Independence Day

Today's our 61st Independence Day.

I am almost habitually cynical. I find it easier to look at the flaws. Not that I don't appreciate the good, but my eye has a bias for the bad. So, it would be easier for me to say things like, how badly we have done as a nation over the last 60 years.

But, honestly, I don't think so. I think we have come a long way, and though we have miles to go, before we are anywhere nearly as developed as some of the prosperous nations, it would be doing a great disservice to ourselves, to say that we have not significantly progressed.

Comparing ourselves, in the first place, is not a very sensible thing to do. Why would you want to measure India against nations, who have had working democracies for the past few centuries, or didn’t have to face tyrannical foreign rule that sapped away all of their resources? It hardly makes any sense to compare with nations, who are patronised by other nations or countries with absolutist regimes. (Actually, I would have not existed had I, or rather my parents, been in such a country: I happen to be the second child). And its naïve to think everything is rosy there. It’s not. Whatever we have become today, is entirely because of ourselves, and largely inspite of, rather than because of foreign intervention. And we should learn to be proud of it; as a nation we are independent.

Inspite of the essentially feudal mindsets of most of our people, we still have a functioning democracy. We have largely managed to maintain our territorial integrity, inspite of meddlesome and hostile neighbours. We produce enough food for the country to survive on, and some more. Our literacy rates have grown 5 times from 1947. Our scientists, authors, painters, educationists, even movie-makers are held in high esteem by the rest of the world.

Make no mistake though. We are far from being a perfect nation; we are not even on our way towards perfection. We can be though if we, you, I and everybody else, become a bit more accountable: not to anybody else, but to our own self, our own conscience. If we all do our part of the job right, we will do even better. It’s not too much too ask for, I believe.

We still have a quarter of our nation living under the poverty line. And I believe things can be done to change that statistic. Its unbelievably stupid, to think that we can do nothing about it. Think hard enough and we will surely be able to come up with something. Not a plan to change the world, but something insignificantly small for all, yet not so insignificant for few, or even one. Its doable. Just do it!

Happy Independence Day!