As India celebrated it's 66th Independence day, I taught my 5th grade students the
importance of celebrating this day. I told them the importance of sacrifice
that their forefathers had made for India to be a free independent country -
free from the tyrannical British rule to become a democracy.
My students absolutely love singing and I thought what better way
to imbibe a spirit of patriotism in them than by teaching them a national song.
I taught them 'सारे जहान से अच्छा , हिंदुस्तान हमारा ...' The song says that India is the best
country in the world. But is it now? I wanted to tell my students that India is
truly what the song stands for, the best country in the world!!! But I couldn't
lie to them...
We have always been taught, 'Be
satisfied with what you have'. As
Indians, we truly live by this philosophy. We are satisfied with the current
state of affairs in our country... with sky rocketing inflation, poor
infrastructure and an even poor quality of life... as a matter of fact one of
the poorest in the world. UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) ranked
India 136th on its Human Development Index (a measure that denotes the human
development in a country) in its March 2013 report from a list of 187
countries. India has fallen two places on this index since 2011.
So India is definitely not the best country in the world.
But can
we make it the best? Of course we can… Most of us have given up hope. Most of
us have said this statement a million times, 'इस देश का कुछ नहीं हो सकता ...' or that 'This country is going to the dogs...' Maybe it is...
But is it just the government's job to save it? My parents believe that only a God sent Messiah can save India from a downward growth spiral. My dad believed that things would improve once the new RBI governor came into office which was in sync with the investor sentiment (both the Sensex and the Rupee revived a bit the day he joined as the new governor of our Central Bank). But can one person genuinely make all the difference???
There is absolutely no doubt that the government and the policy makers play a major role in how a country is run but I believe that in a democracy people have the power to make a difference too. And we have 1.2 billion such units that can make a difference... OK, maybe majority of our population is helpless or maybe even unaware of the gravity of the situation that India is facing... but we have ~125 million people who are literate, can speak English and I believe understand the situation that we as a country face. Even if this force is mobilized, it can make a huge difference and we know it, we are just too lazy to act upon it.
It's always easier and cheaper to bribe the local traffic havaldar than pay the fine... it's always easier to throw the cigarette butt in the parking lot or the side of the road instead of the dustbin... We have all done it.. a few maybe less often than the majority...
But today I urge each one to take that extra step... to put in that effort that can make a difference... Because it's efforts like these that will stop corruption from trickling to the lower levels... that will make India cleaner... that will improve the quality of life for us...
Maybe I am overly optimistic and naive in believing that these efforts will make a difference. Some would even argue that the situation we face is far worse than that stupid bribe to the police... I have absolutely no doubt that this is true. We need structural and policy changes to move ahead. But then I don't see any harm is taking these small steps that will definitely make a difference no matter how small it is...
And one day I'm sure, my students will proudly sing 'सारे जहान से अच्छा हिन्दुस्तान हमारा...'
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