One of my friend sent me a Youtube link which talks about ancient temples and how were constructed. I just couldn’t stop myself from going through the 6 parts of the series. It is so engrossing to know and understand the history behind them.

While most of travellers to India, like explained by the narrator on this video, restrict their visits to the well known monuments like Taj Mahal. Per statistics only 10% venture south to take a glimpse at these marvellous architectural wonders.

This video and the whole series is a must watch. Here’s the link for you:

Temples of India

I have seen quite a few temples in Belur, Halebeedu, Hampi, Warangal, Nagarkoil and Kanchi. Every time I think of them I just can’t stop wondering. Few others on my list in next few months are Brigadeshwara Temple and Madurai Meenakshi Temple.

I can’t wait to see them!

Image credit: ReefRaffSimilar Posts:

• Would Your Kids Prefer Reading Indian History To Their Xbox?
• My Vision for India – Value The Life Of An Indian
• Jai Hind-A Fine Patriotic Rendition
• I Salute Indian Army Guarding Our Nation
• Indian Inc Ready to Dab ‘Cheap Labour’ Image?

• Does God Favour The Rich?
• Paul Merton In India? Next Time Please Visit Real India

Then, one fine day I got to know about the Indian Institute of Cartoonists (IIC), based in Bangalore, through an exhibition that they did of the works of some famous cartoonists from across the country. IIC aims to promote the art of Cartooning in India. Brochure of the institute describes a Cartoon very well ‘A cartoon is a rare and brilliant creation of art that wraps aesthetics, portraiture and comment. While tickling the funny bone of the reader a cartoonist moulds public opinion, drawing his attention gently to the follies of our leaders and people around us’.

IIMc is located off MG Road, if you take the lane next to Kids kemp, it is about 50-100 meters down that road on the right hand side in the basement of a building called Midford Garden. You can visit it to view the cartoons, to read the literature about cartoons. IIC plans to have a cartoon library which will have cartoons and cartoons related literature, along with a museum of original cartoons and clay n wax models of cartoon characters. They would be organizing various cartoon competitions at various levels apart from regular exhibitions and cartoon related events across the country. Membership of IIC is open for anyone who wishes to be a part of its journey.

I was lucky to get a re-print of Ranga’s portraits of famous personalities, autographed by the personalities themselves, compiled under the title of ‘Profiles in lines’.

Did you know that David Low is considered to be the father of Cartooning and K Shankar Pillai that of Indian Cartooning?

Image Credit: Indi.CaSimilar Posts:

• India Vision 2020-Free and Efficient Public Library System
• My Vision for India – Making India An Aspiring Place
• No Honk And Traffic Discipline – A Reality In India?
• Can We Realize The Dream of Better Transport?
• Let’s make India a better place to live

• National Film Archive Of India At Pune
• No Honk And Traffic Discipline – A Reality In India?

We started our journey to the village on a Monday morning in chilled January from Gurgaon? On the way we could see lot of scenes that one would typically associate with villages depicted in Hindi movies like women carrying the water pots on their heads, washing clothes on the edges of a well or a pond, children playing all over the place.

Apart from the developmental work that is being like free eye camps, learn to read classes, promotion of women entrepreneurs, providing vocational skills to young women, providing English speaking classes to students to make them more employable, arranging easy finance for farmers, there are lot innovative experiments being done here? They are experimenting along with a few private banks to bring the banking system to rural areas and also engaging the same banks to hire persons from local villages which is a win win situation for both the villages and the banks.

One interesting initiative is to distribute specially designed spectacles to all the kids and elders who are suffering from bad eyesight. These spectacles have been designed by Prof Josh Silver of Oxford University. The glasses can be used without an optician’s advice by anyone no matter how defective his eyesight is. These adaptive eyeglasses’ “power” (refractive power) could be adjusted by the user himself.

The lenses of Silver’s “adaptive” spectacles are not made of glass; they are, in fact, small liquid-filled sacs covered by tough but transparent plastic. Their users can fine-tune the power of these lenses by using syringes that come attached to the frame. The syringes can be used to increase or decrease the amount of liquid in the sacs to change their thickness and, thereby, their refractive power. Trust aims to distribute 10 lakh adaptive glasses to eradicate the problem of bad eyesight. This in my mind is the real innovation, bringing light to millions at almost no cost.

