Be Proud of India, Make It Great

By NIKUNJ BHATT

It is a shame that we NRIs have to write angry letters to Indian newspapers. While corruption, bribery, and white-collar crimes are an epidemic in an Indian Government gone sour, we as Indians must not lose faith in our rich country. India, despite its problems, still has hope. After all, we are the country that gave birth to Nehru and Gandhi, two of the greatest leaders in the history of the world. Leaders who were able to unify India into a prosperous nation just 50 years ago. The question that remains is, however, have we forgotten about them already?

The India of today is only what it is because of an immense lack of Indians not caring for their future.

The Indian mentality of passivity has now become negative apathy. While the Indian voting rate is by far higher than the American voting population, we must ask: "Do the citizens of India really know why they are voting and whom they are voting for?"

Like Paul Kalra, "a very concerned Indian citizen," I too have noticed the Indian path of decadence upon my visit to India just a couple of years ago. While I am only 15 years old, and a natural born second generation American, I am beginning to realize that there is less to be proud of with my rich Indian heritage. I realize that I am a product of the lack of nationalism and organization found in India. When my parents came to America, they came for economic prosperity and the tremendous amounts of freedoms offered here. But I often ask myself why can’t India offer the same economic prosperity and the same fruitfulness of democracy America offers. Of course, comparing the United States to India is like comparing apples to oranges, but the lack of competitiveness and strength in the Indian work ethic and entrepreneurship compared to America as well as China is beyond shameful.

Fifty years ago, Indians under Gandhi, Nehru, and other great Indian leaders fought long and hard to create an India that would become powerful and prosperous. They had hope in creating another ‘Garden of Eden’ for their children and grandchildren. Today, as the grandchildren of Gandhi and Nehru, we have harvested a garden full of weeds. In only 50 years we have let down our forefather’s dreams in creating and maintaining a beautiful India. Instead that India is scarred by pollution and corruption within an un-stabilizing Government.

But what can we do? There is a famous Aesop fable I barely remember as a toddler that can offer a key to the solution: "There once was a road next to a mountain in which many people would travel on. One day a boulder fell on the road blocking the path of many travelers. Everyone complained and moaned over the problems the boulder caused, until an old man silently walked through the crowd and began pushing the boulder out of the way. Finally, when the boulder was moved, everyone appreciated the old man for his effort." The moral of this story is that all it takes is a little action. A little action that can slowly move the burdensome boulder of corruption and crime out of the way. Instead of continuing the regular Indian mind-set of apathy and whining, I propose that we Indians take on a mind-set of action and willingness. If there is corruption in Indian politics, let us write to our Indian leaders and warn them to shape up or get out. If there is a faltering market in the Indian economy, let us not sit back and complain about it, let us invest and take interest in creating a better, more prosperous India. What we need is the nationalism and unity offered by Gandhi and Nehru 50 years ago.

While I am technically an American, I am an Indian at heart concerned and infuriated by the dead-end path of decadence India is taking today. I am sick and tired of going to Indian functions and dinner parties and hearing adults talking about India as if it were a garbage dump or a palace of riches.

The fact of the matter is that it is neither. It is a country that is scarred and in pain, but it is a country not yet on its knees. To stand proud and tall, we must go beyond the talking and take action by forming organizations, outside religious and cultural affiliation, that will enable us to unify and address the problems of India, and that will thus aid us in solving them. Forget about being Marathi, Telugu, or Gujarati, or Muslim, Hindu, or Sikh. We are all Indians watching ‘Our India’ India slowly losing the battle over survival and a competitive stance in the world.

The questions: "Why is India so dirty?" "Why are there so many poor people in this photograph of India?" and "Why can’t the leaders of India get anything done?" should finally be answered. Every time I pick up an Indian newspaper, I want to read about how great India is, and not about it’s problems.

Every time I turn on the television and I see India featured, I want to see the prosperous middle-class and not the dirty starving poor. And every time I talk to my relatives in India, I want to hear how well they are doing and not about their problems they are having.

If you are an Indian equally frustrated, I urge every one of you to get up and stand up for India, and to withhold the pride and the feeling of greatness in being Indian. Whether a NRI or an actual resident of India, we all must care and take action about the future of India.

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