1945 - The year is best remembered for the twin atom explosions over Japan by the United States of America that hastened the surrender of the Axis powers and also heralded the end of Second World War.
1947 - A nation referred to as a sub-continent with people speaking as many languages as could be imagined and following different faiths etc achieved independence from the British Rule led by an apostle of peace and non-violence, without shedding any blood et al.
We see that Japan on to our east and Germany to our West started their journey of reconstruction of their war ravaged economies at the same time as India on attaining its independence. But after a lapse of six decades where do we stand. Germany and Japan are considered economic superpowers and form part of the powerful G7 Group of nations. India is still considered a developing nation - a sleeping Asian giant etc. But we remain that. No one has any idea if we will wake up and when. India has been considered to be a powerhouse of knowledge and much of the secrets of life and learning that are being unearthed in the West were supposed to be known to indians from the vedic times itself. With such excellent credentials like abundant natural resources, knowledge levels etc why are we still lagging behind, instead of being trend setters and leaders.
I personally feel the reason could be attributed to our lack of discipline and national pride. We take pride in doing everything against the existing rules and conventions. Laws are broken with impunity by the people who make them in the first place. I feel it very disgusting to read notices in prominent public places which go - 'Do Not Spit Here', ' Do Not Pass Urine Here' etc. The said notices can be seen in any city, town, metro in this country of ours. The funniest aspect here is that after a lapse of time the notices get obliterated by constant spitting and you know how. The disgrace is that we have to put up such a notice and the added insult is that inspite of putting up such a notice, people care little for small decencies. You can see vehicles jumping traffic signals even when a traffic police is present at the scene. National properties like buses and trains are defaced and destroyed without any qualms. IST which should read as Indian Standard Time is more aptly read as Indian Stretchable Time.
Why is this happening? According to my very personal view, I feel the genesis of the whole thing can be traced to the 'Civil Disobedience Movement' launched by Gandhi at the time of our freedom struggle. He exhorted our people to boycott anything British and break all rules and laws framed by them. Immediately on our attaining of our independence and the subsequent partition and the religious riots, he was busy in bringing peace and sanity to the nation. Before he remembered to tell the countrymen that now that the country has become free and we are the law makers, we ought to respect the rules and laws and inculcate a sense of discipline into our lives, he fell prey to an assassin's bullets.
Maybe we will turn into responsible citizens only when Gandhi comes and tell us so. We have to Wait for the Mahatma then.
2 comments:
Dear Chid,,
Congratulations on joining the blogging community and I do hope that your thoughts are read, shared and critiqued appositely by a wider audience. Very soon, I too shall join the fray of verbal disseminations, but, as of now, I am still ruminating. That said, unlike your title, there is no randomness in your thoughts, so to speak:-)! You have brought to light, one of human weaknesses - that of 'indiscipline' which may not necessarily be Indian for its existence or thriving. Yes, it is important to look into your own backyard first before even thinking of casting apersions on others. Your association of this seemingly ugly (at least for a sizeable mankind!) trait to Gandhi's Civil Disobedience Act is refreshing, though I would rather attribute this weakness to one of the many human propensities to avail of the nearest scapegoat of a cause for one's behvior. On a psychological patina, this trait in us could have been manifested more as a result of oppression rather than choice. Reiterating my stand about human tendencies, I feel that we have opted to take the path of least resistance in our approach towards our overall growth. Hoi polloi like you and me who have at least ventured to think about such things I hope, will strive to make a difference...We need to be, if we want the rest of the world to adjudge us as people who really matter...Believe me, we really DO!
I wish you all the very best in your endeavor and would definitely by part of your musings, with or without comments:-).
With best wishes,
Venky
Welcome aboard, brother!!
Chidu, it is good that the 45+ like us are getting our acts together and using modern technology to drive home some basic values into our country men!
As Venky said, it is important to understand that such issues are articulated and a difference made to our eternally indisciplined mindsets!!
Keep blogging and I am sure as you settle into your rhythm, you would have a body of work about which you will genuinely satisfied and happy in the days to come.
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