Independence in the Mirror                                                                            

68 long years! And it is not such a small time in the life of a nation that one should not assess and introspect. Almost three generations have grown during this time and they should be made to respond and account for what they have done or not done at the personal as well as social and national level.

Even at the risk of being dubbed a cynic and a madman I feel like stopping people at the crossroads and asking whether during all these 68 years we have grown more hard-working, more honest, more sincere, more cordial to our fellow beings, more tolerant of others’ views as individuals and as social groups, more loving and caring to our employees and subordinates, more transparent as a business man, as an administrator, as a politician, more loving, caring and responsible as a parent, more duty conscious as a citizen, more equal before the law etc. etc. But who would bother to stop and answer sincerely any of my questions?

I really pity what we have done to ourselves during these precious 68 years. We have failed to provide pure and unadulterated water and drinks, food and vegetables and other eatables to our children and families. Our products in the industry are sub-standard and sometimes not even fit for human use and consumption. We are not sure of the quality of the medicines and even less sure that the medical prescription handed out to us and our family is really genuine and needed. The education we give our children at such exorbitant cost fails to make them even a tolerably responsible citizen and a creative and positive member of the family and society.

We had struggled and fought the foreign rule for our freedom. But I feel like asking which freedom had we fought for and what we have received in return. Let us see the mirror and tell honestly what we see therein. Is there less corruption now than it was before 1947? Are we more truthful, honest and sincere as employees than we were before 1947? Have we developed a national vision as teachers, doctors, engineers and other fields of professions? Have we become more rational, knowledgeable and logical than what we had been before 1947? Are we today more free from superstition, blind-faith and rituals than we were before 1947? Have we developed any better spiritual vision of life than we had before 1947?

Of course my contention is not that we were better during the slavery but we need to pause and think where and why we have gone wrong. Why has the freedom not given us what we all had expected? Why even after these 68 years, irrespective of our castes and genders, religion and faith, we are not equal before the law of the land?

Do we wish to find answers in the speeches of our leaders and discussions of the arm-chair intellectuals? If so, we are being evasive and may find ourselves more degraded and degenerated during the next 68 years. Solutions, if tried, will be found only in actions and on the streets, in the offices and on the floors of industry.

 Very sadly I am reminded of what Winston Churchill had said about our freedom. He had boasted that the British had ruled over India for more than 200 years and that too from a foreign land, but Indians would not be able to run their own country, with their own government and people, even for one hundred years. How painful, yet true seems to be the statement!

Is it not time to stop and start doing? Let us stop the blaming game, let us stop passing the buck and let us stop waiting for the government to take initiative. Let each one of us pledge to work in our own way for the nation in whatever little or big manner we can. Therein alone lies the key to our progress – individual, social and national.



 Ved Guliani