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 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
some Jokes
or non-sense junk mails.
Thank you,
Dr. Abdul Kalaam
(PRESIDENT OF INDIA )