Greetings,
श्रद्धामयोऽयं पुरुषो यो यच्छ्रद्धः स एव सः । line of verse 17.3 of the Bhagavad Gita
This roughly translates into “Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.”
Thank you for your concern that is reflected in the relentless conversations you had had with me. I really appreciate the concern but do not agree with the fact that i am wasting my time in “destructive character assasinations”, ” faltoo antogonisation of people”, “sadistic pleasures” and “cheap popularity”. Also I am saddened by your statement “utilise your time for yourself, your families and near-ones well being” and “mind your own business”
May I ask, isnt this the very same attitude taught by our older generation that had led our country to this state?
From our childhood, the present day youth have it drilled into our heads that the primary focus or importance that we have to give is to our lives, careers and our family. This has been religiously followed till date as well. But what has it resulted in? The worlds largest socially and nationally ignorant but highly educated population. Millions of post graduates in various disciplines out there who could not care less for the country, or in which direction it is headed.
When was the last time you felt pride in being an Indian? Most probably when we won the World Cup. But is that all what being a socially aware person is about? Is there no responsiblity on the side of every individual to atleast be aware of what is happening in the country they live in? Or to put it more clearly for the present day attitude… “Shouldnt you be concerned with what is happening in the country in which your office is built, inside which you have your cubicle where you work so that you can provide for your family who once again lives in a house that stands on a piece of land that is part of a country whose roads you use to travel to the afore mentioned office which pays for the school that your kids go to, which follow a system of education that is unique?”
Like the quote from the Bhagavad Gita that I quoted earlier… A man is made by his beliefs.. As he believes , so is he. The present generation of Educated but aloof and ignorant youth are under the belief that for growth and happiness they should concern themselves with only their needs and requirements. This is a direct impact of the narrow minded, self centered idealism that has been passed on to the youth of today.
You mention that the youth of today can utilise their time better than by hunting illicit relationships or corrupt activities. there wont be anything left of our country if the corruption is not kept under check. An article by Mr. Narayan Murty, Chairman of Infosys clearly says that if not for corruption, India would have experienced “double digit” GDP growth in the past few years. Isnt that a point of concern? If you stop and think about it, there would be far more things for the Educated youth of India to do in India rather than now if our growth was at that rate.
So in this regard, dont you think that the issue of corruption is a vital issue that the Educated Youth of India should concern ourselves with?
About the relationships and other socially condemned things of our leaders i write about… You mention that they are people who do not come into my daily operations. Once again this very short sighted approach is dangerous. The Chaos Theory talks about a term The Butterfly Effect… Reading on this will make my point much clearer.
Now I would like to discuss how the ignorance of these matters and general lack of social social awareness affects the youth of today and tomorrow.
LEGALITY & LAW
Do you know that India is the only country in Asia that does not have a formal law against Child Abuse?
The implications of this can be seen in the rising cases of child abuse that is being reported in the country over the past few years. This year we will be celebrating our 67th Independence day. A good 15% of our population has been alive and active all these years but why has there been no change in the Indian Penal Code in this regard. Is it because it did not affect our “daily operations” till now?
The revoking of Article 377 (same sex relationships) was a great step forward but this again does not mean the end of the issue. The revoking of it and taking away rights of a certain section of the population is definately a step in the right direction because it obviously does not affect the lawmakers or me directly. Has any of our law makers thought about introducing an amendment in the rape law to include men as well? Or should the Educated youth stay ignorant untill it affects them directly?
According to Indian Citizenship Act, one is not allowed to hold a dual citizenship if they are a citizen of India. Also, persons with foreign citizenships are not allowed to hold public offices or government positions including that of a representative in parliament. Then how is it that few of the most important posts of the country are in “foreign” hands? Are we not tired of being ruled by outside elements, or is it something that once again is passed on to us? Or does this not influence our “daily operation”.
EDUCATION
India boasts of a very high level of education and claims to have the largest pool of doctors and engineers in the world. We also lay claims to have the largest number of universities including the oldest.
But why is there not a single Indian university in the top 250 worldwide? This is even more surprising when countries like China, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Iran etc have atleast 1 representative in that list? Even in the Top 500, India has just 6 representatives.