I look forward to contributing to this initiative in some way soon and hope to nurture many more such initiatives

Image Credit: Mister AitchSimilar Posts:

• Would Your Kids Prefer Reading Indian History To Their Xbox?
• My Vision for India–Develop Rural India, Empower Women!
• India Vision 2020-Free and Efficient Public Library System
• Vision 2020-My Eight Visions for India
• The Land of Beauty Queens – India

• Food For Thought–Can We Make An Impact?
• My Vision for India–Develop Rural India, Empower Women!

Despite all the money and infrastructure available, Malappuram is also one of the most backward in terms of education. There are plenty of schools around but children don’t find a reason to go to schools for a variety of reasons – poor management, bad teachers, poor infrastructure etc among the many.

Deepa Narayanan is an exception, though. Deepa Narayanan is a 13 year old girl studying in the 8^th standard in the Cheekode High School in Cheekode Panchayat near Kondotty in the Malappuram District. Deepa wants to study and become a doctor. Her father, Narayanan Nair, is a waiter at Kadavu resort, and doesn’t have the resources to purchase her regular syllabus books – leave alone additional reference materials. Deepa’s future looks uncertain and her dream of becoming a doctor will only remain a dream.

Who is to be blamed ?

The father who toils day and night to give a brighter future for his kids ? Or the government which lacks farsightedness – not to have created an efficient library system in Kerala or for that matter in India?

This is not a case in isolation. In fact, all over India across thousands of villages and cities, there are thousands and thousands who are in a similar situation not able to afford the bare minimum books required to study further and be one among the shining stars of India, for no fault of theirs. Even if there are any public libraries, the way they are maintained speaks volumes of the misuse of public money with absolutely poor infrastructure, unqualified librarians, lack of technology etc.

My vision 2020 for India is to set up unparalleled library system all across India where every citizen of India can freely access books and educational material free of cost. A public library should be made available every 5 square kilometer in populated areas.

The benefits of an advanced library system are invaluable – Employment opportunities, infrastructure development etc to name a few. This is besides a stream of talents that churn out from the remotest places in India, trying to compete and take India to the next level. The faster the concerned authorities realize the better for India.

I have seen it work in the United States. There is no reason to believe that it will not work in India. Yes, it calls for funding, infrastructure, manpower, technology, planned sourcing etc. So what ? What are the Tatas, Ambanis and the Mittals doing with their billions? Or when will the government account for proper utilization of resources. Isn’t it only appropriate that the money is better utilized for initiatives like this?

There is so much of wealth created in India that setting up a library system of this magnitude should not pinch the government or the private sector, to say the very least. I’d like to see someone take ownership of something like this and set a strong foundation for the India of tomorrow so that we could see thousands of Deepa Narayanans blossoming.

Image Credit: bslavinSimilar Posts:

• My Vision for India–Develop Rural India, Empower Women!
• My Vision for India – Value The Life Of An Indian
• Vision 2020-Merit Based Political System
• Vision 2020-My Eight Visions for India
• My Vision for India – Making India An Aspiring Place

• The New Age Of Innovation By CK Prahlad, MS Krishnan
• Love Jehad Or Reproductive Terrorism?

This led me to another interesting thought i.e. merit based politics

We have had enough of the likes of Mayawati, Kumaraswami, Thackerays, Paswans, Yadavs et al. They have grown strength to strength purely on votebank politics. And none of them have the charisma or qualities that an educated India can say that they are proud of.

Consider that and consider America where you have a Harvard Law Graduate with almost no political back up ran for the presidency and won it with élan.

Will we ever see such politics in India which is purely based on meritocracy? Or do we have to wait for generations to see a glimmer of hope ?

My Vision 2020 for India is based on merit based political system where politicians are elected not on the basis of who is their father , what is their caste, religion or sex but on the basis of merit,  performance, education, demonstrated leadership qualities, empathy, conviction etc.

Although democratic, India has seen politics whose basis has been anything but meritocracy based.  Some of the names given below are shining examples…

1. Plutocracy – By Wealth – Vasundhara Raje Scindia
2. Nepotism – Family Connections – Deve Gowda & Kumaraswamy, Shekh, Farooq & Omar Abdullah
3. Identity Politics – Mayawati, Kanshi Ram
4. Tenurocracy- Based on seniority – PV Narasimha Rao, Sitaram Kesari, L K Advani

That said, don’t we have leaders who are purely merit based ? Of course ! Dr. Manmohan Singh,  P Chidambaram, SM Krishna, Chandrababu Naidu et al have proven themselves quite capable.

