Dr. Abdul Kalam's Letter to Every
Indian, (Our former President)
Why
is the media here so negative?
Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own
strengths, our achievements?
We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we
refuse to acknowledge them. Why?
We are the first in milk production.
We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
We are the second largest producer of wheat.
We are the second largest producer of rice.
Look at Dr. Sudarshan , he has transferred the tribal village into a
self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements
but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.
I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the
day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The
Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a
Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid
and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The
gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the
newspaper, buried among other news.
In
India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime.. Why are we so
NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with
foreign things? We want foreign T.Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want
foreign technology.
Why
this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that
self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this
lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her
what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India
. For her, you and I will have to build this developed India . You must
proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed
nation.
Do
you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance.
Got
10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is
yours..
YOU
say that our government is inefficient.
YOU say that our laws are too old.
YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke. The airline is
the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination.
YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.
YOU
say, say and say. What do YOU do about it?
Take
a person on his way to Singapore . Give him a name - 'YOURS'. Give him a
face - 'YOURS'. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your
International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the
roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as
they are.. You pay $5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent
of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to
the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a
restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity… In
Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in
public during Ramadan, in Dubai .. YOU would not dare to go out without
your head covered in Jeddah.
YOU
would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10
pounds (Rs.650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed
to someone else.'YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in
Washington and then tell the traffic cop, 'Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do
you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost.'
YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage
pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand ..
Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo ? Why don't YOU use
examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston ??? We are still
talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign
system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers
and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can
be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you
be the same here in India ?
In
America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job.
Same in Japan ..
Will the Indian citizen do that here?' He's right. We go to the polls to choose
a government and after that forfeit all responsibility.
We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do
everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect
the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage
all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of
paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean
bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.
We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and
toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity.
This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to
the public.
When
it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl
child! and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to
do the reverse at home. Our excuse? 'It's the whole system which has to
change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry.'
So who's going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very
conveniently for us it consists of our neighbours, other households, other
cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and
YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the
system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and
look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr.Clean to
come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or
we leave the country and run away.
Like
lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory
and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England .
When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the
Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home
by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country.
Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.
Dear
Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of
introspection and pricks one's conscience too…. I am echoing J. F.
Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians…..
'ASK
WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT
AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY'
Lets
do what India needs from us.
Forward
this mail to each Indian for a change instead of sending Jokes or junk
mails.
Thank
you,
Dr..
Abdul Kalam
I humbly request you to forward this to every Indian…… ……… ………
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