The knowledge wave as described by Alvin Toffler is a testimony to the burgeoning information and intelligence around us. But it has its by product in the form of people having an opinion about everything(which i assume is their prerogative in a way). So we have the intelligentsia and the esoteric, always ready to pass critique on a gamut of issues, the most favorite of which is - Our country is heading towards murky waters. Now this intelligentsia is a smorgasbord of academicians,experts of varied professions; people who've been there and done that.I wonder that does experience breed pessimism and make people naysayer or is it just that the reality check has taught them to play it safe??Everyone's heart suggests that life is meant to be good to them, maybe their experience suggested otherwise.
Maybe this is the difference in the way a 21 yr old thinks and a person who has seen more of this world thinks.No doubt we have impending impediments to deal with, but the 21 yr old in me still sees light on the other side of the tunnel.
What we're talking about is neither Utopia nor Dystopia(if they can ever exist that is); what we talk about is India. "Koi desh perfect nahi hota, use perfect banaana padtaa hai."
The gravity doesnt lie in where we stand right now, but instead in where we're heading.I see us heading in the right direction, though the peregrination is slow.We've travelled from being called the land of snake charmers and rope tricks to being described as the digital housekeepers of the world(Still A parochial definition ).
We provide a service, the world wants what we have and they want the best. We're in business together,so lets stop getting judgemental about it. The world has become an inextricable knot where interdependence is indispensible.we are no more the electrons revolving around, instead we're part of the nucleus oozing out positive charge.
We're no more lackadaisical avoiding work surreptitiously wearing the cloak of socialism.The Graffiti has spelt the need of the hour- U want to subsist,then U got to deliver. THe change is conspicuous and the world is taking notice. Never before have Indian Professionals been so good at multitasking and never before have we seen the number of employment generators ameliorating at this rate( Read Rashmi bansal's "stay Hungry Stay Foolish"). I think we're heading towards the right balance of the bracket of people where they know what they want and since they are the prime movers of any society, i wont even bother about the nebulous ones.
We question the Govt's role in their policies. But when our Finance Minister gives a budget favoring the aam aadmi, the corporate half cries out loud for lack of reforms and the same happens vice versa when it is pro industry. I'd not like to blame the Government, if we ourselves are so manipulative(Jugaadu)that we find novel ways of mending the laws.
So if the govt. gives 50% grant to infrastructural projects concatenated by 20% by state govt., my city's municipal corporation fails to raise even 30% of the amount and the entire project of Urban Development is scrapped. Why should i blame the Govt. for that??
Our condition is not as bad as Gotham for something elemental to come up and rescue us;what we need is a cabal of people like Michael Mukherjee(Yuva) or Mohan Bhargava(Swades) to take up the mantle and drive the change. We've gentlemen like Arvind Kejriwal and Anand Kumar, seeing whom i dont consider my optimism as fatuous. Never before have i seen non-profit seeking ngo's in such a large number to serve for a purpose.The wheel is rolling for sure.
But like i mentioned,We're no Utopia.We still have people fighting to get their basic rights- a woman fighting for dignity after opting for a divorce,homosexuals fighting for dignity after the law against them has been revoked. For them jurisdication is just a part of the entire panorama; its the attitude of the ones around, that'd give them the confidence of being egalitarian.
We've the problem of the original termite of any system, THE MIDDLE MAN. This bridge between the Govt and the common man has myriad chinks and hence when funds want to cross this bridge, they succumb to the chinks falling straight into the ravine of Middle man's pockets.
This is precisely why i wont compare us to Japan or Germany who made progress like a juggernaut after being annihilated so brutally. Corruption persists there as well, the only difference is people there who ask for bribes do the needful after that. But we being what we are, we take bribes and still won't work.Proud to be a democracy!!!!
But i still see optimism at the end of the tunnel,i still envisage a new dawn at the horizon.I see the burgeoning Purchasing Power Parity of the middle class; who likes to spend the weekend in a mall,watch movie in a multiplex and enjoy a meal at a
fancy restaurant. This is a reflection that something positive has struck this land. I see class consciousness as a very positive facet which i believe would promote Darwin's postulates. We may still be hypocrites on many aspects:we still have inequality, we still have people below BPL starving to death, we still have farmers committing suicides,we still have domestic violence; but it was never prognosticated that the change would be made overnight, it was never prophesized that i'd wake up from a dream and i'd see that in tangibility. Reforms take time, they need dynamism, they need unity, they need cognizance.
But Maybe this is the difference in the way a 21 yr old thinks and a person who has seen more of this world thinks. I like to see the light at the end of the tunnel ,but the one who got a reality check would simply say " Goddamn!!! u first need to get out of the quagmire u're in,to reach there."
Maybe Syncretism of these ideas is the solution. Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what u're gonna get.The anomaly exists, but at the end of it all if you've earned it, u're going to savor the entire box of chocolates.