Shouldn’t we have more of them ?

High time the parties in India elected leaders who are visionary, educated and proven performers in their field.

If the reform doesn’t start with you and me, then Vision 2020 will only remain a distant dream !

Image Credit: David Paul OhmerSimilar Posts:

• My Vision for India–Develop Rural India, Empower Women!
• My Vision for India – Value The Life Of An Indian
• India Vision 2020-Free and Efficient Public Library System
• Vision 2020-My Eight Visions for India
• My Vision for India – Making India An Aspiring Place

• Identity Politics-Can we afford any more of it in India?
• Indian Politics–Change Is Coming Soon!

Cars like Tata Nano which lower prices are definitely going to be catalysts in this growth.

The next thing that comes to mind, is the traffic problem. Road widening, flyovers etc may ease but not solve this problem. The average speed of traffic in Hyderabad is around 10-15 kmph. Imagine what would be the state of traffic, say after a 25 years and the rate of pollution would be like unmanageable.

Only solution to this problem is to strengthen the Public Transport system. Projects like Metro railway system are a big success in Kolkata and Delhi. However, railways alone cannot effectively address the problem.

The focus should be shifted to road transport. Here are a few tried and tested practices that our government should look into. If these have worked elsewhere, they can definitely work to a good extent:

• Enhancing reach of public transport to every nook and corner. More money should be pumped into them to make buses which would reach all the sections of the society maintaining the frequency and the timeliness.
• Special lanes have to be allotted on selected roads for public transport, which would help them clear the traffic and encourage public to take the bus.
• Discouraged to usage of personal transport. Some countries levy congestion charges to keep this under check.
• The prices should be increased on cars, road taxes and even the parking fee too. Rules should be passed and strictly followed so that no car older that 10 years or so wouldn’t be on road.
• Many people chose personal transport for luxury, facilities should be creating around public transport so that they can use their transport only till the public transport station and then take public transport.
• Most important of all, the mindset of people needs be changed to respect traffic discipline and not viewing use of public transport as loss of status.

If the government takes up the issue seriously in upcoming cities we can definitely see a better transport in India.

Image Credit: eirikrefSimilar Posts:

• My Vision for India – Value The Life Of An Indian
• No Honk And Traffic Discipline – A Reality In India?
• Reach Police via SMS
• Against All Odds, The Spirit of Mumbai Lives On
• We The Inconvenience

• No Honk And Traffic Discipline – A Reality In India?
• Infrastructure Development – The Next BIG Thing For India?

Well this had been the trend all these days on growing foreign investors acquiring more and more Indian companies. Recent one on the news was about Hutch being acquired by Vodafone. But of late we seem to have turned the tables around.

The news that impressed and compelled me to share these thoughts is about news on Sahara India.

Sahara India – Very well known brand to all of us, isn’t it? How can we cricket lovers forget about this brand. Our Men In Blue flashes it day in day out on the field.

Manchester United, the coveted and richest football club in the world, looking to renew its sponsorship through Sahara India. So the Men In Red might soon flash Sahara brand on the field. What a great feeling to see Indian brand in the game that’s followed by billions across the globe.

So who are the other ones made the difference:

Mittals, The Iron Men – Arcelor merger made all Indians have that smirk on their face in pride of what an Indian can do on a foreign soil.

Mallya, The Kingfisher – His venture of co-owning F1 racing has taken India Inc to the next level. Indeed it was a great feeling for me to see Indian face on the dais at the opening ceremony.

Tatas, The Motor Giant – The recent acquisitions of Jaguar automobile company in the UK. Till date not even a single employee being made redundant by Tatas in the UK market. That shows the efficiency of business acumen with which these guys made India Inc so proud.

IT Companies – Needless to say how our nation is ruling the IT roost. I know there has been some unpleasant news recently but that might not take away the credit that our folks have made us proud in other streams.

Are these indications to see India is no more considered under “cheap Labour” category instead under “Rich Business acumen” category very soon?

Image Credit: WikipediaSimilar Posts:

• Would Your Kids Prefer Reading Indian History To Their Xbox?
• My Vision for India–Develop Rural India, Empower Women!
• The Land of Beauty Queens – India
• My Vision for India – Making India An Aspiring Place
• I Salute Indian Army Guarding Our Nation

• activecubes Wins Tata Nen Hottest Start UP Award
• Tata’s Nano Homes And The “Bottom of the Pyramid”

Yes Hyderabad Metropolitan police now have introduced a new way to lodge your complaints or seek emergency assistance. Apart from the Dial 100 service, the police department is launching this new service.

