Saturday 11 March 2006

Khoon Chala- But where?


Scholars and revolutionaries have said time and again that the first step to change starts right from your soul.

Over 50 years ago, my country, India, was fighting a freedom struggle. Millions of young men and women were ready to die for a country in bounds. That was the time when great minds gave birth to great ideas, and these great ideas became the sole passion for myriads of charged individuals.Flaring minds and raging determinations swept the nation up in a furor of maddening desire to unleash the country from forced chains. Like a river of fire, the young minds flooded through the streets and brought about the very change, because of which India is now an Independent Republic. The youth of the country yelled out, in pain, in glory, in rebellion, with conviction...towards Victory. That was the India of 1947...

Cut to 2006. Today. India is still in a struggle. The momentary victory of independence that was gifted upon us by great souls, has faded away in a daze of corruption, illiteration, poverty and overpopulation. While before 1947, India was trapped in the binds of British imperialism, Today, after several decades, we are still bound by parasites of society that are eating away our country.

We look around, and what meets the eye? Millions of people fighting the race to survive through a system which crushes them right when they try to get up. People say politicians have ruined our country, they are to blame. I say...WE are to blame. Its probably a cliché by now, but one thing has be be repeated again and again...The one who tolerates in injustice is as much the culprit as the one committing the injustice. It is so easy to just point a finger at someone, but what we dont realise is that three fingers are pointing right back at us.

"Be the change you want to see in the world"- MK Gandhi

Taking a very simplistic example, I just recently saw the movie Rang De Basanti. The movie deals with the issue of the Indian youth being foreign to their own culture, and how they've lost all hopes in the country. Carefree individuals turning into contemporary heroes for a cause. Seems far-fetched? Well only to a certain extent.

By now, I assume you're thinking...Here's another idealistic kid who lives in an unrealistic ignorant world of bliss, who finds it easy to preach about standing out and doing something for the system. Yes, I may be idealistic in my thinking, but my ideals are not baseless. Nor do they strive for something entirely inconcievable. Why do we find it so hard to take up a duty upon ourselves and just resort to pointing fingers most of the times? How many of us have actually read and understood the "Bill of Duties" of the Indian Constitution, instead of stressing on the Bill of Rights? Are we even eligible to the Right of our Constitution, after having completely side-lined our duties?

I dont claim to be a righteous citizen, but i guess all i'm trying to get at is that, we as Indians, dont even have the right to critisize just any glitch in the country, unless and until we are ready to do something about it. Things will not get better, if we sit and wait for them to improve.

I dont advocate violence or any drastic steps...those have never really solved any problems, just created new ones. Sure, it would be easy to just stand up and shoot down the corrupt politicians, policemen, doctors, lawyers...but till when? And how many? And what will be the result? Jail...or Death. No. Our country needs us alive.
India needs our resources, our mental capabilities, our cooperation, our honesty and dedication. What we need is to take pride in our country, and work towards improving it. Instead of taking our intelligence elsewhere, we need to stay in this country. Sure, things might be a bit hard at first, when has the right path been easy?

Zulm karne se sada zulm hi haazil hoga
Jo na sach baat kahe voh koi buzdil hoga
Sarfaroshon ne lahoon deke jisse seencha hai
Aise gulshan ko ujadne se bacha lo yaaron...

( words by Gulzar, from Sarfarosh)

9 comments:

The Rebel said...

Entirely my sentiments!

It's a two step process.

First we need to know - what to do? And secondly - how to do it?

Your post answers the first question. Regarding HOW, it's a matter of different perceptions. Mahatama Gandhi & Bhagat Singh adopted different ways, but the motive was the same. And that's exactly what needs to be done. Every true Indian must contribute for the betterment of the country in any way he/she can.

Your post may seem too idealistic and utopian to a few so-called "mature" and "practical" people. But it's nothing more than a facade that they use, to conceal their selfish interests ahead of the broader one. I'm very glad to know u aren't one of them. India needs more people like u!

Anonymous said...

deja vu!!!!! :-)

Anuj Bhatnagar said...

I was watching the film Dhoop yesterday. It was about an old man (played by Om Puri) fighting against the entire system as he fought to claim the honour that the govt had accorded to his son who died fighting for the country in Kargil. It was a dark and grim film, showed how people in our system are becoming leeches and ruining the resources of this country. The film showed corruption in every leaf, branch and root of the tree. And the corruption was yielding more corruption as its sour fruit.

RDB and Dhoop, I felt were different forms of our fight against the system. RDB went the violent way and left a few questions unanswered. Why must we resort to violence? Why must we play the blame game? Many more such questions arise in RDB. Dhoop tries to answer some of these questions. At the same time, it makes you wonder whether the fight against the system is really worthwhile or not. It proves worthwhile in the movie, but does it happen in reality? It may happen in a few cases but the reality speaks for itself.

Cheers,
Anuj

Unknown said...

Awesome post Neha...

I agree by every bit of wat you said! Even if just 10% of Indians think the way you do.. no one could stop India from progressing...

We need to realise that only by cursing India or the system, it won't change! The roads are bad.. the politicians are corrupt.. opportunities are less.. population is more etc etc etc.. These are just words to run from your own responsibilites.. Is the government or corrupt politicians responsible for population growth?? Ask yourself.. do you pay the full tax honestly & regularly? If not.. what right do we have to complain? Rights come along with duties.. And if we don't fulfill out duties.. we don't deserve any rights!!! We need to understand that we unanimously need to stand for our country and make it a better place!

I love the dialogue Madavan says in RDB.. "... Ghar ki safai mein haath gande koun kare" Its only bcoz of this attitude that India is not counted into the developed nations yet!!!

One thing I'd like to say Neha.. Your ideals are neither baseless, nor impractical.. In fact its something each & every Indian should think & apply! One more thing am saying HERE.. basically coz I want others to know.. "Neha is not a kid standing out there just preaching.. she's that kid who can teach the most mature Indians.. She's the first Indian, outside India whom iv seen, who wants to come back to India and work and says it with full pride and confidence :-) She's one Indian I think has the full right to say that she truly loves her country >:D<

Too big.. jus tried to open my heart out!

Once again dear.. awesome post.. keep writing...

Take care,
Aarti

Neha said...

Replies

Tanmay: Yeah, i agree, the Why is always pretty clear. Its the How where all the problem lies, always. And yeah, unless we ALL dont contribute for our country, we will be short of achieving the desire goals. Anyways, its good to have people agreeing with me on this :)!

Chandy: hehe...

Anuj: hmm...that seems like a film i'd like to watch, specially since its based on the true story, after the death of Anuj Nayyar. But yeah, one thing i'd say is that, the fight for the system is ALWAYS worth it, as the truth and the rightetous path always win at the end. Sure, there is some amount of struggle to be done, but efforts are an essential nonetheless.

Aarti: hehe...u make me sound bigger than i am. And also quite saintly :P! Well, yeah, i wanna come back to india and work, because I know that my country has a lot of potential, and I just want to be a part of the progess. Plus, home is home :)!
PS: I loved that dialogue too...that was like, hitting the nail on the head!!

Anyways, Thanx all for commenting and expressing ur ideas about this.

Neha

direkishore said...

hey! I knw this is a very late comment. It was a very well written post!

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