all about the people!! WE define our country! Our Motherland!
Today when I sit down for a few minutes and look at our country, it is surely not in a state where any one of us wanted it to be. Crime, Corruption, Hate, Greed, Dirty Politics, Age old laws which are not designed to favor the citizen….. this is what we see, every step of everyday.
Street corners we can see the traffic cops harassing some motorist, the conversation won’t last long, just till the motorist is done bribing the cop. In public transport we come across pickpockets and now, mobile phone thieves. In ration shops, we see adultery of rice, wheat, food grains etc; at government offices (my favorite example is the RTO) we all know that you don’t need to be a good ‘driver’ to obtain a license, all you need is a few hundred rupees! I don’t even want to think about the state of the staircase/corridor to the office, disgusting with all sorts of garbage strewn around, people spitting on walls with paan…bleh!
Yes, it is the same question being asked by more than a few people who have seen the change, from what it was to what it is now. Stories passed down from generation to generation shocks us at the state we are at now.
I have heard my Grandfather talk about the country telling us how “our country” was when he was a kid, when he was middle aged, and also when he was almost 90 yrs.
It was divine, prosperous; people were nice, respectful, loved their land, gave everything for it, fought and punished those few who disrespected it, it was like their home, their family. There is definitely no need to even mention about heritage and history.
But the same country, sadly, is at it moral, ethical worst on this current day. How? Why? Did the land get up and just lose its manners? Did it just become a corrupt on its own? Did it decide one day to just plant hate in the minds of its people? Did it decide to sell out and loot itself? Of course NOT!!!!
It is all about the people!! WE define our country! Our Motherland!
Today when I sit down for a few minutes and look at our country, it is surely not in a state where any one of us wanted it to be. Crime, Corruption, Hate, Greed, Dirty Politics, Age old laws which are not designed to favor the citizen….. this is what we see, every step of everyday.
Street corners we can see the traffic cops harassing some motorist, the conversation won’t last long, just till the motorist is done bribing the cop. In public transport we come across pickpockets and now, mobile phone thieves. In ration shops, we see adultery of rice, wheat, food grains etc; at government offices (my favorite example is the RTO) we all know that you don’t need to be a good ‘driver’ to obtain a license, all you need is a few hundred rupees! I don’t even want to think about the state of the staircase/corridor to the office, disgusting with all sorts of garbage strewn around, people spitting on walls with paan…bleh!
In a land where women were held in high regard and respect and treated as Gods, today they are treated worse than animals.
In a land where children used to (hopefully some still do) treat their parents as Gods, now old parents are found in old age homes where they say their children left them there!! I have met them, seen the pain and sadness in their eyes!! The first thing they have to say is “we never treated our parents like this….” !!
We see children on the roadside, working in mechanic shops, tea stalls, cobbler shops, dhabas…. Should they not be in school??? Very easy question, and very simple answer… Yes ! yet here they are, working to earn a few rupees a day to help their mother to run a family where the father drinks and gambles away all the money he earned. Yes, this is the story I have heard from some of the children I have seen and asked!
Yet we see some people in the news, with hundreds of thousands of crores acquired by some scam or the other. The news on TV, news paper, internet…. It is all filled with such disgusting scams.
Not long ago, in the lane where our home was, we knew all the people in that street, the children, parents, and grandparents too. The people celebrated festivals together, no matter which religion. People helped each other out in times of difficulty. I was there when one of my friend, a muslim boy at a very young age, lost his parent. We were all there..the entire street was there, to share his sorrow, to let him know that they were there, standing by his side. Today most of us don’t even know the names of the people living next door.
We spent evenings outside our homes, talking to people next door, or playing when we were younger. These days I don’t see anyone outside their homes. Very rare to see children playing on the street in front of their homes.
Sadly people are busy “earning money”. Children are cared for, not by their mothers or grandparents, but by Nannys or Day Care!
