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 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? 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.
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 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 ?
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 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, 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 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 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'
Lets do what India needs from us.
Forward this mail to each Indian for a change instead of sending Jokes or junk
mails.
Thank you,
Dr. Abdul Kalaam
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