What is going wrong with India?

Mahatma Gandhi, though spread the message of non-violence, was never awarded with Nobel Peace Prize. The world understood his message only after he died. Especially now, when the whole world is living under the threat of terrorism, his message seems more meaningful to us. In 2007, United Nations Organization passed a resolution to celebrate his birth date as International Day of Non-Violence, in 2008, Barack Obama, President of United States referred him as being his inspiration. These are just two of the innumerable examples one can sight to prove that Gandhi's more than six decades old philosophy and ideas are far more applicable in today's insecure world.

But, in this writeup, i want to draw attention towards an another thought of this man, who played a pioneer role in Indian independence struggle. He believed "Real India lives in its villages", by this he wanted to say, until the problems of villages are addressed, the problems of India will not be addressed. I think, he was right. India has around 7,00,000 villages in which more than seventy percent of Indian population lives. Almost hundred percent of this seventy percent population living in villages depends for its livelihood on agriculture. Since independence, the contribution of agriculture in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has come down from more than fifty percent to nowadays less than eighteen percent.

Economic theories says decreasing share of agriculture in country's GDP is a sign of transition of a country from being underdeveloped to becoming a developed one. For example, agriculture contributes less than one percent in the GDP of United States, which is around eighteen percent in case of India and is further decreasing, as mentioned earlier. Therefore, it means India is heading towards becoming a developed nation. But, here is the problem lies. In United States, less than two percent human resource is engaged in agricultural activities, where as, in case of India more than seventy percent people are engaged in agricultural activities. Its a simple mathematics, in United States, the percentage of human resource engaged in agriculture and contribution of agriculture sector in its GDP is balanced, where as, in India the percentages of the two is not balanced and i think, this is a point of problem. I mean to say, with the decreasing share of agricultural sector in GDP, the population engaged in it should have also decreased with the same rate, but, this is not happening.

Don't you think, if all members of a group do not contribute in almost same proportion in the advancement of the group then, every member won't be able to get the dividends of the growth of the group in same proportion. This imbalance in distribution of dividends, if continues for a long time, will lead to dissatisfaction, especially among those who gain less. And, this dissatisfaction, will one day lead to breakdown of the group itself.

In my writeup, the group is a country called India and the sign of dissatisfaction is suicide by farmers in the places like vidharbha of Maharashtra, a state, which have India's economic capital called 'Mumbai', the first destination of the same President Barack Obama and his high profile business contingent comprising around 250 businessmen!

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Is it about getting older or about getting mature?

Two months back I was on a trip to Mumbai from Delhi. This was my first long distance trip by train and that too alone! It was a journey of around fourteen hours. I was prepared, to spend these fourteen hours sleeping and reading M. K. Gandhi’s My Experiments With Truth. By choice, I had an upper birth booked. At the lower births two other boys were traveling. I guess, these two guys recently became eligible to cast a vote. I can say this after hearing there conversation. They were talking about there board exam performance, there plans of getting into some premier engineering college, there experience with there last date (which I guess, was, probably their first date!) and every probable thing which any normal teenage guy talk.

Hearing them, i said to myself, these are really kids and knows nothing about life (as if i've done Phd on life). Slowly, my thoughts turned away from there conversation towards the analysis of change in my attitude in living my own life in last four years. Let me explain it in following way:-

Earlier workout meant, body building by going to gym and following weight training. Now workout means, yoga, brisk walking, meditation and yes, Baba Ramdev’s pranayam!

Earlier for me a long drive meant, driving madly through the traffic in a zic-zac way with loud music, now long drive means going for a drive late night with maximum speed of fifty kmph even when there is hardly any traffic on road with the volume of music just enough that it’ll reach only uptill my ear drums.

Earlier, exploding on the person with all possible Hindustani gali if his car even touches the bumper of my car, irrespective of who made the mistake and now, with a smile on my face just saying “no issues, it happens” even if the accident created a big dent on my car. But mind you, there is hardly any chance of accident these days because now I go very slow!

