It could have been a wonderful year. A year in which we grew to such a height that all we could see was a colourful crop of crisp flowers without all the worms and mud blurred and buried underneath. We could be euphoric about our GDP growing at a steady rate, a glorious presence in the global IT sector, people of Indian origin stealing the limelight, finally justice meted to Jessica Lal and Priyadarshini Matoo and so much more. The list seems long.
The words on TOI’s front page on 1st January, 2007 expresse a similar sentiment and felt like a powerhouse of inspiration. But the last words caught my attention – Our Time Is Now.
Our time is now; we are the privileged ones to be experiencing the turning page of history. There is reason for us to believe that we will make it. But we should not forget to salute the ones who in the bleakest of times believed that India could make it, that India will make it. The ones who had a vision to bring this moment of hope in the annals of our history. Who are those people? Visionaries like Nehru, APJ Abul Kalam, Narayana Murty ; scientists, writers, artists and the common man who spent all his life’s savings to provide best education to his children. A moment like this is not the achievement of one generation alone, it is the result of hard work and sacrifices made by the ones before them.
I repeat the year could have been a wonderful year, but if we lower our necks we will notice a layer of deadly worms thriving on our society. The NOIDA serial killing case shocked the NCT and the police-criminal nexus once again sprang into limelight. Most of the people killed belonged to the poor class and the police had taken no action till the affected people took the matter in their own hands. Children kept on disappearing and police kept on sleeping. A timely action by the police could have saved so many innocent lives.
The whole nation may have prayed for a single Prince to be saved from a 50-metre fall into a pit, but the pits proliferate and children keep falling into them, most of the time fatally. When the urban youth with large pay packets splurges in malls and Discos, the poor farmers commit suicides for lack of resources to sustain their farming. And yes despite the justice granted to Jessica and Priyadarshini innumerable woman are raped, harassed and molested every year.
So India is poised only for the rich and the haves. The lives of have nots remain marginalized and unaffected by this turning page of history. If we really have to take a giant leap forward in time the richer India the prosperous India should look down. Whatever it does should pour down to all below them. If there is justice it should be for all. If there is food it should be for all. If there is education it should be for all. If there is growth it should be broad based.
When we finally make that flight let us all fly like birds. The privileged ones pushing the poor ones to make a pattern. A pattern of victory.
PS :
India Poised
"There are two Indias in this country.
One India is straining at the leash, eager to spring forth and live up to all the adjectives that the world has been showering recently upon us. The other India is the leash.
One India says give me a chance and I'll prove myself. The other India says prove yourself first and maybe then you'll have a chance.
One India lives in the optimism of our hearts. The other India lurks in the skepticism of our minds.
One India wants. The other India hopes. One India leads. The other India follows.
But conversions are on the rise. With each passing day more and more people from the other India have been coming over to this side. And quietly, while the world is not looking, a pulsating, dynamic new India is emerging.
An India whose faith in success is far greater than its fear of failure. An India that no longer boycotts foreign-made goods but buys out the companies that make them instead.
History, they say, is a bad motorist. It rarely ever signals its intentions when it's taking a turn.
This is that rarely-ever moment. History is turning a page.
For over half a century, our nation has sprung, stumbled, run, fallen, rolled over, got up and dusted herself and cantered, sometimes lurched on. But today, as we begin our 60th year as a free nation, the ride has brought us to the edge of time's great precipice.
And one India - a tiny little voice at the back of the head - is looking down at the bottom of the ravine and hesitating.
The other India is looking up at the sky and saying it's time to fly.
Our time is now"