Hey everybody, Happy Independence Day..!!! As I sit here comfortably in my air -conditioned cubicle, thinking about completing 60 glorious years of independence, 38 more than my age, a barrage questions that strike my mind, my heart and my soul, are - Where did we (read INDIA) start off ? Where do we stand today ?
What does the road ahead look like ? I missed being a part of the freedom struggle by just 3 decades, so I shall refrain form attempting to trespass the first question's territory.
But, being a part of the mammoth youth community of this nation, I surely can dilate on the status quo and the road ahead for the nation. With a soaring economy, high GDP, a strong rupee value, burgeoning job opportunities, plummeting unemployment, we, surely, can presume that our freedom fighters are sitting up there and mocking at their "East India Company" peers, who tried their level best to keep down our passion for growth in our country for years.
Having moved from being a country known for its benighted superstitions (with no offence to anyone) to a country being bragged for brimming with economic developments, scale of mergers and acquisitions, nuclear and scientfic progress, largest consumer base, and a myriad other developments, and yet retaining its traditions and sticking to its roots, we surely have come a long way.
But, we are not yet there and certainly have some gigantic hindrances to tackle. The first and foremost being global warming. On one hand, we understand that our very existence is commensurate with the existence of our surroundings, but, on the other hand, we fail to envisage the consequences of not ascribing an equitable status to both. According to me, we need to act quickly to avoid what could lead to the end of life on this planet.
That will direct our hardwork of all these to trash. I don't want that...who does? The next obstacle which needs to be tackled effectively, may also be given due credit for the current growth of the country - the youth. While most of us youth are extremely compassionate towards our country till we finish our graduation, many of us tend to get lured by the growth opportunities and lucrative offers abroad.
The Goverment needs to take some steps to ensure that they don't lose this valuable talent to foreign predators. The goverment needs to regain its lost faith amongst the younger generation and work with them altruistically to pave the way for a proud newspaper headline : INDIA : 2020 : THE ECONOMIC TYCOON.
The third obstacle, according to me, are a bunch of people who, unless have their palms greased, would not like to work. The scapegoat here again may be the government and the low wages they pay to the government officials. Have you ever wondered why traffic cops accept bribes easily ?
Because like all of us, they too have the desire to own a house, a vehicle, educate their kids at the best schools and lead a healthy life, which, today, needs a lot of money. Instead of investing whopping amounts in foreign deals, we should concentrate more on reducing corruption in our country, which, by the way, is not very far behind in the list of most corrupt nations. This is one list we should not try to top.
Once we overcome these three major obstacles, nobody can stop us from reaching the top. I might not have adulated the state of the country after accomplishing 60 years of independence, taking the path which few would dare to tread, and reaching a stage which few could have foreseen, but, like most other Indians, I think we are capable of much more... Vande Mataram.
(Deepesh is a 22-year-old engineer based in a Pune, Maharashtra.)
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