surprised by the title? But I think it is apt , we , a nation capable of being the greatest superpower because of our tremendous potential are time and again being pulled down . Reason - recession? na we have survived that ! it's our internal issues which are our biggest weaknesses . Take for instance the 2 issues which are on everybody's minds of late . The Ayodhya verdict and the CWG scandal . I'll start with the Ayodhya issue , why are we so afraid of each other is the primary thing going on in my mind? we fear riots , we fear communal violence and yet we know that by and large all of us want peace . Are we so afraid of the few extremists who are just waiting to pounce on even a minor scandal so as to grab a few eye balls? Aren't we capable of suppressing them?? We the educated middle class supposedly the largest in the world can't quieten a few miscreants whose sole aim is to remain in the limelight by being the so called flag bearers of their religious community? why are we so fearful of each other? our muslim and our hindu brothers and sisters? We do not step out of the house because we are in a so called sensitive area afraid that at the slightest provocation a riot will break out . why isn't anybody reassuring us that it is safe to carry on with our day to day activities and they'll ensure that no communal violence breaks out . We a secular nation can't convince ourselves that we are a safe country , how in the world do we convince other countries?? Why do we feel infuriated when other countries are hesitant to send their players or important people out here due to lack of security? we deserve it , we have given them an impression that we are highly a unstable , and an unsafe nation !!!
Coming to the CWG scandal . We laugh at it , we mock it , we sigh and say that corruption is part and parcel of the Indian bureaucracy but do we realize that the CWG scandal is not just a public mockery of the bureaucracy but of us as well . We distance ourselves away from it but we cannot deny that after all it's our country's reputation which is at stake and we are all Indians . Everything about the commonwealth games and the organising committee was shady and fishy but nobody bothered until 3 months before the games were to start . 'the preparations are incomplete!' , 'the accommodations and everything are far below the world standards!!' then started the blame game , with each pointing their finger to the other and invoking ludicrous responses !! How typical and classic of the Indian mentality !!! Do you wonder now why the world sniggers at us ?? It's not the internal problems alone , we just love making a public tamasha of ourselves !!!
The Ayodhya verdict will pass , things will resume , the commonwealth games will be over and Mr Kalmadi will probably be charged for corruption which I'm so sure he'll wriggle out of , the babugiri will continue and people will move on but the ultimate loser in all this is our country . She remains tainted and ridiculed because her biggest enemies are within her !!
Extremely well written!! Where did you manage to get the pictures from?? You have addressed some serious issues this time!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Greeshma . Images are thro' google as always !
ReplyDeleteWell written. A very astute and bold observation. I think you would make a good journalist, considering we need to read articles like this more in the newspapers.
ReplyDeleteThis is not just limited to the political side of our country, it extends to every dimension. Did you know that our Hockey team won the Asia cup in 2008 (not sure about the year) and they did not even get any acknowledgements from the government, nor the media. In fact, the headlines on that day were the practice sessions of the Indian Cricket team playing somewhere overseas. The Hockey team set themselves up in front of the sports ministers house demanding that they get paid at least something (considering that their whole trip wasn't sponsored), and guess what the Minister's reaction was? He was unaware of their victory.
This is really sad, Hockey is our national sport, not cricket!!!
The problem lies in the youth of our nation. Some of us just lay back and say, "this country won't prosper", its time for action, not judgement!!
Nice blog, I liked it :)
Yeah I completely second that . But I guess things are changing . Thanks to the Common wealth games we have other national heroes apart from the cricketers , Saina Nehwal for example . I guess if you are diligent and consistent you will be recognized in India now . It's not just a cricket obsessed nation . The problem is everybody knows that our bureaucracy sucks but they'd rather sit back and complain than do something about it . The few enthusiastic and honest voices which try to speak out are suppressed and the corruption continues . It's a really sad thing , we ought to change that .
ReplyDeletePS - i DID want to become a journalist at one point of my life :P