Incredible India - Chapter 0

Atithi Devo Bhava (The Guest is God) – that, my friends, is us. We have a rich culture and bright minds. We have left a mark everywhere. We have an in-depth education system, Superior moral values, Ethics, Laws, Languages and Diversity. India is unique in many way, one being – In Spite of the variety of culture, we have always lived as a one big family; nourishing and caring for one another; shedding tears for the hurt; healing people in crisis. Full of courage and enthusiasm – When we fall down – we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves of and start walking again! THAT is our problem. We never pick up the banana peel lying on the ground, we simply don’t care; even when we do, we don’t want to!

We have always been told about a charming way to look at life – Glass is half full. We have been told to be positive; that a positive attitude brings miracle. Be it school or college, everyone uses the same expression and smile! But, do you realize the joke? Think again, the glass is half full. Looking at positive side is a very convenient way of escaping negativity. This is good as far as thoughts go. But, it gets alarming when the thoughts start creeping over morals and actions. I certainly don’t want my glass half full.

We have become cheap; morally and spiritually. As I was thinking along, Russell Peters popped into my head. I remembered an episode where he joked about our cheapness. There was a positive side and there was a negative. He said that nobody can insult us by calling us cheap. We hear “cheap” and process it as “smart”. In fact, we have been so dedicated to being cheap for so long that we actually invented the number Zero! Our cheapness changed the world!

So much as we love to brag, there are potholes.  Although, it’s the action of few that brands the whole city, but that is the truth. We have the lowest moral values. We are still encashing the vouchers our ancestors left us. We keep pointing that how the western culture is spoiling our generation…when actually these are the corroding shackles of the past we are trying to preserve. We refuse to think and we deny the growth. With time, our egos have inflated and our thinking has narrowed.

We hold our heads high – A diversified, yet united nation where we prefer erecting and gold plating monuments instead of extending a helping hand. We preach love and kindness; we breed discrimination and favoritism on the basis of birthplace, caste and status. We say that all Indians are equal and then we destroy property in the name of democracy – What for? To actually slide lower in social status; to eat the fruits of opportunity with a lazy lifestyle.  We still have a functional society that supports emotional blackmails and forced marriages; where honor killing and dowry is respected; where love marriages are frowned upon and couples are lawfully beaten on Valentine’s Day. We elect politicians who divide people on basis of states; we worship those who can help us step on our so called brothers. We silently pay the law to protect us and government holds on to its seat instead of promises; where innocence is proportional to money. How long will we watch?

We are at par with everything that happens in the west – Luxuries, Drugs, Sex and everything else. Yet we still talk about the live-ins and abortions, hiding our own figure charts. We still believe in continuing a bitter married life because society has ample of time and it will talk; although, nobody gives a shit. We still prefer our kids to grow up in a conservative environment; telling them that there will be a time for everything – Studies (Primary, calculated to be near about 26years of your life) and Friends (Secondary, only those who top or talk less); a girl/boy friend – Still in a conceptual design phase (After all, a distraction is no no) – Liking and Love is a post mid-life affair! On top of that, money is something we are chasing and health is something we are playing with. We are responsible for letting our hunger grow. 

The generation is trying to break loose, trying to find new ways, trying to attain new balance...and we are trying to keep them in line. We are the ones who think that college education is more than enough for girls; that engineering is always better than law. That safety has to be our first concern and not innovations and experiments. Loved ones don't come first, society does. People who talk are silenced with a perfect line - We all complain, but do nothing. But, can you really do something? Isn't it better to clean one's own house? Isn't that the fastest way to a clean a city? 

We always like to gossip about things. A person who can’t do that is marked Rude/Anti-Social/Dumb! It’s never the solution that interests us; it is the problem that amuses us. Instead of thinking about the solution, we keep tossing the problem around. Always remember - - to spread love, one needs actions; to spread hatred, word of mouth is sufficient.

Today, I don’t have any solid solution. I’ll mark this blog as starting of one. There is one conversation that I’ll quote as the beginning –

Me: “What should be the moral values according to you?”

Friend: “Everyone forms his/her own values”

Me: “What are yours?”

Friend: “Respect every individual. Respect gives rise to Love and Love starts Harmony”.

Me: “That means if the foundation is weak, the whole structure will come down?”

Friend: “That is a BIG Yes”

That means to make our foundation strong, we must first learn to respect ourselves. We must be right to do right. It’s a Monty Hall problem. Behind one door is a car; behind the others, goat. An honest game or an instant win – our choice – our actions. 

Just ask one question – Developed…Developing…Really?