Very small percentage of today’s children know the story of Ramayana, or the Jataka Tales, or the panchatantra. Yet they know all about the iphone, ipad, internet ! They are taught “Programming language” in school, but I seldom hear them speak in a “Polite language”.
People used to wish each other well and smile at each other on the streets, now they scorn and swear in words that are disgustingly unique!
We have all known mothers during the pre-independence era who said “ I wish I had more children to send to fight for our country”. Now all we hear from most is “My children are in a different country. They are making good money” ! Stark Contrast!
A home used to have atleast 8 people in it, now we hardly see homes with 3 or 4! Close to just 12% of the children in India live in a home where their grandparents are there with them happily watching they grow up. Now I have had people asking me at various occasions “where do u live? Are your parents with you?” !! and each time I answer “ I live with my parents, and my grandmother. Yes I am married, and we have a wonderful family, a Big one, by today’s standards and we are incredibly happy about it”
Ah the technological revolution! How can one miss to mention that! In the name of “good jobs” we have reduced the education system which is supposed to inculcate and generate “Interest for learning” to something that just teaches children how to score more than the kid sitting next to them. Competitive learning is good, but just competition, is not learning or gaining knowledge. I have had occasions where my dad who is over 60 and I have discussion on some problem in mathematics or physics and they way he approached the problem and the way I tried to solve it. His method was always better! Because he “learnt” in a better way! A way that was focused on gaining “Knowledge” not “score”!
Yes, technology has done amazing things, where we wanted to use it for good things, and yes, it has also marred many things, where we didn’t use it for good! Yes the economy is growing as per the news I hear everyday, yet as simple as it is, the rich are getting richer and poor are not ! So are we really growing?? I don’t believe so.
Leaders are chosen to “SERVE the people”, to do good to the people, to make sure the country grows because of the PEOPLE. Are we seeing that? Of course NOT!!!
It disgusts me to see the current state of politics/policies/leaders that are running our country. It makes me angry when people around the world point fingers and talk ill of our country. It makes me sad to see how the people today behave with each other without respect, without love, without care! It pains me to realize that we, people are the reason for all the unpleasant to each other and also to the country! I am perplexed to see how our own constitution and laws are not amended/changed to be helpful to the citizens, and not full of loopholes.
People are burnt alive in broad daylight, shot, people are robbed, mugged, raped, tortured, sold as slaves, drugged, endless list of crimes committed. We would probably not come across such levels of crime in the entirety of our Motherland’s history out together!
I have seen countless trees being cut down in the name of development…. Yet this is what I have got to see. If this is the development that we are bringing, God save us!!
There is no end to the list of things that are corrupt, filled with crime. Yet, all is the result of actions of people, people who are poor, people who are rich, people who are at the end of their wits trying to make money for a day’s meal, people who throw truth, ethics and moral into the drain.
But there is one small hope, the tiny possibility that the same People would change themselves and also bring about change for the good!
And somehow in the middle of all this junk, each and every year at various occasions, be it the Republic Day or the Independence day or any other day we makeup our mind for, WE, the people all come together to salute our Motherland !
It takes millions of “individuals” to create a sea of change each fighting for a common cause!
It takes a revolution to bring a change and a revolution needs a very strong reason!!
I have one small question, “Do we need a greater reason than to love and save our own Motherland??”
We see children on the roadside, working in mechanic shops, tea stalls, cobbler shops, dhabas…. Should they not be in school??? Very easy question, and very simple answer… Yes ! yet here they are, working to earn a few rupees a day to help their mother to run a family where the father drinks and gambles away all the money he earned. Yes, this is the story I have heard from some of the children I have seen and asked!
Yet we see some people in the news, with hundreds of thousands of crores acquired by some scam or the other. The news on TV, news paper, internet…. It is all filled with such disgusting scams.
