hi folks,
It is been ages since i posted in this blog. Actually i want to post this on Independence day but couldn't get near the keyboard for a while. The day started in very cliched manner , channels showing war films and my mobile beeped many times with happy independence day messages. Most of the TV channels logo's were adorned with tri-colour. All the malayalam channels were celebrating Maduani's tussle with the forces. My brother added a tinge of tri colour into his desktop as well. I was feeling frustrated don't know why?. So with out writing anything i went out. So that's it no post for this Independence day just re posting an old letter which i posted in my groups on this day two years back. But 2 years back when i was writing that thing i was confident and optimistic but today i am a little sad to note that the conditions are gone bad and anyways i am just sharing that letter and a book which influenced me the most .
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---- Forwarded Message ----
From: sandy sandeep
To: civil2005batch@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sun, 12 August, 2007 9:37:17 PM
Subject: Independence day thoughts - An introspection
INDEPENDENCE DAY THOUGHTS- AN INTROSPECTION
Hi folks,
I’m writing this out of resentment, hatred, and detestation of my personality. I’m writing this out of sheer pain that pricks my conscience that I needed a “wiki search” or a “Google search” to understand and to know my country.
Once I promulgated and proud of being a rebel, a non conformist, a person having abhorrence toward his country. I argued vociferously that this country doesn’t have any future and present system is a farce and country is all set to doom. I have many reasons to tell our poor infrastructure, poor planning, prevailing corruption, pathetic health condition, exponential growth of slums, water scarcity, poorly tapped resources etc etc.
It was a long list having common prefixes either poor or pathetic. I continued my gibberish over and over again whenever I got a chance. It happened me to visit a foreign country as part of my budding career, there I enjoyed to look around for a dustbin to throw my empty ‘Pepsi’ can with reminiscence of how I used to kick to a main road back in my home country and relieved a lot to see it getting crushed and giving a damn about it. I enjoyed the restrictions in that country and used to boast of how strict the rules were there.
I came back to my homeland reckoning the foreign dollars I can have by adding a MBA to my credit. Well I was back into hues and cries of “Indian living”.
It was to kill time and revive a habit of mine which got descended into memory I joined Ernakulam public library. It was then I stumbled upon some brilliant works of our great masters like Bhism sahni, Manto, Khushwant Singh, their stories gave me detailed account of post independent India immediate after partition, which was in a chaos of its own. Many books gave me detailed account of how we made the transition from freedom to independence but I never felt excited rather I was sympathizing how bad they made , and how bad our country is after 60 years of its independence. I hardly seen anything positive everything appeared to me as negative. I was sure that this country is dooming, there is no way out.
It was then I attended an interview in a leading B-school in the south, interviewer asked me about my role model, I played it safe as I said M.K Gandhi. He was not in a mood to give up “Why Gandhi? Does it mean that you will go satya graha if I won’t give you any hike? I figured out that he was intending to hear the relevance of Gandhi’s principle in current world (damn!!!!!!!!! for that I must know what were Gandhi’s principles and their current relevance, hmm poor Gandhi, poor me, poor interviewer).I ended up saying some ludicrous mumbo-jumbo which has got an immediate effect on that poor man, he quickly wound up the session. We both, I and my interviewer thus shared great relief by saving poor Gandhi. This is the very reason behind I started reading M.K Gandhi’s
Autobiography (a book, I bluffed a lot ,but never read ) I felt his ideas are hyperbolic and having no current relevance as political parties are making a hell out of it and couldn’t compromise with some of his views (especially I was wary about detesting of foreign goods). But down the line I feel still something, in the form of a question is looming behind his texts, he was a great man. I really understood how great he is by going through his text but my perennial problem remains still virgin ,how to tackle this bloody world. I thought he would have committed suicide if he was here.
It was then I got a book as a gift “how to change this world “by David Bornstein .It was book about social entrepreneurs. It was about people who know that the world they living in is hell and took initiative and devised plans and carefully executed their work to make this world a better place (a fact which is overlooked by me during the first read). There were lot successful people like Jeero Billimoria of ‘Childline Foundation India’, Javed Abidi (who fought for disabled rights), Fabio roza (flag bearer of rural electrification program in Brazil) from Brazil, Ela Bhat (organizing self employed women) the list was frustratingly endless, but I was not ready to compromise with them and their success became incomprehensible to me or it is first time in my life I came to know in India theses kind of people really exist, but after reading this book too I felt like something looming behind their success too which remains to be elusive what is that? What is the common thread connecting these people?
