| Username |
Post |
| jaya_nepal |
Posted
on 22-Oct-03 07:40 AM
President's Speech contd....
What do YOU do about it? Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give
him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - OURS. YOU walk out of the
airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you
don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU
are as proud of their Underground Links as they are. You pay $5
(approx. Rs.60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim
Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU comeback to the
parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in
a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status
identity.
In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to
eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to go out
with out your head covered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an
employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a
month to, "see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to some
one else." YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in
Washington and then tell the traffic cop, "Jaanta hai sala main kaun
hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two
bucks and get lost."
YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the
garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand.
Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo? Why don't YOU use
examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston? We are still
talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a
foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who
will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch
Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in
an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India?
Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of
Bombay, Mr.Tinaikar, had a point to make. "Rich people's dogs are
walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the
place," he said. "And then the same people turn around to criticize
and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What
do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time
their dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In America every dog
owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan.
Will the Indian citizen do that here?" He's right.
We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all
responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the
government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is
totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are
not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we
going to stop to pick up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the
bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are
not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.
We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food
and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least
opportunity. This applies even to the staff that is known not to
pass on the service to the public.
When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women,
dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room
protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse?
"It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I
alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry." So who's going to change
the system?
What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists
of our neighbors, other households, other cities, other communities
and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to
us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock
ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into
the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come
along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we
leave the country and run away.
Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in
their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure
we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take
the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we
demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government.
Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of
feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money. Dear
Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great
deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too.... I am
echoing J. F. Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to
Indians.....
"ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE
INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY"
Let's do what India needs from us. Forward this mail to each Indian
for a change instead of sending Jokes or junk mails.
Thank you.
Abdul Kalaam
President - India
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| jaya_nepal |
Posted
on 22-Oct-03 07:40 AM
This speech was given by the Indian President Abdul Kalam. Please read it.
President's Speech
In three weeks, we made these Floor reaction Orthosis 300-gram
calipers and took them to the orthopedic center. The children didn't
believe their eyes. From dragging around a three kg. Load on their
legs, they could now move around! Their parents had tears in their
eyes. That was my fourth bliss!
Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so
embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are
such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we
refuse to acknowledge them.
Why?
We are the first in milk production.
We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
We are the second largest producer of wheat.
We are the second largest producer of rice.
Look at Dr. Sudarshan; he has transferred the tribal village into a
Self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such
achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and
failures and disasters.
I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It
was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had
taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the
newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years
had transformed his desert land into an orchid and a granary. It was
this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of
killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried
among other news.
In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why
are we so NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so
obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign TVs, we want foreign
shirts. We want foreign technology. Why this obsession with
everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with
self-reliance?
I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 years old girl
asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She
replied: I want to live in a developed India. For her, you and I
will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim. India is
not an under-developed nation; is a highly developed nation.
Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance. Got
10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is
yours. YOU say that our government is inefficient. YOU say that our
laws are too old. YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the
garbage.
YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke, the
airline is the worst in the world, and mails never reach their
destination. YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and
is the absolute its. YOU say, say and say.
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| Bilbo Baggins |
Posted
on 22-Oct-03 08:15 AM
Very good article. This could easily be transposed to our Nepali context. When I read the above I really felt it! That's what us Nepalis need to do ... FEED the system rather than SUCK the SYSTEM DRY, as most of our netas do. We need to ask what we can do for Nepal and not what Nepal can do for us.
We need to get out of this defeatist attitude ... Nepali haru testai ho ... and change one person at a time ... starting with ourselves ... regardless of what political system Nepal eventually settles down with ... we will always be Nepalis and Nepal will always need our help.
BB
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