Circa 2007
INDIA. The word is so synonymous with bollywood movies, rich songs and dances, corrupt bureaucracy, unruly traffic, all over, a total mayhem, pending court cases since god knows when, few cities that have displayed immense courage over serial bomb blasts, few cities that have adopted the stance of INDIA will remain like this, like it or hate it, few cities that have developed a sort of self sustainment, few cities that have risen to fame in their arena of specialisation
Circa 1830
INDIA. Quoting Lord Macaulay, in his address to the British parliament - "I have traveled across the length and breadth of the country and I've not seen one person who is a beggar, who's a thief. Such wealth I've seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such caliber, that i do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, i propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation"
Hmm.. now, the part till the 'unless' comes is something!
We marvel at the EFFICIENT traffic system of countries having them. We blame our politicians and traffic police for not maintaining and streamlining the traffic. There are various engineers commenting on what or how better things could have been, if it were different. COULD! sigh!
We go as enthusiastic audience to an Enrique Iglesias concert, or an Iron Maiden concert (Maiden, man!). When Shubha Mudgal or Kadri Gopalnath perform, we're like, huh? who?
We need speed in everything we do. Instant food, instant water heaters, the darn computer is too slow, put more GBs of RAM into it, travel fast, so fast that keep going even when the signal becomes red, keep moving, and of course keep honking, [Duh! do I have to say that?] without even caring about the old folks crossing the pedestrian crossing.
Folks at home want their kids to be fast too. 'Be fast, and give me quality too. You won't survive in this competitive world kid! You need to do something great!'
Bangalore - The Silicon City of India, The next Singapore!
BALLS!
What am i coming down to? Attitude. All of us want more for whatever little we give. We hardly care about the traffic, coz its always easier to put the blame on someone else. Gives us a feeling that we are not responsible for what has happened. But where is this going? The downfall of us, the only people responsible.
I agree traffic is not an issue that can be solved by one person. You may like to follow traffic signals, [I'll say like, coz that is how its BECOME here] but someone may not want to. Why? coz no one is looking :) It bemuses me all the time how people manage to put up such a careless demeanor on their part. With the signal still red, people incessantly keep honking. Its like a time-pass to wait in the signal. Finally, it becomes green and what do people do? their hands are still on the horns, not on the accelerator! The guy behind this guy notices that the signal is already green! SHIT! Its green! Why isn't this guy moving? Come on! Come on! honk honk!! Now the guy in the front has already moved. This guy has so fast response to stimulus that he is still honking, instead of moving. Result? A Chain reaction ensues. Tell me, can the police help in this? Why don't people realise that moving at the instant of green helps, rather than honking? A coupla days back, i saw an old couple crossing the road. there was this huge scorpio wanting to take a turn, and this guy kept honking persistently! Why? Has time taken the sensitivity off the people?
These are questions and incidents that only we can answer to, or be held responsible. It becomes inevitably important that we take steps before the already fully grown tree starts developing diseases.
With Lead India going on everywhere, merely watching the small kid trying to do the impossible task of moving the tree alone, or listening to Mr. Amitabh Bachchan's inspiring speech, or just by voting for the contestants on the Lead India programme, we would not actually LEAD INDIA. This isn't a programme's title or a caption or a quote.
LEAD INDIA is a phenomenon.
LEAD INDIA marks the culmination of a hitherto developing nation.
LEAD INDIA is a feeling that should make others look upto us, and pose a stiff competition.
LEAD INDIA! Is all this possible? Am i being PRACTICAL? I wouldn't answer. I would wait for answers, in terms of actions.