Higher education in India receives hardly any funding to provide facilities for research. To accomodate a research fellow, the university/government needs to provide grants, funding or stipends. This again is hardly available in India. Doesnt this factor affect the educated youth?
India boasts of the largest student population in the world. This is primarily due to our ever growing population. But the ratio for scholarships provided by the Indian government and other sources for the students is pathetic. Most students either have to depend on family money, bank loans (the current interest rate of 13.50% for student loans is among the highest in the world), rely on foreign scholarships like the Singapore Airlines or the Erasmus Mundus Scholarships or have to give up their educational aspirations all together. Is this not a good enough reason for the educated youth to start becoming socially aware of the evils?
The primary reason for this is funds. Dont you feel that of the thousands of trillions of money that has disappeared through various scams a few million can be used to help the education sector? Or is it again too much to think beyond oneself and ones family?(this I believe affects both directly)
SOCIETY
Is it too much of a burden to keep oneself aware of the social implications that the corruption and black money has on our society?
The total worth of corruption scams that have come to light since 1992 is valued around Rs. 1,00,00,000 crores (One crore crore Rupees). This total does not include the recent 2G scam worth 60,000 crores; the black money scam; and the Hasan Ali scandal worth 50,000 crores, Coalgate – 1.86 lakh crore, and many many others that have not been brought to light.
Can you imagine the standard of living, the roads, the educational reforms, the quality of health care, the business and employment opportunities that can be generated using this amount of money? Can you even fathom the progress the society will make with this amount of resources? Is it not a concern for every socially aware citizen?
We the educated youth complain about the quality of life, the sub standard living conditions, the slow rate of progress, unemployment, low salaries etc. Cant this have been reversed if the scams and corruption were nipped in the bud by the older generation who preferred to remain aloof and self contained? With these facts in front of us, is asking us to be nonchalant and mind our own business is the best way ahead?
A simple breakdown and calculation of the figures mentioned above will tell us a staggering fact.The population of India is approx. 1.1 billion. If we divide the scam money lost by the population… It means that this money if was divided equally among every Indian citizen…Every Indian would get approx Rs. 90,000 each…
Is this not a big enough concern for the youth of today to be agitated about?
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
The whole concept of corruption has dire effects on the economy and business.
The main issue stems from the fact that the money stolen can be used to generate business, employment etc if it was invested in India. but this money is siphoned off abroad to Swiss banks and dummy corporations. Does this not impact the youth of today?
Do you know which country is the largest foreign investor in India and the stock market? No, its not USA or China or any European country. It is in fact Mauritius, a country which gets almost all its income from tourism. How is this possible? Its through a brilliant new amendment in the law by our finance minister which allows any 1 $ company registered in Mauritius to do its business in India. This further facilitates the ease with which black money and corruption gains can be hidden.
Imagine the amount of economic stability India can attain if that money never left India and was invested here directly in the first place? Economic stability will ensure that inflation is under control, price rise can be controlled, interest rates will be more beneficial, stock market will experience growth etc etc… Is this again not our concern???
All I am doing by being vocal is to try and raise awareness to these issues. The issues mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more far reaching implications for the same. The youth of today must be aware of what is happening. Joining politics or the civil service or the curren fad, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is just not enough. The biggest and potent weapon that we have is awareness and knowledge. There will be far fewer attempts to go ahead with similar activities that harm the nation as a whole if it is known the the youth of today are not ignorant of the happenings.
Civil Service is not the ultimate way to express concern for the country. This is because the acts of the civil servants are not transparent to the public nor can actions be taken against them due to protections granted to them under Section 311 of the Indian Civil Services (Discipline and Service Conduct) Act which counters the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Another classic case that has many skeletons hidden in their closet.
This mail is not intended to rebel, defend my actions or to offend you in any way. In most scenarios I would have just ignored you as typical criticism for daring to do or say something different. But I chose to respond as knowing the reason is equally important not only from a personal aspect(where I am not wasting my time for cheap publicity) but also from the standpoint of my primary objective…. Generating awareness.
I apologise if I have offended you in anyway.
Regards,
A concerned member of the Indian youth
The Book of Ojuufo 