Citizens can now alert police about Terror Alerts such a suspicious baggage, person. They can also use this service to report crime, pass information about wanted criminals, traffic and any other social nuisance. The following options have been publicized as of now and more may be added. So all you Hyderabadis, keep these handy.

Emergency number: 9010100100

Message Prefix Codes:

• te – Terror alerts and complaints
• t – Traffic Issues
• w – Eve Teasing, Harassment of women
• c – any other crime
• n – nuisance

Apart from these police department would send periodic messages to subscribers in different areas about wanted criminals, any alerts etc.

I think this is a very great step in curbing or at least enabling people to participate in crime control. My kudos to Police Department.Similar Posts:

• My Vision for India – Value The Life Of An Indian
• Vision 2020-My Eight Visions for India
• No Honk And Traffic Discipline – A Reality In India?
• Can We Realize The Dream of Better Transport?
• My Vision for India-Care for the Withering Flowers

• When Will These Atrocities End?
• How “Well Connected” Are You?

Like any other person who is travelling abroad for the first time, I was surprised to see the quiet traffic flow on the roads. For me, that was the first amazement I experienced when there were no traffic snarls and gnarls. That time a hardcore Indian woke up in me and started to question when would I see such behaved traffic in India? It was not too long ago I thought of it, and I was very pleased to find this news in New Delhi. Our capital has observed No Honk day on 1^st Jan 2009. One of the NGO has carried out this and their aim is to move from No Honk to Never Honk.

Usually as per the driving code of conduct, you honk on the roads to indicate that you are in emergency and need to go fast OR showing displeasure on somebody who broke the traffic rules. Of course we in India usually do have a different definition for honking though.

This honking reminds me a short story that really happened with me. One fine day on our lunch table I was with an English and a Spanish guy discussing about different things in their respective countries. The English guy was picking on traffic in India, which I was trying to defend, and suddenly this Spanish guy gave his perception on traffic in India, which I found really impressive. As there is no lane driving in India, we honk just to make sure the other person who is driving before us about our location on the road. In other words, the sound of honk makes the person realize (or visualize in the brain) about various vehicles and their position on  the road coming from back or sideways and adjust accordingly on the road. I thought I couldn’t give better explanation than this at that time. For the benefit of those who do not know about lane discipline – Driving vehicles one after the other in a lane in a disciplined manner and there is strictly “No Overtaking” on the city roads.

The problem why we can not have this lane discipline followed easily in India is due to variety of 2,3 & 4 wheel vehicles on the roads for e.g.: Auto rickshaws, cycles, mopeds, scooters, cars, buses etc. I believe all these traffic disciplines are possible only with some following changes in our driving system:

• Improvise our public transport tremendously with more buses, underground systems etc.
• Implement congestion taxes on the roads, which would indirectly make people, rely on public transport and reduce congestion on the roads.
  

Sounds like a Herculean task right? These things cannot be done overnight, coming years are to vouch for such changes and make driving a pleasure than a pain in India.Similar Posts:

• The Art Of Cartooning In India
• My Vision for India – Value The Life Of An Indian
• The Land of Beauty Queens – India
• My Vision for India – Making India An Aspiring Place
• Can We Realize The Dream of Better Transport?

• Can We Realize The Dream of Better Transport?
• The Big Blue Scratch

India has always been making a mark amongst the other nations during the most prestigious Miss World Pageant ever since its inception in 1951.

Reita Faria was the first Indian to win the Miss World title in the year 1966. This pronounced the arrival of Indian women on a global platform. Later it paved the way for many more Indians to represent themselves in the world of beauty. The Indian glamour has been moving on from an embryonic stage to a blossoming stage from then onwards.

After a long hiatus, the year 1994 had a remarkable impact on Indian glamour industry when the duo Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai won the Miss Universe and Miss World titles respectively.

Aishwarya Rai was the second Miss World from India who held the crown in year 1994. Her career as an actress took off from that moment onwards. She was the first Indian actress to be a part of the jury during the Cannes Film Festival. She made her place on the cover page of the Times Magazine. She has gained a significant level of exposure in Hollywood. The reigning queen of Indian cinema remains to be the most sought after actress. She became popular worldwide by making appearances in ”David Letterman Show”, “60 Minutes” and the most famous television programme ”The Oprah Winfrey Show”.

