This is the last week of the year 2019. And we are marching on to 2020. 2020 is the year we waited for long. We waited for this year from the time the book India 2020 of our dear president Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was released.
Alas!! We have irrecoverably failed the great visionary's vision for 2020 as a Nation.
The news these days is depressing to say the least.
* CAA+NPR+NRC - creating divide among the citizens.
* Raising of extreme Hindutva Ideologies
* Economy in ICU
* Curfews
* Increasing Internet Shutdowns
* Increasing concerns with respect to Women Safety.
* Naming of great institutions like JNU and Jamias as Anti-national.
*And the list is long.
Haters are gonna attack me - "Where were you when Kashmiri Pandits exodus happened?? " ; "Where were you when UPA govt failed?? And scams... At least BJP is not involved in any of the scams like UPA you see". (let me not even mention the question of "Did you even read what CAA is?, etc. ". Now that it is clear that even PM Modi and Mr. Amit Shah are confused on CAA, NRC and NPR . )
My answers to them are honestly and selfishly innocent. I was hardly 5 years old when Kashmiri Pandits were attacked. And for UPA govt, I did realize that scams were happening and I was disappointed with Maun PM MMS. But it didn't bother me much then.
May be it is that now I am in my 30s with home loan and responsibilities, I care more about the economy of my country. May be I am more aware now. May be I have seen more life in the last 10 years. I know now that no jobs are secure. Unemployment is hitting the country hard.
So haters/ opposers - Before you conclude that I am an idiot, illogical, etc. Please note the below lines that I quote herewith :
‘It has been my experience that I am always true from my point of view, but am often wrong from the point of view of my honest critics. I know that we are both right from our respective points of view. And this knowledge saves me from attributing motives to my opponents or critics. The seven blind men who gave seven different descriptions of the elephant were all right from their respective points of view, and wrong from the point of view of one another, and right and wrong from the point of view of the man who knew the elephant. I very much like this doctrine of the manyness of reality. Formerly I used to resent the ignorance of my opponents. Today I can love them because I am gifted with the eye to see myself as others see them and vice-versa.’ - Gandhi
For Peace sake agree to disagree.
Now, coming back to the issues - can we please agree (or agree to disagree) that there is a problem and there are real issues to concentrate on. Until and unless the government accepts it's failures it will never be able to recover. People had a lot of hopes with BJP govt, with the irrecoverable fall of Congress. Modi vs who was the problem then, Modi vs who is the problem now. The kind of orator Mr Modi is, the country will fall for him again if he accepts his failures. The government has to move out of the publicity gimmicks. Enough of entertainment in the News Channels and Mann ki baat. Enough of bringing on Hindu Muslim debates. Enough of expenditures on Ram mandirs, statue of unities.. We don't need statue of unity, we need unity in this country right now.
Urgent actions should be taken on 3Es of the nation - Education, Employment and Economy. Nothing is more important than this at present. Period. Government should let the ignited minds of the universities work for the development of the country. By naming them as urban Naxals and anti-nationals where are we trying to take the youth to??
And what should we do as citizens?
First and foremost, accept the existing flaws. Without that you cannot cure the disease. Be a patriot. Freedom of expression is a tool to brainstorm about the solutions. Keep expressing your thoughts. Your opinions. Trust me, they do matter.
Dr. Kalam used to say, that we should not always just blame the government. We need to bring the change in ourselves as well.
For us, the system consists of everyone else except you and me. When it comes to making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along and work miracles for us, or we leave the country and run away. Dr. Kalam stressed on two important facts to achieve his vision – Sensitization to problems and a will to achieve. One should rise above ones routine, mundane problems and try and achieve something beyond the ordinary.
I wish and pray that we as Indians are able to settle the superficial differences, think and act in a direction that leads to prosperity of the country.
Wish you all a happy new year 2020. May we be able to make his vision a reality by 2030.
Signing off - hopelessly optimistic Indian🇮🇳