Earlier reading Times of India meant, directly going to sports page and then to Delhi Times which incorporates beautiful pictures of beautiful beings! Now, reading Times of India means going through the main newspaper in detail, which is actually full of failures of mankind and taking note of these failures by clubbing them under “important news” and at last getting stressed after reading it and saying its kalyug!

Earlier good food meant, eating what ever one wants to eat especially from the road side stalls like burger, deep fried momos, chole kulche etc. Though, even now I buy eatables from road side stalls but they are strictly "fruits and narial paani" with a hope that i'll not die early!

Earlier for me, Raksha Bandhan or Rakhi was simply a festival of brother and sister in which sister gets lots of money and gifts just by tying a rakhi on brothers’ wrist and brother gets nothing else. And now, the meaning of Rakhi has so drastically changed that the same brother is going fifteen hundred kms away to Mumbai to meet his only sister to celebrate Raksha Bandhan.

I think life has changed a lot specifically during last two years, for good or bad only time will tell. We, as a human being should accept what ever comes in our way whole heartedly.

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The School.

Recently, i got a chance to go to an intermediate school at Ghaziabad. It wasn't a private school may be that was the reason for its poor infrastructure. The school took me five decades back, and i felt as if i am watching 'Malgudi days', a television series, written by R. K. Narayanan. Guys, I asked myself, still we have such schools left, especially in a city like Ghaziabad where municipality has a budget of Rs. 1000 crore for an year. Absence of doors and glasses in the windows was allowing hot air to pass through the room; noisy ceiling fans crying for the change; no clean water to satisfy the thirst, forget having a water coolers; thank God, kids get summer holidays. All this reminded me of the 'rasna add' where the sun sucks all the energy from the kids, playing cricket.
As if all this was not enough, broken benches, which create sounds as if they'll break down when you'll sit over them; floor was soo much dirty that i felt, it wasn't cleaned since it came into existence. We can say, it wasn't about poor infrastructure, actually, its about no infrastructure!

Despite such a bizarre situation, i noticed, kids were very happy, they were playing, making noise, as if for them all these things were not at all important or we can say they are not even aware about what they do not have. I think Its true, "Ignorance is a bliss". What you think?

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What's His Mistake?

After seeing the cover page of Frontline Magazine, i was in deep pain. There were certain questions which came to my mind like:--
In Our Country small children die because of hunger, Who says, green revolution made India a "food self-sufficient" country?
What is the point in claiming "India has one of the highest GDP growth rate in the world", when we can't feed our children?
Where God has gone, can't he see such a painful situation?
Why these small children are paying for our misdeeds?
What we will achieve through moon missions, developing our own cryogenic engines?
Do we really deserve to be called 'a great civilization'?

Likewise, many more questions arouse. After thinking for more than an hour and searching within myself, i got only one answer and that's. No doubt, the reality is hard but this should not stop us from doing our work. I mean, take for example, a software engineer, working in a multinational company having an airconditioned office, earning a decent amount of money, having all luxuries at home, in a way having a successful life, if pays his taxes honestly then he or she is contributing, though indirectly.
I think, every body need not to become a social activist because we need engineers, doctors, pilots, lawyers, managers, architects, authors, and also politicians!
If you have some other view also then kindly comment. I am really looking forward for your views.

An Interesting Fact.

It will take 600 years to see all the videos on YouTube and every 20 minutes, one hour video is uploaded on YouTube.

There is nothing like "Generation Gap".

I was traveling by a bus. A man in his 50's was sitting next to me. He was reading newspaper. Actually he was not reading the newspaper, in reality, without a blink, he was looking at a picture of Madonna printed in the that paper. He was trying to hide it from the people in bus. I think, he was a great fan of her and must be following her from his 20's.
Guys, now, know this, i am in 20's also love Madonna. Imagine, people having an age difference of around 25 years love same lady!
Hence, i can say, forget "Generation Gap" in 21st century.

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After all Both of them are Men

Its women who rules the world, not the most powerful man of the world!