WHAT AILS OUR COUNTRY, INDIA

The single most important point what ails our country is its population. Everywhere we see congestion; in cities, buses, trains, marketplace, roads all teeming with millions. It is a God given gift that for the size and its disproportionate population, it is endowed with all kinds of natural resources which have lasted for long. In spite of this, an average Indian suffers and has to uindergo tremendous toil as compared to our western counterparts. Life is very difficult in our country. We have the best as well as the worst. We have the world’s richest people and world’s poorest. This class imbalance is very wide. Second is the tremendous diversity within our society. No other country in the world has such a wide variety of religions, languages, castes, dialects and divisions. We talk of ‘unity in diversity’, but it is more superficial. There are a lot of divisions within which has exhibited in the form of violence and arson. There are lot of disputes with the union for which solutions are nowhere in sight.

Sometimes I also wonder if an Indian as an individual has to blamed for his attitude. Most often I have found that the Indian mentality is one of selfishness, greed, apathy, and hypocrisy. He is not contended at all. This has led to a unsatiable desire to own material things which has only added fuel to the flames called desire. An Indian considers it his life’s goal to own things. Somehow I feel this has led to a lot of resentment and underlying malice among people. There is an unrest which is exhibited during any kind of violence. There are some positive qualities too in an Indian. Empathy, hardworking & industrious, creative, affection among family members and friends are good qualities. But it is the negative qualities which contribute to the struggle in our society. This is reflected in our politicians. There are a lot of good things that they can make the Government do in the field of health, education, family-welfare, environment, social awareness, housing, poverty alleviation and women upliftment. But instead they are involved in unwanted and unproductive exercises. As individuals we ape western countries, particularly the USA in our actions. But if we dwelve into our past there are scores of scriptures available. We may be able to run our country and its economy so very well that it shall be almost idealistic. An Indian first looks after himself and his own needs. Then come his close relatives. Beyond that he does not care. In US, there is , at least, one advantage of a breakdown in family life. In the absence of relatives, a rich American bequeaths his wealth and fortune to some charity or institution, at least a significant portion of his wealth. In India, the institutions have to beg for funds as there are hardly any contributions. In so called big family owned enterprises, the scion leaves his entire wealth and fortune to his sons and daughters who are again greedy to grow on the wealth. Earlier Tatas and Birlas used to build townships and hospitals as their social responsibility, but in the name of free market economy, such things are thought of as an ‘unwanted cost’. With such an attitude no Indian is worried about the surroundings,.be it hygiene, pollution, care of the old, health &education for all etc..