Why is the media here so negative? Why
are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our
achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success
stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why? We are the first in milk
production. We are number one in Remote sensing satellites. We are the second
largest producer of wheat. We are the second largest producer of rice.
Look at Dr. Sudarshan; he has transferred the
tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of
such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures
and disasters.
http://www.vgkk.org/
I was in Tel Aviv once and I was rIsraeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments
and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the
newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had
transformed his desert into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring
picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments,
deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news.
In India we only read about death,
sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are
we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign T.Vs, we want
foreign shirts. We want foreign technology. Why this obsession with everything
imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was
in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my
autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is... She replied: I want to live
in a developed India. For her, you and I will have to build this developed
India. You must proclaim.
India is not an under-developed nation; it is a
highly developed nation...YOU say that our government is inefficient. YOU say
that our laws are too old. YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the
garbage. YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke. The
airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination. YOU say
that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits. YOU say,
say and say... What do YOU do about it?
Take a person on his way to Singapore.
Give him a name - 'YOURS'. Give him a face - 'YOURS'. YOU walk out of the
airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw
cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their
Underground links as they are... You pay $5 (approx. Rs.. 60) to drive through
Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8
PM. YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have
over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status
identity… In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat
in public during Ramadan, in Dubai.. YOU would not dare to go out without your
head covered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone
exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs...650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD
and ISD calls are billed to someone else. ‘YOU would not dare to speed beyond
55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, 'Jaanta hai main
kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks
and get lost.' YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than
the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand...Why don't YOU
spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo ? Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or
buy fake certificates in Boston??? We are still talking of the same YOU.
YOU who can respect and conform to a
foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw
papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you
can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you
be the same here in India?
In America every dog owner has to clean
up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan...Will the Indian citizens do
that here?' He's right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after
that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect
the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally
negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop
chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick an up a
stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide
clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We
want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries
but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity.
This applies even to the staff that is
known not to pass on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social
issues like those related to women, dowry, and girl child! And others, we make
loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our
excuse? 'It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I
alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry.' So who's going to change the system?
What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbors’,
other households, other cities, other communities and the government, but
definitely not me and YOU.
When it comes to us actually making a
positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families
into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait
for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of
his hand or we leave the country and run away. Like lazy cowards hounded by our
fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When
New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences
unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war
struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government.
Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country.
Nobody thinks of feeding the
system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money. Dear Indians, The article is
highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks
one's conscience too….. I am echoing J. F. Kennedy's words to his fellow
Americans to relate to Indians…..'ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS
TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY’
Let’s do what India needs from us.
Forward this letter to each Indian for a change instead of sending.
Thank you
Unknown Indian
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