Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Clarification

I have written my thoughts (about problems faced by India, focusing mainly on treatment of children and their education) in this blog. This has been creating some resentment among people. Since it is creating uneasiness I would like to apologise for any ambiguity in my posts and clarify.
This is going to be a lot about "ME", "MY thoughts", "MY ideals", "MY ..." whatever. So kindly forgive me for boring you.
I am, have been and will always be a great patriot at heart. I support Indian cricket team madly...any Indian team for that matter. I love singing patriotic songs. I love a lot of things about India. I love the weather, the natural beauty, the diversity in each and everything. I love the fact that I get to say anything I like and get away with it. I don't have people snooping on me and jailing me or torturing me for voicing my opinion. I love the fact that I am free to go anywhere and do whatever here. I rejoice that I live comfortably, I dress well, eat splendid things, am able to and allowed to think. I am secure wherever I go. I get everything that I need or want.
For all this I am tremendously grateful to my country and its people. I am grateful to all those people who died fighting for this country's freedom. I am proud that I belong to the same country as them. There can be no one as courageous and strong as people who sacrificed their happiness, their families, their friends and their lives for the sake of something as abstract as 'a country' keeping in mind that the idea must have been so crude in their minds. They had spent their entire lives under foreign rule, they could not have had a good idea about what self-governance and freedom would actually feel like. I hope I make myself plain there. I am extremely proud of my country, its heritage and its history.
I am a very strong critic of anything that is dear to me. I believe I have a hand in making changes to anything that I belong to. My family has always been the target of a whole lot of my criticism. I criticise my mother for being naive and gullible. I hate to see that people around her are fooling her and taking advantage of her. I criticise my father for being blunt, it hurts people around him. I would like to see him as a diplomat with all that honesty. I criticise myself for a whole lot of things. I criticise my sister for not using her abilities to the full. I criticise because, I know of the possibilities if changes are made. I want to see these changes and realise possibilities.
My criticism allows me to analyse things. I have come out with a lot of theories based on these criticisms. Recording them here... I hope it will help as notes. I just want to make a record of the thoughts that I have so that I will be able to see it a few years later to continue carrying on the work that I plan to do.
This is the reason why I criticise India's citizens. I see that when they shed their inhibitions and their desire to ape other cultures, when they shed their selfishness and when they begin to be more open-minded, ours will be a country - better and more secure and happy. We have love, hope, courage and strength in our blood, in our genes. It is this terrible contamination of ignorance and narrow-thinking that is causing us to be trodden upon and helpless. It is because I think that my country is dear to me that I criticise.
I shudder to think of how life would be if India had been anything other than what she is now. Hearing of stories about famine, starvation and wars in countries around the world, places where women are slaves and children are beggars, still other places where children are gun-totting, swearing miniature "dons"... we are blessed here. India is almost a safe haven...almost.

Dealing with poverty, sickness, unemployment etc. is a smaller job when you think of dealing with the roots of the problem - ignorance, closed minds and badly implemented education system, among several other things. These things are not visible at first look, they are hidden and deeply embedded. Education here is not able to create awareness, it does not open people's minds. That is why I am convinced that it is a failure. I see a logical connection between this faulty education system and all of India's problems (all of the world's problems infact).
It has been brought to my notice that empty words are worth nothing. I am grateful, actually thrilled, to know that people believe that one person working for change can make a difference. I am determined to make my dreams and ideas take shape. These dreams and ideas have everything to do with reforming the education system and making the lives of children - the next generation that is going to actually see the colours of India flying high - better. I am talking about children from all possible environments and backgrounds.

I stress again, my opinions are not and will not be forced on anyone. It is against my principles to force my thoughts on others, even as I expect people to respect my right to voice my opinion. This blog is my way of keeping myself focused and on the right track - that of reform and cleansing. If I sound very pompous and self-important it is because I don't want to be taken lightly. I strongly believe that my methods are going to work, they might need some refinement though.

Thanks for taking time to read my babble on myself. I am not that important. But this country definitely is.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

impressed better than ur previous coffee blog. if i have a rit to comment on ur blog pl let me kno. coz its clearly mentioned that is ur thoughts.

Anonymous said...

Comment to your heart's content..

Anonymous said...

It's heartening to see youngsters like u aspiring to make a change If every individual is a thinking human being he or she can make our world a better place to live in...

Anonymous said...

there you have a die-hard optimist! i really hope this wishful thinking pays off..

Anonymous said...

Shruti, Happy to see the determination in your words.
Let me tell u something, the only thing which people are ready to contribute is criticism, they criticise anything and everything.
If u believe the path u r taking is right, dont wory abt anyone's words. I do believe that even one true at heart individual can bring the change needed and it is our duty to bring abt this change, since what we are today is due to our country......