Being Indian: Exploring ourselves

Being Indian: Exploring ourselves

“Main nai manta hamara desh Duniya ka sabse mahan desh         hai… lekin yeh zaroor manta hun ki hum mein kabiliyat hai taqat hai, apne desh ko mahan banane ki!!”

So, yeah I am again beginning the flow my thoughts with a quote from a famous, bollywood movie. This dialogue, by SRK from the epic ‘Swades’ reflects the views of crores of the Indians regarding our nation. And to add the least, this is what majority of the world thinks about us, the Indians and our nation: Mother India.

Now, just to refresh you a bit about India, we are the country that gave 0 to the world. We are the ones that gave the famous technique of medicine: Aayurveda to the world, which is in prominent use and acceptance all over the world (proof: http://bit.ly/1bWANZP ). We are the nation that gave the art of lovemaking (read Kamasutra) to the world and we are the one to have given the first ever airplane to the world even before The Wright Brothers (refer Hawaaizaada). Also we are the largest democracy in the world and posses the 3rd largest army in the world (proof: http://bit.ly/1mfl7Ll ). So, even after so much to brag about, why the hell aren’t we included in the superpowers of the word??  Have a look:

‘The statue of unity illustration’

The statue of unity, an initiative by our honourable PM, has awakened a lot of curiosity around the world and a lot of opposition among our own people. This project, aiming at creating the tallest statue in the world, will boost India’s tourism to an all time high revenues, and will add to nation’s glory, won’t it? The project will produce the tallest statue of the world leaving behind the likes of The Statue of Liberty, Spring Temple Buddha and all others, great isn’t it? Now look at this:

“We, activists of Gujarat oppose ‘Statue of Unity’ because it is in fact a ‘Statue for Tourism Industries’, a ‘Statue for Narendra Modi’s Name and Fame’ and ‘Statue for Criminal Waste of Public Money’”. - Rohit Prajapati and Trupti Shah

This is what some of the activists of Gujarat have to say about this project. (proof: http://bit.ly/15XVsBb ). So yeah, we like bragging about our visits at the famous landmarks around the world by posting the pics on social media platforms. But an investment in creating our own landmark is a waste of money, right? We can happily pay the ticket price that lasts in thousands to visit the famous landmarks around the world, but creating our own landmark is a Criminal Waste of Public Money! I understand the problems of the people living around this region, the poverty and the underprivileged but can’t we trust the government to take care of them? We need to change our ideologies, don’t we? Looking deeper, have a look:

  

People littering the Holy Ganges

The Ganga action plan, an initiative by the government of India has already spent nearly 20,000 crore of Indian rupee to clean the holy river and has yet been unsuccessful in cleaning it. If we keep aside the obvious corruption that might have gone into taking the cost of this project to a damn 20,000 crore, we too are still at fault. We have been littering the holy river for ages now that the density of coli-form bacteria have risen from 5,000 per 100ml to 58,000 per 100ml, which is 11.6 over the acceptable limit (refer: http://bit.ly/1z0dfmH ). I don’t need to mention how we have cluttered the holy river in all possible ways over the years, do I?

‘Ganga me nahake paap dhulen na dhulen, par Ganga maili karne ka paap to hum kar hi rahe hain!’

Grow up people! A major chunk of the GDP is being spent in cleaning the Ganga and in cleaning the country in the form of ‘Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan’. Just imagine how much growth and development can we expect if this portion of the economy is spent on the other needs of the country? A lot of development guys, a lot!! It’s both strange and shameful at the same time that the PM of the largest democracy of the world is forced to beg the people to clean it. Why should we even require an initiative by the government to clean our country? Do we ask the government to clean our damn houses? Then why should the government beg us to clean our own country??

‘Main apne mulk ko apna ghar samjhta hun!’ this is what Amir Khan had said in the blockbuster hit: Sarfarosh. Then why the hell can’t we all treat our country as our own home?? Think about this. Just think how we can change the face of the country by changing our own selves! Keeping up with the discussion, let’s get deeper into it.

‘America me jao to aapko Americans milenge, Germany me jao to Germans milenge…. India me jao to aapko milenge Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Malyali, Bengali… Indian kahan hai??!!’

True indeed, right? Akshay Kumar said the truth about the Indians in the movie Khatta Meetha. We have all somehow somewhere forgotten that we all are the Indians first. History has the testimony of the results that we faced, due to the inner quarrels among us. Years ago too, we fought among ourselves and the British took advantage of it and ruled us for years. Today, if we fight within us, there is a bunch of enemies lurking, to ambush us again.

Just look at the map of India. How mighty and how beautiful, isn’t it? Now imagine each state separated and removed from the map to look individual and imagine the complete map. Did you find the map as mighty as before? Did you feel as secure from Pakistan after being just a Gujarati or a Kashmiri as you felt after being an Indian? The answer is a big damn no, obviously!! So, stop being a Hindu or a Muslim or a Marathi or a Bengali, be an Indian first and a lot of problems will be solved.

‘Desh to apna ho gaya, lekin log paraye ho gaye hain!’ this line from the Lage Raho Munnabhai has tormented me ever since I heard it.

People in India are crazy to go abroad and study. They are desperate to serve in a foreign country than to serve in our own country, why? Look, I don’t object people settling abroad or studying from abroad. India is a republic country and everyone has a right to chose what’s right for them. But then people don’t have the right to accuse the country of anything if they can’t contribute to its growth themselves. ‘Oh, I don’t find India and Indians talented enough to sustain growth!’ Who the hell are you telling this guys? You too are an Indian by birth and should ideally respect it if not be proud of it. They don’t think our country has potential enough to sustain their growth! Wait then, here is a legend about the then richest man on earth Bill Gates:

The legend has it that when the then US president, George W Bush confronted Gates about his preference of giving more job opportunities to the Indians over Americans at the Microsoft, Gates had a simple yet brilliant explanation which will definitely shock you if not make you feel proud at least.

Gates said that he too wanted to prefer Americans (his own people) over the Indians but then if he stopped giving Indians the job opportunities, thousands of Microsofts would be established in India by Indians itself!! Yeah, he believed in the potential of Indians to such an extent that he was forced to choose Indians over his own people just to prevent competition! Think about it now. 

Also have a look:

                                               

What is it that you can’t be proud about, of being an Indian??? Poverty, Corruption, inflation, and bla bla bla, right? So, whose responsibility is it to change this thing? Who will change the situation of the country? Why can’t we just stop acting stupid and stop holding the government responsible for everything? It’s time to come forward and believe in what the world has already accepted: India has the potential for anything, if the Indians wish!

I am an Indian and I am proud of it. And I won’t stop until I make every other Indian feel the same about India. With this, now, I would like to end this article with the hope of the developed nation that we dream of everyday and a quote from Rang De Basanti:

‘Koi bhi desh perfect nai hota, use behter banana padta hai!’

Jai Hind!