06.24.06
President Kalam on Indian attitudes
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 T. Vs, 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 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 stilltalking 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. Wil l 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’
Atulraj said,
October 16, 2006 at 2:55 pm
This was an Eye-opener article………..i salute our prez. Mr. Kalam for this. Its high time we Indians need to think & act according to what has been said in the article. So lets begin it………………..
Atulraj said,
October 16, 2006 at 2:56 pm
This was an Eye-opener article………..i salute our Prez. Mr. Kalam for this. Its high time we Indians need to think & act according to what has been said in the article.