Sushmita Sen was the first Indian to win the Miss Universe title at the Pageant held at Manila, Philippines in 1994. She has proved to everyone that she is much more than just being beautiful.

This feat was further continued by many more young women who were representing India at the international Pageants. All these women had a winning combination of beauty, poise and intelligence and have made our country proud.

List Personalities who made it to the top:

These women represent the new class of "emerging" Indian women who see themselves as successful global ambassadors at the same time maintaining their traditions.

The success of Indian women continues to grow each year bringing back the coveted title to our country. Indian has risen to fame through various achievements notched up by these women.

India still proudly continues to celebrate its victory even today, as Parvathy Omnakuttan won the first runner-up title, at the Miss World 2008 event .

All these Indian winners of international beauty Pageants not only contributed for the nations pride but they also have redefined woman’s status and identity. They have succeeded in setting up new standards of womanhood for millions of young women all over the country.

Similar Posts:

• My Vision for India–Develop Rural India, Empower Women!
• Vision 2020-My Eight Visions for India
• My Vision for India – Making India An Aspiring Place
• No Honk And Traffic Discipline – A Reality In India?
• Against All Odds, The Spirit of Mumbai Lives On

• Is Asin Here To Stay After Ghajini?
• White, Brown or Black – It Doesn’t Matter

This one indeed caught my attention especially for its timing.

With war looming over the western frontiers of India, the army marching towards the border and a very angry India ready to take on its enemy, this video couldn’t have come out at  a better time pumping the spirit of India.

With truly patriotic lyrics by Javed Akhtar and an equivally melodious music by none other than Ustad Zakir Hussain, this reminds me of one of the earlier Bharat Bala Productions’ masterpiece -Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

Jai Hind features some of the eminent personalities of India including singers like Shankar Mahadevan, Alka Yagnik, Sonu Nigam, Kavita Krishnamurthi, Yesudas along with Indian sports icons like Kapil Dev, Vishwanathan Anand, Rahul Dravid, Dhanraj Pillai, Baichung Bhutia etc. You also get to see glimpses of Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Jagjit Singh, Pandit Jasraj et al.

Notable among the missing are Sachin Tendulkar, Sania Mirza, AR Rahman etc. Not sure why and how, though.

Don’t miss this one !

Video Credit: You TubeSimilar Posts:

• The Art Of Cartooning In India
• Would Your Kids Prefer Reading Indian History To Their Xbox?
• The Land of Beauty Queens – India
• I Salute Indian Army Guarding Our Nation
• Marvels of Indian Architecture

• Yuvvraaj Music Review
• Yuvraaj Music Review-A R Rahman can do better!

1. Rural Education

Literacy level needs to be improved in the villages. People from the urban areas should do it willingly.

2.  Communication

Communication across the country needs to be improved for clear thinking and understanding. It is better now, compared to 10 years back, but to be improved further and extended to the villages.

3. Agriculture

We are not utilizing the lands to the maximum possible ways. Water is necessary for irrigation, which most of the time, we are expecting the RAIN. Our existing great plan of joining GANGA – KAVERI should happen for Agriculture developments across the country.

4.  Treating Neighbors’ as Customers

Customer satisfaction is not only present in Business, but also in our day to day life. Empathy (putting ourselves into others shoes) is to be practiced well, and then only other’s difficulties are well realized.

5. Corruption

It started with gratitude for getting the things done; now it has taken the shape as “demand”. In this process, it has become “without this it is next to impossible to do anything”. If this continues further, the growth of our country is at stake. Steps are to be taken at the highest level to erradicate curruption.

6. Lead India / Leadership

Young and educated people are to be encouraged and inducted in the Indian Politics. Active participation of the dedicated, likeminded people only can build India well and stable.

7. Right things to do

Most of us are doing the things right. We often fail to understand ” Are we doing the Right things?” We need to ask such questions ourselves, before taking some important decisions.

8. Social Freedom

All are important under the sun. Freedom is essential for all for not only living, but also for shouldering responsibilities.

