Find the real U in YOU

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 reading the Israeli newspaper. It was 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 a picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had
transformed his desert land into an orchid and a granary. It was this
inspiring picture that everybody 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 TVs, 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?

A 14 year old girl had a chat with me. 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.

Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance.

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 in 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 Peddar Road ) between 5 PM an 8PM. 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 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 sala main kaun hoon (Do you know
who I .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 every time their dog feels the
pressure 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 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
that 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 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