The very fact that the poor were being driven out of Delhi during CWG by the robust stick and stick policy confirms that we donot want to showcase the world the real India, which we all know as an emerging 'economic power'. It lowers our status if such poor and shabby people are noticed on the roadside by our reluctant foreign guests.
While doing so are we not acting as wardens of a child Orphanage? Whenever any rich man has to visit the orphanage dirty clothes and bed sheets are concealed. All orphans are given new clothes, good shoes/chappals, baloons are hanged, good books and toys are placed ,good food served and a cultural show is organised. All this prompts the visitor to donate whole heartedly and enables the wardens to pocket the donation, but the plight of orphans remains the same.
We may boast ourselves to be an emerging 'economic power', an economic power where 95 per cent of people are living below poverty line, where 75 % of people are illiterate, which cannot build a few yards of foot over bridge. Yes, India is an enconomic power captured by 5 percent of people. Earlier these five percent were either Mughals or British and now these five percent are Indians. But the plight of the poor still remains the same. Our freedom fighters came out from these 95 percent. These poor were victim of Apartheid in South Africa. Earlier these poor were not allowed in temples, trains, Royal functions, Govt. Offices, polo grounds by the British and now they are being whisked away by the so called 5 percent "economic power" of India. Earlier, Queen's people beat the poor, now the Queen's baton has arrived.
But the question is who these 5 percent are? Gandhiji drove the earlier 5 percent out? India has remained slave for about hundreds of years and it has gone in our blood to be like slaves and be contended. The slavery of years has taught 95 percent of us to be contended, do not revolt, bow before the baton and accept everything as God's wish. The slavery of years has crippled our thought process and courage and we have been taught to accept everything as our fate, as a part of God's wish and tend to forget that God helps those who help themselves. Is it not high time that we wake up and again throw away these Indian five percent. ?, who are corrupt, slothful, incompetent, chaotic, unwilling and unconcerned. Who receive the Queens baton and beat poor Indians. Thanks God, only the baton has arrived, what will happen if the Queen arrives. ? British have physically left, but mentally they still rule us.
Earlier some intelligent and wicked people had been exploiting us by killing our thought process and courage to revolt and kept us engaged fighting each other in the name of language, caste, creed and religion. Today, much has not changed. The same Ram Mandir, the same Hindu, Muslim, Christian, territory /language disputes, separate states and the same 5 percent of "economic power" ruling the rest of 95% of humanity. Today also Chairs are ruling the chairs, positions are ruling the positions and batons rule the mindset. What has been lost in between is Human Being, the man, the manifestation of God.
There emerged a human being who moved out of these 95 of poor and challenged the 5 percent of "economic power", who's thought process and courage to revolt could not be crippled by the five percent of economic power, and He became the man of the Century, do you remember his name? Mahatama Gandhi. And what happened next, is something to be emulated. Is it not the hightime that history should repeat
itself ?
Unfortunately 95% of our decision making, value system, work culture is in the hands of five percent people. The latest projection of which is the statement made by somebody that hygiene and cleanliness is a subject matter of differing standards and that CWG as an Indian Marriage, where chaos and confusion are bound to be there. How this type of mentality would accept sanctioning and disbursing crores of Rupees without filling their own pockets, this way or that way. Otherwise why else do you think the foot over bridge gave way, why that much filth, dirt and defame?
But irony of the fate is that we Indian believe in luck not in effort. If anybody dies of disease at the age of 18, it is God's wish, if he lives up to 90 years of age it is God's wish. We will not think of means for countering the disease and misery by our wisdom and effort. We don't believe in the theory of cause and effect. We have been taught to blindly follow, be contended with whatever we have, your share will come to you. Close your eyes and believe this, don't doubt. If you doubt you is not a true follower. Don't invent but only believe. But the people who preached all this have gone to graves and we are living beings. Life throws new challenges to us everyday. But here old is gold. We cling to the old and do not have the courage to let the new come in. Old people, old mindset, old corrupt culture and old stinky values. We must have courage to destroy the old, and then only the new light will come in. Old man dies after giving birth to new child, old tree dies after leaving the new seeds, old leaves drop and new come, old flowers vanish and new blossom. Age has no correlation with wisdom. A man of of 80 years may be wrong and a child of 8 years may be right. We must pave way for the new generation, the new thinkers, the new engineers, the new doctors, the new politicians the new philosphy and the new mindset
Today, countries have build townships under the sea, 36kms of bridge over the sea, colony on the moon, towers talking to skies and we fail in making a few yards foot over bridge on earth. A live example of their capabilities is Delhi's Metro. Tomorrow their children will live on moon and our children will not get a respectable space on earth.
We import latest foreign technology, foreign machinery, foreign machinery, foreign banking, foreign insurance, foreign direct investment, foreign education, foreign planes,
foreign security systems, , foreign minds, foreign value system (take example of Rabindranath Tagore and Kiran Bedi, they were first honoured by foreigners) , foreign character and now [ Foreign people?, whom Bapu had driven out? ]. Now the question is will we act or wait ? Think wait for whom?
I am sure, after seeing all this, Bapu will be repenting and If asked by the God he may wish to be reborn in "Foreign". --- Rajinder Kumar Kathuria