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It was a hartal day, shops were closed as usual and even the hospitals in our precincts were closed. Chikun guinea was taking its toll on my mom, she convulsed, barely able to walk and couldn’t even stand up. She bored jungle of intricate diseases like diabetis, cholesterol problems, high BP etc so we had to tell a long story before any doctor so we preferred doctors who knew her for a long period. But as that was a hartal day they were hardly accessible. At last the only possible option remained in front of us to take her to the “PRIVATE PRACTICE” of a govt doctor, but he informed us that he was busy with an “AROGYA MELA” organized by govt of Kerala and can be reached over there. So only possible option remained before us to take her to that govt hospital. I protested but there was no other go.
It was the first time in life I had been to a govt hospital, I was worried. The scenes were nauseating (even though I used to pass bitter a comment about this place, a face to face encounter was more that I can bear). I shocked to see how over crowded the place was, how dirty the place was, how poor the amenities were. My mom had to share her bed with two other patients, three of them were sharing a bed hardly 1m wide. “Get this injection from the counter” nurse handed over a chit to me. I felt nervous to see ocean of people in front of me ailing in various way, all I could see sadness and hopelessness in every face, all I could hear the cries. Their voices were deafening me, I stood paralyzed for a moment with chit of some unknown counter. It was then a young and animated voice fallen into my ears “what can I do for you brother?”. I seen a boy hardly 10 yrs old in his scout and guides uniform. I was amazed to see how calm he was, and was smiling. The question reverberated in my ears, is that what am I looking for?, is that what looming behind Gandhiji’s texts?, is that what each of those social entrepreneurs asked to their fellow beings?. Now everything became clear, all the ideas which seems hard to explain and thought to be incomprehensible and hyperbolic were floating around me.
I am 23 years old, I’m a professional by now, asked many questions to many, but never ventured to ask such a question. Till that moment I was preoccupied with negative thoughts, I felt like all my pride and prejudice are burning and melting down before this small boy. I mechanically handed over the chit to him and followed him as if am in trance. I really moved by that boy and his 10 member team .They didn’t had school on that day and came here thinking that at least the could help a little bit as they know hospital staff cant manage such a big crowd. Till that day I was vociferous about the misdoing others, corruption, poor health condition of the nation, prevailing unemployment and the entire negative sides of society and nation but never ready for an introspection “what is it that you are doing for them?”. I had 1000 examples of negative people, negative thoughts and negative deeds and all negative and hopeless aspects of our country but I was blind to see at least 10 positive examples, failed appreciate positive deeds and positive thinking. I overlooked the confidence shown by those individuals. My vision was crippled with negative thoughts. Now that everything became clear to me I felt like the “sixth sense” boy (who when look around could see only dead people). I looked around, now I could see the goodness in people, in the smiles of hospital staffs, in the smiles of the boy and his team. I could see people are no more crying they were smiling. I felt confident…………………..
By writing this I tried to translate my tryst with different ideas I was experiencing for some period. I am embarrassed to say that I took 23 years to know my country and to be confident in my country. Now I’m a hopeful citizen. I’m agreeing with the fact that we have to develop in many fronts and we are lacking in many. But be aware of the fact that we have done many .You can give me 1000 examples of failures and corruption and all negative side of life but I challenge you I can counter you with 10 positive examples ,hopeful examples. But 10 is small in contrast to 1000 but believe me the gap is narrowing, it will accelerate only when we fellow Indians really know about it and pledge to take part in it. Be hopeful and be confident and try to do something for others (no matter however trivial it is), try to nurture that culture in you and in your younger ones
This is the great message our leaders and masters wished us to learn. open your eyes to see the world, it is not that bad enough, be confident , be ready to appreciate and participate in those noble deeds, don’t think that you are too feeble to make a move, you go on with your small move(doesn’t matter how trivial it is). Try to learn and spread this message. It is minds of the people are to addressed first, it is the mind set of the people have to change first. In that what is very important that is understanding your role, it is very big. And it is understanding our country, understanding that the life is beautiful.
So lets pledge to confident, lets pledge to be positive, lets pledge to be tough , lets understand our country, lets pledge to appreciate others , lets pledge to do whatever we can for the nation building, lets pledge to be hopeful because life is beautiful………..
Thanks
Sandeep
I am glad to tell you that how much happy and confident I became after reading the book “how to change the world “. The title may be misleading; but certainly not a ‘Dale carnige’ kind of stuff but are actual stories about some wonderful and successful people. Let me finish off by reproducing some quotes in the book
“True compassion is more than just flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring”……….Martin Luther King Jr
“If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves “…………………… Thomas Edison
