Mera Bharat Mahan

कल नुमाईश में मिला वो चीथड़े पहने हुए

मैंने पुछा कौन? तो बोला हिंदुस्तान हूँ !!

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when I say Taj? What comes to my mind is 26/11, which makes me shiver to the core. Gone are the days when my answer would have been one of the wonders of the world or a posh hotel. Do you remember the 14th Feb 2010 newspapers front-page headlines? “Blast rips Pune bakery, 9 Killed.” Did you find something new or shocking?That’s definitely not new to me as every few days the headlines repeat with different location and varied death tolls. Every channel showcases the breaking news trying to get higher TRP’s; netas would condemn the act of terrorism and highlight the incompetence of the ruling party vouching for some brownie points from the mango people; All so called NGO’s would gather at a historical monument with candles paying tribute to the victims; and the so-called policewala will be out on patrol with their rusted rifles trying to protect the left out citizens. What is new in this? I know, I sound cynical. Coz I’m sick and tired of such attacks, our incapability, our lethargic responses, our dysfunctional government and our handicapped system. This year we celebrated our 60th Republic Day and published India’s report card to the world, which showed everything was perfect. We are in 21st century and India is still counted as a developing country. Even today we have snake charmers tag attached to us in spite of marking our presence on the moon. We have the world’s biggest slum, Thanks to Danny Boyle to remind this to the world and Indians also. We are almost there to beat China in terms of population. We have beaten almost every other country by getting our hands dirty in corruptions ranging from fodder to Software Company, from Pulses to Bofors. We are omnipresent. Still half the Indian population has not seen school and more than half are under the poverty line. Ever thought what is it that makes us feel proud about being an Indian? If you ask me, in real terms I don’t know myself? As in a movie Nana Patekar points out: Sau mein se assi baimaan fir bhi mera bharat mahaan. I guess this post is just to explore this how are we great when we are not able to protect our fellow human beings and when we discriminate our fellow Indians on the basis of religion, region, caste and creed? Every day we hear people saying passing on the road, traveling in bus/train and even during daru sessions – “Is desh ka kuch nahi ho sakta”. Infact am not an exception. We have the most brilliant minds in the country but our contribution to world’s science and technology is almost nil. Even in 21st century our contribution to world is counted as Kama Sutra and Zero. India has money but we still can’t meet the basic needs of food, shelter and clothes for our fellow countrymen. So then why are we still lagging? Is it just our lethargy to be a pioneer/leader? Or is it the colonial hangover? Or is it the corruption, which doesn’t allow us to excel? The same brilliant Indian minds work in pardes and make the impossible possible making the developed countries more ahead in terms of technology, power, health and infrastructure. Its not that we don’t react to a situation; of course we do but for that we need a push, a catalyst, and a force. Why do we need means to react and a push to be accountable? Why is it that we need Mumbai Local attacks, or a Taj Incident or the latest pune blast to unite us and stand against wrong? Why do a Jessica Lal or Aarushi need to be butchered for people to voice out their pain/angst? Why don’t we believe anymore in Vasudaiva Kutumbakam or Sarve Jana Sukhino Bhavantu? Why is it that we see unity in diversity only in books or movies? Why don’t we see this everyday on streets, in our thinking, in our work? Why do we still fight over caste, religion and sex? Why even after 60 years of independence we see each other as north Indian or south Indian? Why our education system is not able to teach us the minutest thing, which even the smallest of insects show? Unity! There are lots of hard-hitting questions and we don’t have answers to any of them. The calendar has changed but still things are same as it were last year. We are still watching the same 26/11 videos; same set of people marching on the roads with candles to stop terrorism, kasab- who brutally killed innocent people is the safest person in India savoring delicacies in the jail. A staggering 31 crores have been spent to keep him safe and secure. I wonder if the government had taken so much care to safeguard the nation we wouldn’t have had 26/11 or 11/7 in the first place. I might sound condescending, but unfortunately that’s the truth. Every one of us wants to do something for his or her country to make it move forward towards a developed country, but we don’t know what to do? How to do? Where to start? The process of even reporting the lost cell phone is so painful that, most of us don’t even bother to take that pain. I would not say its lethargy; it’s the complicated process and corrupted routes to achieve it.

I guess its time that we all ask this question to ourselves and think seriously about such issues and voice it. The other day I saw the movie “Invictus” starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela who asks his countrymen to turn colorblind in order to pave paths for a rainbow country. There were so many goose bump moments that it actually fill me with new zeal and passion to do something different. It’s high time that we rise to the calls of time and stand to what we believe in.