Its not the first time that I was hearing this: Iss desh ka kuch nahi ho sakta. But this time it was different. It was not coming from another cubicle bound software engineer, but from someone who left the green meadows to plough the fields back home. A dear friend, who left the relative ease of the corporate world to join scores of aspirants shuttling in and out of various coachings chasing the elusive dream called IAS, was now leaving the country to contribute to the brain drain that we so eloquently talk about.
I sat down to think, what are we doing wrong as a nation. A friend recently told me that in order to become successful, two full generations of a country have to slog hard in difficult times. He cited China, Japan, even Thailand as examples. True! but then which are the two generations that would have to take this mantle. Is it ours. Yes, if not entirely. Our grandparents really did not know how to handle the newly found independence. They did not have the benefit of hindsight, nor was there the money and the expertise of technology. Our fathers did, in some measure have the benefits. Our generation, blissfully has the advantage of technology. An advantage, that belies all other disadvantages we may have as a nation (with the possible exception of internet speed). To be true, I am sometimes amazed looking at the various memes floating on the net. We have exactly the same tastes, preferences, and knowledge as any other of our generation in any country. That is the power of globalization. We can acquire as much knowledge and expertise as required within the comfort of our chairs. I'm not discounting the power of globetrotting, and global education- Im sure it's in my list of to do's in life as well. But to leave your home country in disgust with an aim to settle abroad surely is a warning bell.
So why are our countrymen turning into people cynical of everything- the corporations, the government, the lowers, the uppers. Just today I read an elaborate article in Open that talked about foreign funding of NGOs and how they are potentially harmful to the country. Notwithstanding the awesome results from the stable of NGOs of the likes of MKSS, PRS, TERI and CSE- we are still skeptical. However, where the country should be skeptical, we remain silent. I remember a dialogue from the movie Oh My God, where one of the priests says-"The problem with people is that they are not God loving, they are God fearing"- They look for ways to please god, in order to get on with life.
Apply the same to our people. We want messiahs or people who would deliver us from all the wrongs in the society. RG may have no idea about the politics of the country- but look at people in the villages, for them he is what will deliver them from their misery. Modi's biggest supporters claim he will ensure transparency/ accountability. What they forget is that bulk of the system will remain comprised of the same people. Palm greasing is and will remain the norm till the people change their minds. A ruthless administrator cannot keep a check on 125 billion people.
Similarly, what we lack is the followup- I can point out certain instances where our anger vanished as soon as the story was off air:
I wrote this earlier, but till the point all of us become responsible enough to ask tough questions, to follow it up with actionable inputs and make this country a better place to be in, we will continue to see the despair in the eyes of the generation that is responsible to make this country a superpower. That invariably, will contribute to the best brains going abroad, and our country being ruled by dumb and corrupt people for atleast another generation- and probably we will miss the bus again!
I sat down to think, what are we doing wrong as a nation. A friend recently told me that in order to become successful, two full generations of a country have to slog hard in difficult times. He cited China, Japan, even Thailand as examples. True! but then which are the two generations that would have to take this mantle. Is it ours. Yes, if not entirely. Our grandparents really did not know how to handle the newly found independence. They did not have the benefit of hindsight, nor was there the money and the expertise of technology. Our fathers did, in some measure have the benefits. Our generation, blissfully has the advantage of technology. An advantage, that belies all other disadvantages we may have as a nation (with the possible exception of internet speed). To be true, I am sometimes amazed looking at the various memes floating on the net. We have exactly the same tastes, preferences, and knowledge as any other of our generation in any country. That is the power of globalization. We can acquire as much knowledge and expertise as required within the comfort of our chairs. I'm not discounting the power of globetrotting, and global education- Im sure it's in my list of to do's in life as well. But to leave your home country in disgust with an aim to settle abroad surely is a warning bell.
So why are our countrymen turning into people cynical of everything- the corporations, the government, the lowers, the uppers. Just today I read an elaborate article in Open that talked about foreign funding of NGOs and how they are potentially harmful to the country. Notwithstanding the awesome results from the stable of NGOs of the likes of MKSS, PRS, TERI and CSE- we are still skeptical. However, where the country should be skeptical, we remain silent. I remember a dialogue from the movie Oh My God, where one of the priests says-"The problem with people is that they are not God loving, they are God fearing"- They look for ways to please god, in order to get on with life.
Apply the same to our people. We want messiahs or people who would deliver us from all the wrongs in the society. RG may have no idea about the politics of the country- but look at people in the villages, for them he is what will deliver them from their misery. Modi's biggest supporters claim he will ensure transparency/ accountability. What they forget is that bulk of the system will remain comprised of the same people. Palm greasing is and will remain the norm till the people change their minds. A ruthless administrator cannot keep a check on 125 billion people.
Similarly, what we lack is the followup- I can point out certain instances where our anger vanished as soon as the story was off air:
- Anna hazare: All those who were roaming around with "I am Anna" caps last year won't even know where the bill is stuck today.
- Coalgate: The companies are functioning as usual, raking in the moolah
- Helicopter Scam: No body has yet asked the question- What was the Indian government doing all along?
- Vadragate: Last known, he has even got huge land tracts in Rajasthan at throwaway prices (mis)using the National Solar Policy- the BJP is quiet for some reason, and so is the press!
- Italian marines: Went home for Christmas, and will now go home to vote. No chargesheet filed.
- Kudankulam: The brouhaha over, nobody knows the state and fate of the project
- Leave these old timers: I recently read in the papers about the Delhi Rape Case- the victim's friend, who had pointed fingers at the police earlier, now says the police did a good job. Nobody raises a question, and the entire Jantar Mantar attendance is sipping coffee in the cold Delhi winters.
