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I thought this would be an appropriate read here!
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Shobha_De_Wake_up_India/a rticleshow/2256242.cms
Wake up India
5 Aug 2007, 0312 hrs IST,Shobha De
Just 10 short days before the hoopla begins (60 years of Independence), I'm playing wet blanket and saying: Wake up. Yes, wake-up and smell the coffee\rasam\ maacher jhol... whatever it is that does it for you. It's time for the slumbering giant (India) to stop snoring and get going. Really. Sometimes it feels like India consumed a massive dose of barbiturates six decades ago and is still fast asleep.
The present euphoria works as a good upper, no doubt. And the mood of the nation should remain gung ho and upbeat. But it is equally necessary to step back and subject ourselves to a much-needed reality check. This is as good a time as any. Forget the breathtaking tech achievements out of the current India story for now... and what do you get? A few stray examples of individual excellence and extraordinary success.
But does any of this hang together and make a great whole? We keep talking about our amazing economy and how the developed world is waiting to welcome us with open arms. Really? That is certainly not what one senses during international travels. Frankly, our economic boom has happened despite the system, not because of it... so nobody should claim credit or gloat, now that things are looking up, at least in that department. We may not be in the red any more. But let's keep the bubbly on hold till the rest of the story shows whether or not we are in the pink of health in other areas, too.
India's report card reads 'Pass marks only' when the score should have shown 'Distinction'. So, what stopped us from achieving that goal? Depressing as it sounds, the buck stops with our politicians, who lacked both — the vision and commitment, to get us there. The Slumber Kings of India are the ones who govern us. And the reason they refuse to stir out of their stupor is because it suits them to snooze on. Their lazy motto? Let the toiling masses slave away.
Sure, while netas do 'aish' and dream big. For themselves, not the nation.
The recurrent nightmare that keeps countless concerned citizens awake at night while the leaders sleep, revolves around our neighbours and their political patrons. We bill and coo unconvincingly with one another, even while the knives are out. All we succeed in doing is to buy time and postpone the inevitable. While we focus all our energies on 'managing' Pakistan, we ignore the fire-spewing Chinese dragon that is impatiently snapping its tail on our doorstep. Once the Beijing Olympics are over (2008), and the Chinese show off their new, glamourous face to the world, the dragon will get restless again then what? Tibet was swallowed in one small gulp and nobody protested, apart from some mild mewing. Tomorrow, it can be our Seven Sisters in the North East who disappear. Will we continue to sleep through that, too? We've been caught taking cat naps at crucial times in the past, while the dragon struck with impunity. Surely, so many years (and lessons) later, we won't be fooled or taken off guard?
It's time for the deadening effects of those sleeping pills to wear off before it's too late. The next 60 years can — and should — be a Golden Age for India. For that era to dawn, we the people have to believe in the dream and help make it a reality. And certainly not through meaningless patriotic gestures like the recent 'Vote for the Taj' campaign that benefited just two people — the foreign entrepreneur who thought of the scam, and Bipasha Basu whose Cristiano clinch shot her to international fame.
Let us make a genuine pledge to collectively work towards achieving that great and glorious Indian dream. Meanwhile, Diwali manao, Id manao. But watch out for the Chinese New Year. Jai Hind.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Shobha_De_Wake_up_India/a rticleshow/2256242.cms
Wake up India
5 Aug 2007, 0312 hrs IST,Shobha De
Just 10 short days before the hoopla begins (60 years of Independence), I'm playing wet blanket and saying: Wake up. Yes, wake-up and smell the coffee\rasam\ maacher jhol... whatever it is that does it for you. It's time for the slumbering giant (India) to stop snoring and get going. Really. Sometimes it feels like India consumed a massive dose of barbiturates six decades ago and is still fast asleep.
The present euphoria works as a good upper, no doubt. And the mood of the nation should remain gung ho and upbeat. But it is equally necessary to step back and subject ourselves to a much-needed reality check. This is as good a time as any. Forget the breathtaking tech achievements out of the current India story for now... and what do you get? A few stray examples of individual excellence and extraordinary success.
But does any of this hang together and make a great whole? We keep talking about our amazing economy and how the developed world is waiting to welcome us with open arms. Really? That is certainly not what one senses during international travels. Frankly, our economic boom has happened despite the system, not because of it... so nobody should claim credit or gloat, now that things are looking up, at least in that department. We may not be in the red any more. But let's keep the bubbly on hold till the rest of the story shows whether or not we are in the pink of health in other areas, too.
India's report card reads 'Pass marks only' when the score should have shown 'Distinction'. So, what stopped us from achieving that goal? Depressing as it sounds, the buck stops with our politicians, who lacked both — the vision and commitment, to get us there. The Slumber Kings of India are the ones who govern us. And the reason they refuse to stir out of their stupor is because it suits them to snooze on. Their lazy motto? Let the toiling masses slave away.
Sure, while netas do 'aish' and dream big. For themselves, not the nation.
The recurrent nightmare that keeps countless concerned citizens awake at night while the leaders sleep, revolves around our neighbours and their political patrons. We bill and coo unconvincingly with one another, even while the knives are out. All we succeed in doing is to buy time and postpone the inevitable. While we focus all our energies on 'managing' Pakistan, we ignore the fire-spewing Chinese dragon that is impatiently snapping its tail on our doorstep. Once the Beijing Olympics are over (2008), and the Chinese show off their new, glamourous face to the world, the dragon will get restless again then what? Tibet was swallowed in one small gulp and nobody protested, apart from some mild mewing. Tomorrow, it can be our Seven Sisters in the North East who disappear. Will we continue to sleep through that, too? We've been caught taking cat naps at crucial times in the past, while the dragon struck with impunity. Surely, so many years (and lessons) later, we won't be fooled or taken off guard?
It's time for the deadening effects of those sleeping pills to wear off before it's too late. The next 60 years can — and should — be a Golden Age for India. For that era to dawn, we the people have to believe in the dream and help make it a reality. And certainly not through meaningless patriotic gestures like the recent 'Vote for the Taj' campaign that benefited just two people — the foreign entrepreneur who thought of the scam, and Bipasha Basu whose Cristiano clinch shot her to international fame.
Let us make a genuine pledge to collectively work towards achieving that great and glorious Indian dream. Meanwhile, Diwali manao, Id manao. But watch out for the Chinese New Year. Jai Hind.
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