The great
motivator of our times, the person who taught the youth to dream. Hats off to
this man..we want men like him to be our CM, PM & President!!..but more
importantly, citizens like him.
Dr. Abdul
Kalam's #Letter to
Every Indian
Why is the
media here so negative?
Why are we in
India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements?
We are such a
Great NATION.
We have so
many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?
We are the
first in milk production.
We are number
one in Remote sensing satellites.
We are the
second largest producer of wheat.
We are the
second largest producer of rice.
Look at Dr.
Sudarshan , he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining,
self-driving unit..
There are
millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news
and failures and disasters.
I was in Tel
Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot
of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck.
But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who
in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid and a granary. It was
this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings,
bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news.
In India we
only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime.
Why are we so
NEGATIVE?
Another
question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things?
We want
foreign T.Vs,
We want
foreign shirts.
We want
foreign technology. Why this obsession with everything imported.
Do we not
realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance?
I was in
Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my
autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is..
She replied:
I want to live in a developed India.
For her, you
and I will have to build this developed India.
You must
proclaim.
India is not
an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation...
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.
Y OU 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.. 60) to
drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road)
between 5 PM and 8 PM.
YOU come back
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 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic
cop, 'Jaanta hai 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 ?
In America
every dog owne r has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan
..
Will the
Indian citizen do that here?
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 what do we do?
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 neighbours, other households, other
cities, other communities and the government.
But
definitely not ME & 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'
Let’s do what
India needs from us.
Let’s all
join hands and pledge that we will try to change
