Well!!!!

In the past few days, I was a part of a few group discussions. One such discussion was based on the topic so India's achivement in so many years of Indipendence. There were probably 9 candidates who wend to detail the progress & achivements of India in so many years. Our achievments in Automobile to telecom, space research & food security the achievements were many. Some went along on a pesimistic note highlighting the rise of corruption, terrorism & the slow growth rate. Examples of almost all materialistic elements & growth aspects flowed in which simply kept me amazed & wondering. I came home to think about my country, my homeland & I dunno why none of the materialistic aspects of growth featured in my thoughts to the same. Probably because of a simple thought that civilization began in India, power was then trasvered to the romans & perhaps they were called "more civilized". What followed was the adventure sports of a few criminals to discover the "land of oppertunity"; today reffered to as the superpower of the world. What came in between to show in-essence a spark of power of strength was the middle europian nations with a will to conquer the world but then the fizzed away like nothin more than a Diwali cracker. We today have another developing BRICK country who aims high for that position. That just means to me that power like money shall keep travelling across the world. Atlast what they say,

 "कनक खनक ते सो गुनी , मधिकता  एक खाए बहौरात , एक पाए बहुराए ।" So money and power shall travel across the world.

Coming back to what I was intending to write this article on. My idea of India's achivement in the past 64 years. Well with the ongoing Lokpal issue the first come point that came to my mind : No its not corruption by democracy.

1. Democracy: India being the largest democracy in world, it is an achivement to have a country of 1.2 billions people thiriving towards progress with each one being heard. Yes, there is a voice of the majority & yeas every minor section of the society is being heard by it. I truly believe it is the greatest form of achivement to progress with a population of a billion on board. The respect for individuality that we hold (yes, I saw this even after people abusing & hitting each other in the state assembly), we have a millions opinions to every policy / matter of discussion & each is heard & respected. Perhaps, India is a part of the very very few nations in the world where a common man can stand up & shake the corridors of power. The fact that the entire goverment machinery had bow down on a number of occasions including the Jessica Lal case, is a clear :win of the people, of the sub-continent.

2. Secularism: Scores of people keep telling me that it we would have been so much better as a Hindu state & not being a secular one. I just wonder what gives us or anyone a right to decide that. There maybe a scores or maybe hundreds of religions in the world but then India is the sole country to have given birth to 2 religions in this world. I take pride in that fact that my homeland gave to the world three of the defining religions like Hunduism & Sikhism. Almost from the very begining of religious practices in the country, Hinduism & Islam have co-existed. The question that lies infront is "Who'se land is it, anyways?
What gives me a sense of achivement is the fact that no matter what happens on the macro-political level, deep in the streets of India we still have people who believe in humanity as their religion & are people above the same. Its immaterial of the comments that come out of our sub-councious the moment the moment we hear about a terrorist activity but then our kids, practicing any religion go to the same schools, learn from the same teachers & in more cases than one have the hots for the same girls. We are treated by the same doctors, protected by the same police & army, play the same sports, drink the same soft drink. Yes, this country is united & united with friendship above religion. This is our country & our religions are just a purely personal subject of belief. From the riots of 1947 & the ones that followed untill the mishaps of 2002 Gujrat we have developed into a peace loving nation, united in the face of the world. This my fellow Indians is one of the greatest achivements of all times.

3. Versitile & Multi-Cultrual Co-Existance: From the Burka's & Saree's of an age, here is another which promises jeans & even mini's. The east meets the west, the old meets the new, while concepts of live-in's are adapted the ideas of sati have been bid adieu. The modern Indian man dresses to the occasion. You don't find sarees on the beach & mini's on a funeral. While we are young & happening we still have deep rooted cultrual value systems in place. While in essence the basic thoughts are the same the mediums have changed. The change between old & new is perhaps the most dramatic in this country but the outcome has been largely the best globally. We move from the era of a black & white television every locality to an android every pocket; the transition is largely happening with all generations aboard. Probably the most string part is when this generation of our reaches the IIT's & brings out grandmother's styles for treatment of common cold or a stomach ache in the hostels, you do realize why India is so special. The mental horizons are broadening, we are rising above the social evils yet the teaching of all are carried forward. Thats my idea of a progressive looking ethical & well civilized country.

There are more & the list remains endless. India has achived a lot perhaps a lot more than any country across the globe but then these my friends are not achievements that can be measured on a scale of 1 to 100. You need a soul & a heart much to great to understand these things. This is just my basic outline to the land I belong rest is democracy............