Reflecting on Ironies in Everyday Life: What Does This Say About Our Society?

Dear all,

We live in a nation where pizza reaches home faster than an ambulance or police, where you get a car loan at 5% and an education loan at 12%, where rice is Rs 40/- per kg but a SIM card is free. It's a place where a millionaire can buy a cricket team instead of donating the money to any charity, where the footwear we wear is sold in AC showrooms, but the vegetables that we eat are sold on the footpath.

In this nation, everybody wants to be famous, but nobody wants to follow the path to fame. We make lemon juices with artificial flavors and dishwashing liquids with real lemon. People are standing at tea stalls reading an article about child labor from a newspaper and saying, "Yaar bachhon se kaam karvane wale ko to phansi par chadha dena chahiye," and then they shout, "Oye chhotu 2 chaii laao....."

Incredible India,

True, but who cares? When people like Anna Hazare shout and compel the government to bring back black money and start an agitation against 'Bribe', the whole nation laughs at him, and newspapers portray ugly cartoons of him. Instead of money lying stacked away on foreign soil, let it come to India as infrastructure, land, bank balance, jewels, and other assets. Black or white, it is going to be within our country anyway. Believe me, this is India.

I can understand your feelings; I felt the same way. Do you think Anna is the only one responsible for changing society? I believe each one of us can do many little things that can make society much better.

Warm regards,
Britto

Dear all,

We live in a nation where pizza reaches home faster than an ambulance or police, where you get a car loan at 5% and an education loan at 12%, where rice is Rs 40/- per kg but a SIM card is free, where a millionaire can buy a cricket team instead of donating the money to any charity, where the footwear we wear is sold in AC showrooms, but vegetables that we eat are sold on the footpath, where everybody wants to be famous but nobody wants to follow the path to be famous, where we make lemon juices with artificial flavors and dishwash liquids with real lemon.

Where people are standing at tea stalls reading an article about child labor from a newspaper and say, "Yaar bachhon se kaam karvane wale ko to phansi par chadha dena chahiye," and then they shout, "Oye chhotu 2 chaii laao....."

Incredible India,

Dear Friend, you are right.

The reason is CORRUPTION leading to poverty—and much more. From a country with just a few lakhs of population, one BILL GATES was born. From a nation of a billion+ people, how many should be and how many are in actual...???? We are at fault, and we are the victims. It needs a countrywide revolution, another fight for freedom—for independence....

Jai Hind.

Thanks & Regards,

RSV Krishna

There are so many in this country who could think like Anna, but who came forward in such a massive campaign? He is totally new to us in the south but a revolutionary hero in Maharashtra. Definitely, I did not do it, nor did you. No doubt, it is a tough process, but he has blown the whistle and started off. Whether it is going to reap good results or not depends on how the citizens approach it. We are used to the practice of corruption. When an old man does it, either the central government or newspapers try to show it as useless time spent. We might have done it up to our street level or ward level or panchayat, but at a national level...? He donated his lands to his people. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan several years ago. As a single man, he made his district Ralegan a self-sufficient model. Have we seen a government that runs amok and tries all possible means to stop bringing black money to India? Incredible.

Regards,
Chandru

Dear Mr. Chandru,

I agree with you. But we have to understand the realities of the issue of transforming a society. People have a million ideas and a million views towards corruption, social injustice, etc. In reality, we cannot expect everyone to be a leader or become like Anna.

But the possible thing is each and every one of us can make a change by doing things on our own level. It is good to criticize the politicians, media, and the entire society. We Indians always enjoy doing it and corner the whole problem to others. Will it help or has it helped the society in any way?

The answer is never. Every one of us is a part of this society and responsible for it.

Possible Actions We Can Take

1. Making awareness to the people we regularly interact with and people surrounded by us.
2. We have to change our attitude towards the issue first. Stop giving any extra money to anyone who is doing their duty or supposed to do.
3. Help each other. Each and every one of us try to help one person who is below the poverty line in terms of their education, etc.

We can add many more things at an individual level. If we do so, I am confident the social transformation will take place over a period. If not, even if a million Annas are fighting for our second freedom, they will be defeated by the corrupted politicians and anti-social elements.

So let us stop the blaming game and start contributing small things to our society.

Warm regards,

Louis Britto