Enough. We have had enough.
I have watched the news like a madman for the last 35 hours or so, minus the hours that I slept. And, I am pissed, and sad. Not just sad, worried. And worried badly. And it has got me thinking...
I want my kids to grow up in a safe environment, with Indian values, in Indian culture. But is this even possible? I got thinking about this as soon as I watched the news, and here, I am trying to pour out my thoughts over the last 30 hours or so...
1) India has spent a lot on my life. A lot, a damn lot. First of all, my education was subsidised. Secondly, my transportation was. And a lot of other things, the rice that I ate, the shoes that I wore, and what not. And how am I going to give back all the effort which has gone into these perks that I got?
2) How many of us actually know when the last terror attacks were on this country? How many people died there? How many of us really feel bad about this? I mean, really feel bad, not platonically, but really?
3) Who elected these idiots into the parliament? What business did the opposition leader and the home minister have in Mumbai? Weren't the security forces pressed hard enough? What rubbish is this? What was Mr Patil thinking when he announced to the whole world about the NSG's modus operandi?
All in all, I think that it is about time that we stopped warming our rear ends here, and got back. Our country has spent a lot on us. There is something in our passports that we think is important. It ascertains that we are Indian citizens. Our country needs strong surveillance and reconnaissance operations now. It needs people who can contribute with their technical know how. It needs people to run the administrative sector. I urge people to write the UPSC, apply to government jobs and such.
Of course, not many will return unless the jobs are lucrative. So, please stop spending on ridiculous things and start funding jobs, so that we have a secure nation for our descendants. I am sick and tired of the sops which we are dishing out towards religious objectives. Please, stop funding things like the Haj. The rich can go. The poor can pray at home. If your God ignores the poor, then he is no God. Please listen to your reason. Please pour that money towards creating a safer, more educated India.
I am ashamed of the fact that I can think reasonably about these issues, and still feel helpless. I am irritated about the fact that my only choices for governments are between a votebank crazy one and a religiously fundamentalist one. If you, as an Indian, are not feeling bad about this, this is time for checking whether your conscience is alive or not. Until you give back to India, I don't see how you can be practicing Indian values, nor can I see how you can call yourself Indian. Bury all differences and get back.
This is how best I can collect my thoughts right now.
JAI HIND!
5 weeks ago
9 comments:
Amen! You said it all, there is no more anyone can add or refute. The next obvious question is What is it that the people who consider themselves the average common man the aam aadmi should do? We are all manifestations of that aam aadmi
Mother, should I run for president?
Mother, should I trust the government?
Mother, will they put me in the firing line?
Ooooowaa is it just a waste of time?
"Mother" - PF
Very well written, it sums up, what is goin on in the minds of many of us here, far away from home, and feeling helpless.
I think that all of us should be conscripted into the government services or the armed forces. Make it compulsory for every Indian above 21 years of age to serve the country for 2 years. That itself can make it a better place.
Half the time, we don't have enough good talent back home. People need to be paid well too. I don't see why anyone will go looking for opportunities outside if we take these measures.
Hm.. I am pissed too. Incompetence at various levels of office is ruining our country. Not sure whats the way out of this mess. It is difficult to make drastic changes in India, everything goes through a slow process - govts will continue to play on religious sentiments, incompetent ppl will still occupy high offices, poor will be suppressed by rich etc. To change this we probably need a revolution of sorts. But in the name of revolution we don't need a communist regime, but something like socialistic with brains (~capitalistic with heart? whatever..).
Money is not the only thing that is bringing people out of India. Remember how much we were being paid in our jobs back home!
It is good if one decides to work hard for a cause, but inspiring others to do so has a greater impact. In this respect, I think at present there is some kind of a "void" in our country. India needs more people, taking up responsible positions, whom we can look up to for inspiration.
- A dangling pointer
Pointless discussion. You felt bad? We all felt bad. We felt worse.
What exactly are we achieving by discussing it here? Not a damn thing. I am sick of people discussing and condemning such acts and then feeling all high and mighty about it. Am not saying I'm doing more than you are by not talking about it. I am doing equally nothing. But I dont write articles or discuss at length and then go to sleep with a halo over my head. No fucking point in discussing this unless you are going beyond. Are you saying this is the first step towards going beyond? If so, talk when you've taken your second one.
There is a definite point behind discussing such things. The idea is to develop a feverish attitude, with the hope that enough people will come together and do something about this.
First of all, our lives are subsidised to such an extraordinary degree by the state. It would not be unfair to require everyone to work for 2 years for the state. At least the docs do that.
I do agree with Raghavendra's comments about about the futility of everyone discussing these things and doing nothing, and sneering at the establishment - while the actual number of people actually doing something about this is very few. Our country has never valued the people who have laboured, but the people who have directed. An Indian is by temperament capable of being an extraordinary jade or abrasive and argumentative speaker but rarely does he have the diligence to do the things that need to be done. This lackadaisical disposition is what generates the fundamental smugness that we have lost past battles too. If the landscape of the globalized world didn't suit us, we would have been written off as a nation and never would rise to occasion. Thank goodness the British left their legacy of the English language (leave alone the bureaucracy) and thank goodness we chose democracy and "secularism". If it weren't for the fact that our leaders repeated lies of secularism (which are slowly becoming truth), we wouldn't have made it as a nation-state.
Anyway, this is a digression from the discussion at hand. Having said all this, I think the key issues with this terrorist attack is not the key phrases floating around in the media and the melodrama of NDTV and CNN, but the vital question of poor intelligence networks in India, and its being toothless in terms of depth and breadth. If this is addressed, half our terrorist problems may be solved. After all, information is power. The second qualm I had was the fact that the information needs to be used by capable leaders. Shivraj Patil, with all due respect, is probably not going to be as vigorous as a younger man, as long as his ass is not on fire.
Good article! Sums up the sentiments of the most Indians. But from what i see the solution is not to enlist in services or make it compulsory for people. You cant just drop whatever you have been doing and enlist. There are people already for doing that. What they need is the right support system and the right minds behind the government.
For common people , we should start at the grass root level. We should think about how to get people in power to do the job for which they have been elected for. I think thats a first step in the right direction!
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