I am sure year 2020 is going to be a Milestone for us, all Indians. I am proud to be an Indian, so as other Indians.Similar Posts:

• My Vision for India–Develop Rural India, Empower Women!
• Vision 2020-Merit Based Political System
• India Vision 2020-Free and Efficient Public Library System
• My Vision for India – Making India An Aspiring Place
• Let’s make India a better place to live

• My Vision for India- Bridge the “India-Bharat” divide
• India-A Land Of Compulsions?

As our van has gone past the scenic beauties, we started enjoying the tour with nice green vegetation welcoming us on both sides of the road, andice capped mountains inviting all the mountaineers to try adventurous sports. Our guide started explaining about snowfall and how slippery the mountains would be in this season. I thought to myself this is nothing in front of our Himalayan range that this guide is exaggerating about Scotland.

We stopped by a small mountain range to have a small walk onto a small mountain. All of us made a war cry just to make sure we lift up our spirits and make our ways to the top of this mountain. Well I am ashamed to call it a mountain; it was rather a mound that we were trying to climb upon. It was so slippery that each one of us started sliding slowly off that mound hurting us under those extreme gutsy conditions. I was no different to the other guys and started to lose my grip on the ground and slowly started to slide off the mountain. I could hear my wife shouting and warning me about this from behind.

That moment I just thought for a minute how tough it’s for one to climb a mountain under extreme cold conditions and balance oneself. I immediately realized about our Indian army constantly guarding borders at Siachen glacier. Firstly it’s so tough to focus under such conditions let alone holding the gun and guarding the border with ammunition. Our Jawaans would not have any near and dear with them to warn about any dangers while they climb up the mountains and they will be completely focused with one mindset of guarding our India from enemies.

We sleep under the blanket of security that our Jawaans provide to us. As I have personally experienced this condition I could imagine how difficult it’s for them to guard. And they do it without a single complaint. As they say, unless you experience it personally you would not know inside of a job. I have experienced this, and I whole-heartedly salute the Indian Army from bottom of my heart for this tough job.

This is just my small attempt to reach out to all my friends and make them realize (if they have not already) about our Indian Army’s tough job that they do for us.

I Salute Indian Army guarding our nation.

Maa Tujhe Salaam, Jai Jawaan, Jai Hind

Image Credit: ilkerSimilar Posts:

• Would Your Kids Prefer Reading Indian History To Their Xbox?
• My Vision for India – Value The Life Of An Indian
• Jai Hind-A Fine Patriotic Rendition
• No Honk And Traffic Discipline – A Reality In India?
• Can We Realize The Dream of Better Transport?

• Tour of Nilgiris–Can it pull a Tour De France ?
• The Great Indian Treasures!

What is the Government doing for us? Where are they? Look at our corrupt public officials. The system is so dirty. Yuck! Politics is single-handedly responsible for the decline of the concept of India as a nation.

While we should rightfully hold no inborn sympathy for the lack of leaders in the country today, it is high time we look at ourselves in the mirror before engaging in cliched rhetoric again and again. The above mentioned statements are one-liners you can pick up from many ongoing conversations across India, from ignorant youth to lecturing elders, from uninformed commoners to high society elites. Anyone and everyone talks, talks and talks.

The amount of complaints, regarding the system, that we dish out everyday is becoming like a hoard of filthy, piled up vomit that nobody wants to assess and clean but everybody wants to squabble about and engage in unending chit-chats. People are forgetting the essence of democracy and are engaging in blatant generalization of the system of governance. It’s high time we re-assess ourselves.

It is very convenient for people in this country to sit in their comfortable sofas, dine in multi-cuisine restaurants, engage in social gatherings, watch the latest Bollywood potboilers, go to sleep in cozy beds and then wake up the next morning to throw the “Ohs” and “Aahs” at reports of political delinquencies and national inadequacies in newspapers, while sipping a cup of tea.

It is very convenient for people in this country to rally behind a very opportunistic mass media(that shamed us with their woeful conduct during the horror days of Mumbai) and claim that everything in our system is rotten and it’s best to stay out of the mess. In the process, the majority of us do not see active involvement in society and the nation as our job or cleaning up the system as our duty. If high-end ignorance is all we can offer to the country from a position of no self-sacrifice, then expect a return punch of the kind that the politicians throw at us today.

People do not bother with results of state assembly polls, but are gaping earnestly at the previews of MTV Roadies’ new season. Discussions and debates are held across the country about deserving winners of TV reality shows, but no cause is taken up about what ails the system. People, who ordinarily do not give a fig to the state of affairs in the country, will egotistically jump at a chance to malign the men holding crucial posts of governance simply because it is way too convenient.

