MOON MISSION - INDIA

A lot of hoopla was built up when India successfully launched a rocket to the moon on the 22nd of October this year. A remarkable achievement for the Indian scientists and technicians. Are we trying to compete with the super powers and come into their league.

Has anyone - our politicians and the government bureaucracy really considered if we need to get in the "super power club"? Is it justified to squander our resources for this show or a certificate? Do we have our priorities right?

CAN WE REALLY BECOME A SUPERPOWER?

The super power league is having nuclear arsenal, space missions and rockets. According to the Wikipedia - A superpower is a state with a leading position in the international system and the ability to influence events and its own interests and project power on a worldwide scale to protect those interests. So by virtue of this moon launch have we become a super power?
What should be the priorities in a developing nation? How many of those we can boast of having achieved?

I may not be a globe trotter - but I have visited about a dozen countries and what I notice that the life of the common man is very different from the life of a common man in India. In the developed countries - the state is responsible for the health and security of its citizens. There is insurance (NHS - in the U.K). There is dole for the unemployed – along with safeguards to avoid misuse of the system. Travel in public transport for senior citizens is often free or highly subsidized. This is true for the developed nations. But what we see in other nations is something that should make us hang our heads in shame.

Tanzania is also one of the countries I happened to visit, it is amongst the poorer nations – yet when one moves around in Dar-e-Salam (its capital) – one notices the differences from Mera Mahaan Bharat. The roads are cleaner and better maintained than in New Delhi. People do not throw garbage on the streets. Most remarkable thing that you might notice is the discipline of traffic. Our capital is just the other extreme, we proudly display a lot of hoardings saying “Lane driving is sane driving”, “Be safe than sorry” – and the like, the list is endless. But what is done to ensure lane driving. If a motorist is in the wrong lane – he has the right only to follow the traffic in that lane and not cut across other lanes at the intersections, but there is no enforcement. Thus we have wastage – wastage of time, gasoline – in other words our resources get wasted for our own stupidity (or it could be called arrogance). This follows with road rage and the like. Making our capital city the capital of crime and all that follows.

Let’s go over to another aspect of this Super Power certificate. You do not have to visit the slums or the ghettos of our capital, you see poverty all over and along with that you also see affluence, to such an extent that it seems obscene. One side you see all the swanky cars and the wastage, and then you see the poverty – little children begging, the small 3 yrs plus children who should be going to school are forced to perform acrobats on street corners and risk their lives with the fast moving cars around. Their lives are not worth more than a single line news item on page5. What we need to have on our priority is not a rocket for the moon but education for the children, an assured future for them. We do not need to squander the tax-payers money for the moon launch. Enough research has been already done by the super powers – the powers who can boast of a roof, 2 rooms and 4 wheels for its citizens. Can we even proudly say that a majority of our citizens have this?

What do we hope to achieve from the moon launch, any minerals that we shall get from there? Any strategic advantage in any aspect of our lives? Any scientific information that the world does not have? “NONE OF THE ABOVE” is the reply. Then why we – tax payers – do not raise our voice against such extravaganza? Why do we not demand where our money is to be spent; after all we are the persons who select the government – they are not our rulers but are selected by us to govern or administer the state. Why do we forget that? It’s not enough to select and elect a government but we must also exercise our right to control and decide what is good for us.

Why do we not priorities development that affects are lives – that makes the quality of life better. If Japan & China can build Maglev (magnetic levitation trains, to go upto 500 km per hour) to build a better, faster, cheaper and certainly more comfortable public transport – why do we not invest in that direction. We are still thinking of flyovers for roads only and not make world class rapid transportation systems. Why the aerospace research – which is not only expensive but no use the common citizens.

What does improve the life of the common man. Healthy water, air, food. Good medical facilities for all – including infants, disabled, seniors etc. Basic education for all. Good work environment – in terms of comfort and challenges, to enable individuals to grow and prove their mettle. Comfortable and economical public transport. Housing. As a country wanting to enter the Super Power league how much of this can we say that we have achieved even our cities? On a scale of 1 t0 10, we would be rated around 2.

We are really not fit to have self rule. We have a slave mentality, we have been ruled for too long. Our outlook is very narrow. I clean my house and throw the garbage into the street from my window. The street, the area, the city and ultimately I feel that the country does not belong to me. So anyone exploiting or misusing our resources is of little or no concern to me. We were ruled by the Mughals, then the British, now we are ruled by our bureaucracy and even our administrators. The police is looked not like it’s for the people but its an oppressive force who exploits the common man rather than help him. We have no one else to blame but ourselves. We accept, tolerate and even encourage the so called police raj.

We are successful world over – as good scientists, good business men, good administrators – however we fail in our own country. Have you ever given it a thought why it is so? Why we are bad teem players but excel as individuals? When we work abroad in any other country we fit into their system – but does not our own country have a system in place?

Even our religious philosophy does not seem to keep pace with the changing scenario. Our role models – Meena Kumari and Ram. Both are detrimental and harmful to our system. That could be discussed in a different chapter – till then you can do some introspection and think over on what I have said. The Bhagvad Geeta that philosophies you too work without and end result is equally harmful. We need to change our basic philosophy and way of life.

To sum it all – what we require is a dynamic and progressive attitude and a leadership to match that. The leaders too have to emerge from the common man, and that is the need of the hour. Remember we have nobody else to blame but ourselves for all this.

S M I L E

When I was a little boy - there was a song on this short and sweet word - with S M I L E - being spelt out. Not only that I have forgotten the song, but I have also forgotten how to smile.

As one goes through life, one hardens, gets set in his ways and the worst thing is that one forgets 'how to smile'. We Indians always look at a smiling person with suspicion. Why is so&so smiling? What are his/her intentions? Nazar lag jayegi etc., etc. This hits you particularly hard when you visit Europe or the U.S (I cannot say about other countries), if you do look around with an open mind. Every individual you come across, in those countries, has something to give, they will smile, sometimes even wave ... and it is so genuine. You hold a door for someone coming behind you - it never goes unacknowledged. You allow another drive through a small gap in the traffic and you also get a thank you nod and a wave. The list is endless - just crossing a stranger on the street will elicit a smile also if you happened to look at him for just a glance.

The question that comes into my mind is that why we are so stuck up? Why we cannot give such a simple gesture to another. Why is it that we also are suspicious of others?

We think we are great. We like to talk of our culture, the so called culture that just does not exist. We are great talkers – of our philosophy, our culture, our traditions, heritage and the like. Has anyone given a thought as to where we are in the world ranking on these? Can we hold a candle to the Greek philosophers and thinkers? What’s the great thing about our culture – apart from mythology (remember it says “MYTHS”), a bit of Rabindra Sangeet and Nalanda – we have a cast ridden society and the so called Hindu way of life – that is based on selfishness and deceit. There was some culture before the decline of the Buddhist religion in the country, which was butchered along with the Buddhists. Most of what we have in traditions or heritage have been given to us either by the Moguls or the British.

Coming back to the simple SMILE. I have been abroad – mainly to UK and the US and the smile is not only infectious but leaves one with a pleasant feeling and makes it much easier to go through the day in spite of all the depressing or sad events that could be making one sad or miserable.

Can we change our ways? Our attitude, our way of life. It is never too late to try.