Not long ago, in the lane where our home was, we knew all the people in that street, the children, parents, and grandparents too. The people celebrated festivals together, no matter which religion. People helped each other out in times of difficulty. I was there when one of my friend, a muslim boy at a very young age, lost his parent. We were all there..the entire street was there, to share his sorrow, to let him know that they were there, standing by his side. Today most of us don’t even know the names of the people living next door.
We spent evenings outside our homes, talking to people next door, or playing when we were younger. These days I don’t see anyone outside their homes. Very rare to see children playing on the street in front of their homes.
Sadly people are busy “earning money”. Children are cared for, not by their mothers or grandparents, but by Nannys or Day Care!
Very small percentage of today’s children know the story of Ramayana, or the Jataka Tales, or the panchatantra. Yet they know all about the iphone, ipad, internet ! They are taught “Programming language” in school, but I seldom hear them speak in a “Polite language”.
People used to wish each other well and smile at each other on the streets, now they scorn and swear in words that are disgustingly unique!
We have all known mothers during the pre-independence era who said “ I wish I had more children to send to fight for our country”. Now all we hear from most is “My children are in a different country. They are making good money” ! Stark Contrast!
A home used to have atleast 8 people in it, now we hardly see homes with 3 or 4! Close to just 12% of the children in India live in a home where their grandparents are there with them happily watching they grow up. Now I have had people asking me at various occasions “where do u live? Are your parents with you?” !! and each time I answer “ I live with my parents, and my grandmother. Yes I am married, and we have a wonderful family, a Big one, by today’s standards and we are incredibly happy about it”
Ah the technological revolution! How can one miss to mention that! In the name of “good jobs” we have reduced the education system which is supposed to inculcate and generate “Interest for learning” to something that just teaches children how to score more than the kid sitting next to them. Competitive learning is good, but just competition, is not learning or gaining knowledge. I have had occasions where my dad who is over 60 and I have discussion on some problem in mathematics or physics and they way he approached the problem and the way I tried to solve it. His method was always better! Because he “learnt” in a better way! A way that was focused on gaining “Knowledge” not “score”!
Yes, technology has done amazing things, where we wanted to use it for good things, and yes, it has also marred many things, where we didn’t use it for good! Yes the economy is growing as per the news I hear everyday, yet as simple as it is, the rich are getting richer and poor are not ! So are we really growing?? I don’t believe so.
Leaders are chosen to “SERVE the people”, to do good to the people, to make sure the country grows because of the PEOPLE. Are we seeing that? Of course NOT!!!
It disgusts me to see the current state of politics/policies/leaders that are running our country. It makes me angry when people around the world point fingers and talk ill of our country. It makes me sad to see how the people today behave with each other without respect, without love, without care! It pains me to realize that we, people are the reason for all the unpleasant to each other and also to the country! I am perplexed to see how our own constitution and laws are not amended/changed to be helpful to the citizens, and not full of loopholes.
People are burnt alive in broad daylight, shot, people are robbed, mugged, raped, tortured, sold as slaves, drugged, endless list of crimes committed. We would probably not come across such levels of crime in the entirety of our Motherland’s history out together!
I have seen countless trees being cut down in the name of development…. Yet this is what I have got to see. If this is the development that we are bringing, God save us!!
There is no end to the list of things that are corrupt, filled with crime. Yet, all is the result of actions of people, people who are poor, people who are rich, people who are at the end of their wits trying to make money for a day’s meal, people who throw truth, ethics and moral into the drain.
But there is one small hope, the tiny possibility that the same People would change themselves and also bring about change for the good!
And somehow in the middle of all this junk, each and every year at various occasions, be it the Republic Day or the Independence day or any other day we makeup our mind for, WE, the people all come together to salute our Motherland !
It takes millions of “individuals” to create a sea of change each fighting for a common cause!
It takes a revolution to bring a change and a revolution needs a very strong reason!!
I have one small question, “Do we need a greater reason than to love and save our own Motherland??”
