Shadows so tall...

This is an initiative to inform and enlighten the people of the country about the unforeseen challenges and problems that we face today. This is to encourage the people to look through the mist of temporary hype about the success and well-being of our country, India. The shadows we're dealing with are not of any definite size or kind. They are all around, in various forms and are inevitable. They all signify darkness, and darkness is what waits for us at the end of the tunnel. What we need to do and surely can is to fight them off, and for good, if we really want to see India shining in the sunshine.

We understand that this won't be easy. We would face several hurdles in our mission, the first of which would be convincing the people to believe that it's not always like 'What you see is what you get'. We have been fed on a false diet of patriotism. This is what blindfolds the general public and they fail to see the glaring realities which stretch beyond the range of sight of the commoners. Some situations need to be deeply analysed and well-thought into, to be able to realise the forthcoming problems and dangers arising out of them. The biggest hurdle would be the typical complacency and submissiveness of Indian people. We just give in and accept our fate as it is without challenging. Those designated to serve the country and its people act as rulers and treat the citizens as their subjects. This thinking has to change. They must be re-introduced to our constitution and form of governance.

The picture that is generally put forward to us is more of rosy and not a complete panoramic view of the country's condition. We rejoice over the rise in the no. of billionaires(which is actually pointless) in the country but fail to notice the rise in poverty levels at the same time. We watch the sensex go up and down so eagerly, but how many people from among the total population of India are actually concerned with its movement, how many gain out of it? We're elated at the smallest of success of a person having silghtest of links with India. Why do we need to look for such small instances to feel pride over our nationality. What is it, if not pseudo-patriotism? Why don't we focus on the bigger picture and actually do something outstanding, really outstanding. Something so outstanding that we actually need modesty to stand up and marvel at our own creation.

We all see the movement towards a promising future in America catching up, "yes, we can", they say. And so can we. What is stopping us to have an Obama of our own? I know that this idea has become quite a cliché already, but this is just the question to ponder over at the moment. When would we get over those trivial issues and divides? When would we start thinking in national interest and when would our 'rulers' start keeping the national interest ahead of their political and personal interests? No one can truly answer these questions but us. And that is because only we have the power to decide, even though we've long forgotten our prerogative to exercise that.

This is not against any particular government or political party, this is against the whole system of governance. This is to revive that feeling amongst all that it is we who're responsible and it's us who are capable of handling the situation. The task no doubt is tedious and apparently impossible. But a start is a start, even a small one. India would need great courage and conviction to deal with the situations firmly and take a few brave decisions, which might be unpopular in the short-term, but would have positive implications on the long-term growth and success of our country . A strong political will is the need of the hour.

There are several issues we want to raise and discuss and would take them up in our future posts.