Do you have 10 minutes?
Allow me to come back with 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
pits.
YOU say, say and say.
What do YOU do about it?
Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name-YOURS. Give him
a face-YOURS. 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 to 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
overstayed 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 go out without 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 someone
else.
"YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and
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 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 certificates
in Boston? We are still talking the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform
to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who
will thro 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
the broom every time the 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 lean 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 food and toiletries but we are not going
to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff
who 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?