1. India was a semi- communist state till 1991. This substantially explains poverty and mismanagement.
2. Indian cities are crowded, dirty and terribly mismanaged because of the laws in India that make public servants almost impossible to be fired, even if they are lazy and corrupt. Municipalities are extremely corrupt with low level criminals masquerading as city fathers.
3. There is almost no awareness amongst Indians that they need to seek out and support honest and upright men in public life. Voting day for most people is little more than an occasion for an excursion. People blindly vote for no reason at all or vote for a candidate from their caste!
4. It’s always an excuse with Indians. They will not agree that there is a problem. Never a simple statement of “Yes there is a problem with the system, let us rectify it”. It is always “…..but we are so poor, what can we do? The Whites have robbed us completely. Let us blame them!!”
5. Most Indians never value cleanliness around them. Cleanliness is next to Godliness. The ‘next’ never arrives for Indians. Piles of garbage will be seen everywhere. The best sight I have seen is a garbage collecting van littering garbage on the road as it went dumping! I know that lots of wealth was looted by the West. But look. It does not cost much to stay clean. It just requires some civic spirit. That surely was not robbed by the West!!
6. India is the Land of Beggars. Nearly eighty percent of the population are plain ignorant, illiterate folks who have absolutely NO CLUE or ideas about what needs to be done to improve their lot. They have had zero education and training in their civic rights and duties. DEMOCRACY is a completely ineffective tool in their hand because they don’t know how to use it!
7. Indians lack the will to perform. Individuals may perform excellently in the western environment but as a community they lack the will to do anything. Thus it is nearly impossible to organize such ignorant people into a force that will act for a goal of common good.
Think now for a moment. Is India really shinning? An honest reply should be NO! Shopping malls, cell phones and new ring-tones does not make country developed. The sooner Indians quit blaming the West for all their problems and start taking some responsibilities and concrete actions, the sooner India will develop.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
A Journey by Train
The train was one hour behind schedule when it reached Murardi station. I was sitting at the end of the bench with my father just opposite to me. We were returning from a tour of the Bero hills. It was a hot and sultry afternoon and the train was unusually crowded. People were running here and there at the stations and the train seemed to get more crowded at each station.
The train started with a slight jerk. Seven people were sitting on a single bench, which is generally meant for only four. My father had already dozed off. The fellow at my side was sleeping with his head on my shoulders and was frequently waking up, only to fall asleep again. I was irritated but I could not do anything as I am too shy to speak to strangers. All my bravery as well as bombastic and clever words was limited to my parents and girl friend.
A young man was standing a little away from me. He was trying to light a cigarette, or rather a ‘bidi’ but the wind kept blowing out his matches. A man helped him with a ‘lighter’ and soon our part of the compartment was full of smoke. No one protested and so I had no other option but to wave my hands to wave off the smoke. I looked at my side and saw a big “No Smoking” sign displayed on the side of the compartment.
Meanwhile the fellow beside me had his head on the other side and was snoring loudly. A child came up to me and stood there. I moved a little and gave him a space to sit. To my amazement he called out his mother loudly ‘Maaaa……!!’ . His mother came, sat down and took her son on her lap! Nine of us were sitting on the single bench now. There was too little space for me to sit. I stood up!
A ‘Jhalmuri wala’ got up in the train from nowhere, shouting loudly in his coarse voice. The container in which he kept all the items was too big to pass through the passage. But the man squeezed forward. I too squeezed myself, at his push, only to get a reprimand from the mother…..the very mother, to whom I had sacrificed my seat. I had nothing to say but ‘sorry!’ Meanwhile the jhalmuri wala had squeezed his way out and was going away when the mother called him and ordered him to make one plate for her. We all squeezed up to make way for the Jhalmuri wala and his container. The woman took a long time to pay. I thought to give her a piece of my mind……….The Jhalmuri wala got down at the next station.
Mobile phones were ringing in almost every pocket. The man, who had been previously sleeping beside me, woke up with a start. His cell phone was ringing…….’Jhalak dikhlaja……..aaja aaja’…….the ringtone which had caused much hilarity among Himesh Reshamyia’s fans. He began to talk softly, but his voice rose gradually and then finally turned to a shout. A strong reprimand from my father forced him to stop.
I gazed outside. The train was leaving the Andal station. My father stood up, took his bag and went for the door. I followed him. Durgapur was a brief stop for the train and as we were getting down, I heard the same man shouting over his cell phone again. It was the same man whom my father had scolded a few moments earlier!!
INCREDIBLE INDIA!!
The train started with a slight jerk. Seven people were sitting on a single bench, which is generally meant for only four. My father had already dozed off. The fellow at my side was sleeping with his head on my shoulders and was frequently waking up, only to fall asleep again. I was irritated but I could not do anything as I am too shy to speak to strangers. All my bravery as well as bombastic and clever words was limited to my parents and girl friend.
A young man was standing a little away from me. He was trying to light a cigarette, or rather a ‘bidi’ but the wind kept blowing out his matches. A man helped him with a ‘lighter’ and soon our part of the compartment was full of smoke. No one protested and so I had no other option but to wave my hands to wave off the smoke. I looked at my side and saw a big “No Smoking” sign displayed on the side of the compartment.
Meanwhile the fellow beside me had his head on the other side and was snoring loudly. A child came up to me and stood there. I moved a little and gave him a space to sit. To my amazement he called out his mother loudly ‘Maaaa……!!’ . His mother came, sat down and took her son on her lap! Nine of us were sitting on the single bench now. There was too little space for me to sit. I stood up!
A ‘Jhalmuri wala’ got up in the train from nowhere, shouting loudly in his coarse voice. The container in which he kept all the items was too big to pass through the passage. But the man squeezed forward. I too squeezed myself, at his push, only to get a reprimand from the mother…..the very mother, to whom I had sacrificed my seat. I had nothing to say but ‘sorry!’ Meanwhile the jhalmuri wala had squeezed his way out and was going away when the mother called him and ordered him to make one plate for her. We all squeezed up to make way for the Jhalmuri wala and his container. The woman took a long time to pay. I thought to give her a piece of my mind……….The Jhalmuri wala got down at the next station.
Mobile phones were ringing in almost every pocket. The man, who had been previously sleeping beside me, woke up with a start. His cell phone was ringing…….’Jhalak dikhlaja……..aaja aaja’…….the ringtone which had caused much hilarity among Himesh Reshamyia’s fans. He began to talk softly, but his voice rose gradually and then finally turned to a shout. A strong reprimand from my father forced him to stop.
I gazed outside. The train was leaving the Andal station. My father stood up, took his bag and went for the door. I followed him. Durgapur was a brief stop for the train and as we were getting down, I heard the same man shouting over his cell phone again. It was the same man whom my father had scolded a few moments earlier!!
INCREDIBLE INDIA!!
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