The progress India has made in the last two decades have been exemplary. Much of this has been foreseen by experts based on the trends in the late eighties. The forecast and the achievement has been basically driven the private sector, and they have certainly delivered. This has given us a lot of financial clout in the international arena. Needless to say, in the present state, when an Indian acquires some financial clout it is but natural that the muscles twitch. So, we have seen, in the recent past, true to our culture, there has been instances where India has not shied away from flexing it's financial muscle, much to the exasperation of few other countries!
Still, there are areas where a lot remain to be done. None of those economic benefits have reached a third of our population - which is living in abject poverty. Our infrastructure is dismally third world. We have problems of very serious nature in half the number of states of our country. A third of our country is more or less, beyond the governance of our polity. Worse, corruption and apathy at all levels is visible clearly in every facet of our life and governance.
Very good suggestions have been given by many great people on how to remedy the situation. In fact, most people agree that few of these suggestions, if implemented, can get us on the road to greatness as a nation, in a very short time. Yet, nothing is done. Things are getting worse every day. We have the financial resources to do many things - but the fruits of that is not enjoyed by the average citizen least of all, the poor, who actually need it badly.
Development is not all about becoming a financial superpower. It also should ensure the spiritual development of the individual and community. Education and literacy is one part of it. The moral and ethical development is the other essential. Though we boast about our "age old culture" no one will dispute that it has either seen a lot of erosion, or more realistically it never existed. We can not fault anyone for making such a comment today, if we go around observing the news and events round the country.
"If you want to civilize a man, you have to start from the grandmother" - is a very common quote. We are in somewhat of a similar situation. The remedy has not yet started, but this generation has the responsibility to take the "grandmother's" station, so that it can help the future generation to attain some degree of moral and ethical civility. When I see some kids of today, it appears their parents have been very successful in keeping that "good part of our ancient culture" well hidden from their children. Maybe, in the mad rush for gold they did not have the time, or the inclination to inculcate those qualities - or, they realized that these qualities are only a hindrance in this race for the pot of gold.
Whatever the reason, if you need to brush up on some things that need to be done to see future generations in a better position - a small article by Chetan Bhagat in today's Times of India, will help everyone. It is a very simple and well written article - and will not give you a headache. In fact, you may well enjoy reading it. I would go so far as to suggest that everyone educated in English should read it, and if possible - translate it into their own language and essentially into thier lifestyle!
Please read the article which you can access by clicking on this - or by copying and pasting the link below into your browser address bar :
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If you have some thoughts on this, I would like to read it.