We squeal and screech at figures of India’s abysmal position in the Corruption Index, but willfully offer bribes at public offices to get our work done. Bureaucracy is a pain, but WE are a part of the inherent cause of that pain. We forward nationalistic mails during days of tragedy and gloat “India should do something” and “Jai Hind” because that is ALL WE CAN DO. That is all that comes in our frequency of convenience.

At the end of the day, WE are the problem. We are the inconvenience in the system. It is very true that today’s politicians are irresponsible leaders and are very responsible for the mess we are in today, but they are a part of us. They are there because we allowed them to reach there. And from a position of power, abuse is but the next thing on the list of a vehement pursuit for selfish and partisan interests.

If blame-game rhetoric is all we can engage in and personal convenience is all we can offer to the so-called “dirty system”, then stop disparaging at the state of Indian politics and engage actively in our democracy to make it more accountable and rewarding. For a start, VOTE.

People ask me what ails this democracy. I wish I could hit back with a “It’s me and you, my friend”. I wish I could tell everyone that only WE can make this work. I wish I could create a sympathy for the broken system that is crying for our help. It’s a matter of choice. It’s a matter of causing that little inconvenience to ourselves to make the system work. We can revolutionize the system. Because the system is only a by-product of how actively involved we are today.

Because what actually ails this system, and this country, is ourselves. If we won’t, who will?

Image Credit: India Special

Article Credit: Jay ManiyarSimilar Posts:

• Would Your Kids Prefer Reading Indian History To Their Xbox?
• India Vision 2020-Free and Efficient Public Library System
• My Vision for India – Making India An Aspiring Place
• Can We Realize The Dream of Better Transport?
• My Vision for India-Care for the Withering Flowers

• Meera Sanyal-The Hope For Mumbai
• Lok Satta-Powered By People, Driven By Actions

It is known for its people who are humane, believers of god, conventional and conservative. But, lately all this is being proven different. Indians are now not conventional and conservative but are being prone to changes. They are breaking through their limited thinking capabilities and are now adapting different lifestyles.

Western cultures wallop Indian way of lifestyle with a great deal. People are now inclined towards conforming to a very easy way of living life with no tags attached.

Live-in relationships, one night stands, dating, pubs, discos are pretty common and popular in metropolitan cities of India. The way people dress themselves has drastically changed. Sarees and kurtas which are traditional attires of India are now being worn in theme parties and fancy dress competitions. Some of us even feel hesitant to speak our mother tongue to our own natives instead we prefer international language.

There is more to this kind of lifestyle which can only be seen and experience to get into terms with. I am sure that our cultural values are being given importance in rural parts of India. While, people from rural parts of India are busy with farming and agriculture to provide us our nutrients at the background, we are the ones on the foreground representing India in a very different way to the whole world. The way which is completely adapted and neither true nor real.

As a person of present world and with modern thinking I understand that sometimes living with India’s written cultural rules is difficult. Thinking practically and blending into the ways the world is now working, is proving to be an intelligent way of living life.

While I have a comprehension of how important it is to keep up with the standards of life style of recent times, I was wondering that if we are crossing our limitations and thoroughly abridging our cultural values.

We would not prefer using Windows Version 1.0 at this time instead of Windows XP, VISTA, MAC for some people and yes yes UBUNTU (for you Linux folks). We only read about the older versions in books or get a glimpse of them on the Internet, just to have an idea but, not to use them. I am concerned and scared that even our historic and cultural values will become limited to the books/Internet. I am concerned about these values totally wearing out.

What if tomorrow my kid is interested in new game of his Xbox or YBox than the dusted history books? Will he understand the importance of Indian culture? And if this is the case with my kid, then what about my grand kids and future generations? Can India sustain this risk? Can the culture of our country be retained without fading away? I will strive hard on an individual level and will try my best to stop this from happening. I am sure you will too. Thank you.

Image Credit: CooperativeIndividualismSimilar Posts:

• Bringing Light to Millions
• My Vision for India–Develop Rural India, Empower Women!
• India Vision 2020-Free and Efficient Public Library System
• Marvels of Indian Architecture
• We The Inconvenience

• Get Those Folders Synced Between Your PCs and MACs, Get Windows Live Sync!
• 25GB Online Storage, Web Based Access, Welcome to Windows Live Sky Drive