Random Thoughts on Random Words - Day 9 India

It is day 9 of the challenge and the ninth alphabet of the language  is 'I , meaning I have the opportunity to write about my country India. Yes, I am so happy and elated to write about  my motherland! Everyone is proud of his/her own country. But what sets our motherland apart is her spirit of  inclusiveness, diversity in terms of  geographical terrains, the colour of the skin, religion, cuisine, languages, dialects, you name it! A country of a 5000 year history, having an ethos that is built over  thousands of years simply cannot and will not  change its true nature merely because of a few aberrations. That would be underestimating the strength, stamina and staying power of one of the oldest civilizations of the world. India  has taken on any number of invasions, imbibed, merged with various ideas and culture but retained her basic nature of seeing the world as "one family".

At one time, a  land of  famed prosperity,  explorers ended up discovering  new territories in pursuit of her. Students and scholars traveled great distances to learn and be part of her world renowned ancient universities at Nalanda and Takshashila. India has faced and survived the challenges of invasions and colonial rule. Economically she had seen levels of abject poverty; was looking up again post liberalization (from 1990s), only to be pushed back in recent times with Covid 19 striking the biggest blow. From here on, what path would  India  follow will  determine her destiny and what her place would be in the comity of nations. The collapse of the soviet union and the emerging of free economy had tilted the debate heavily in favour of  capitalism as if it is the  panacea for all problems in society.

 However, this has been proved to be incorrect as borne out by the experience in the US, a country   known to be a typical capitalist economy,  US is facing a lot of problems today;  Stock market crash, loss of confidence in investment, high interest rates, falling housing prices, slowing down of manufacturing orders, wage price controls and increasing number of people on unemployment are matters of  concern. The underling factor that cannot be ignored is that 'greed' tends to be associated with capitalism with an intense desire for profits, any which way including  unethical ones. The banking crisis  in the US involving risky real estate deals was perpetrated by unethical bankers.  

On the way forward, India would have to follow her own path most suited to her unique needs instead of aping either the right or left policies of other countries. Presently, she has her share of concerns to contend with, such as addressing the adverse impacts of demonetization, consumer demand slump, real estate slow down,  lower investments, and unemployment problem. The need of the hour is  nation wide  brain storming sessions  involving the best brains in the country be it political leaders, economists, industrialists or technocrats. There is a need to not worry about "who is getting the credit" for initiative and action. The country should come first, the politics and politicking, last. 

I had written a poem "Flame to Fire" in November 2020 for presenting at the Yercaud Poetry Fest 2020 wherein I had highlighted the need for the same fire in the belly that Indians had  exhibited at the time of the freedom struggle. After independence was won, everyone felt that the mission was accomplished and went their separate ways to focus on their self interests, ignoring the problems of the masses and India as a whole. This has arrested our progress and brought in feelings of parochialism that cuts at the very roots of the  ethos of our motherland  that we discussed in the first paragraph.

To my mind, time has come for all of  us to rise unitedly for achieving a new form of  freedom -  freedom from  poverty, ignorance, illiteracy, discrimination, leading to emergence of an India that makes available abundance to all Indians and not just pockets of Indians. After all, we would be able to raise our heads in the comity of nations only when the  abundance in all areas - wealth, health, education, caring and compassion is reflected in every home of our great nation. ( https://rajeevianlinesandverses.blogspot.com/2020/08/from-flame-to-fire.html ) 

Mera Bharat Mahan! Jai hind!                                                मेरा भारत महान!    जय हिन्द !   

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