Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours.
- YOU say that our government is inefficient.
- YOU say that our laws are too old.
- YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
- YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke, the airline is the worst in the world,
- mails never reach their destination.
- YOU say that our country has been fed to the
dogs and is the absolute pits.
YOU say, say and say.
What do YOU do about it? Take a person on his way to Singapore.
Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts
on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground
Links as they are. You pay
$5 (approx. Rs.120) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM.
YOU comeback to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket
if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall
irrespective of your status identity. In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU
YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during
Ramadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to go out without your head
covered in Jeddah.
YOU would not dare to buy an
employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a
month to, "see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone
else." YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 kmph) in Washington
and then tell the traffic cop, "Jaanta hai sala main kaun hoon (Do
you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and
get lost." YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than
the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand.
Why don't YOU spit Paan
on the streets of Tokyo? Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy
fake certificates in Boston? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU
who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but
cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road
the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and
appreciative citizen in an alien country why cannot you be the same here
in India.
Once in an interview,
the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay Mr.Tinaikar had a point
to make. "Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their
affluent droppings all over the place," he said. "And then the same
people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for
inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to
do? Go down with a broom everytime their dog feels thepressure in his
bowels? In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has
done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?" He's
right.
We go to the polls to choose
a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back
wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us
whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to
clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the
place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and
throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms
but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want
Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries
but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This
applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the
public.
When it comes to burning
social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child and others,
we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse
at home. Our excuse? "It's the whole system which has to change, how
will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry."
So who's going
to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very conveniently
for us it consists of our neighbors, other households, other cities,
other communities and the government. But definitely not me and
YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the
system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and
look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to
come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his
hand.
Or we leave the country
and run away. Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America
to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes
insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we
take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we
demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government.
Everybody is out to abuse and
rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is
mortgaged to money. Dear Indians, The article is highly thought
inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's
conscience too....I am echoing J.F.Kennedy's words to his fellow
Americans to relate to Indians..... "
ASK WHAT WE CAN DO
FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND
OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY"
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