Happy Independence Day 15^th August 2013

Many congratulations and good wishes to all my fellow Indians on our 67^th Independence Day. I wish you all prosperity and growth and development in all spheres of life. There are many topics I wish to discuss with you. There are my issues on which I want to share my opinion and get yours. I intend to ignite a spark that creates an environment where youth of the nation get involved and realise the responsibilities of running a nation.

We the people of India, solemnly resolve to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC. And every educated, learned, knowledgeable Indian has a greater responsibility to do so.

Today’s India is rapidly becoming an India of haves and have not’s.  This ever increasing, widening gap between rich and poor is concerning. The rich must realise that they cannot stay rich for long if they do not share some of their riches with others. There is a quote from Bhagwat Geeta that in essence, teaches us all to take as much as is need. Taking anything beyond would lead to ill and turn into poison. The perfect man is a man who has control on his desires and knows how to share with his brethren. Unless we work towards such purpose, I foresee greater conflicts, revolts and uprisings.  On the other hand, poor must know that the path to progress goes through education and awareness. Democracy’s strength lies in its people. More they are educated, knowledgeable, responsible and actively contributing, stronger is the democracy.

Today we celebrate 66 years of freedom, liberty and independence. The same should reflect in our mentality. Modern and free thinking begets from the principles of equality and freedom of speech. I want to see an India where no longer do we have quotas and reservations on the basis of castes or regions. I aspire to see an India where every Indian is equal and where talented, sincere and hardworking people are justly rewarded, no matter what family they are born in, and regardless of which part of the country they were born in. When it comes to education, job, opportunities, the only criterion should be talent and hard work.  Coming to freedom of speech and expression, if India wants to stand among the tallest of the nations in the world, we need to have a free and fair exchange of dialogues. The voices of poor and destitute must not be curbed and free speech should not be punished. Twitter and Facebook have become new modes of expression of youth and persecution of people for their candid comments on similar social media must be stopped. Our government should be such that it should invite its criticism so as to understand what must be done in order to help the hurt.

In today’s India, honestly and patriotism seems to have become most hard to find commodity. We must not forget that we celebrate today’s day in name of people who personified these virtues, who got us our Independence. Honesty must be rewarded and the voice that stands against corruption and wrong-doing must be supported. How is it acceptable that honest IAS officers are being punished by the government for standing up to mafia and the government is still in power? There is only one explanation. We have closed our eyes, ears and mouth to all that is ill around us. We have become so numb and insensitive towards corruption that it has become a part of how we live. We need to stop somewhere, open our eyes and stand up against corruption. This is our nation, if we can corrupt it, we can also clean it. All it needs is 51 willing people out of every 100.

We have general elections this year. I implore all my fellow Indians to vote and be a part of this celebration of Loktantra (democracy). This year, vote fearlessly, vote sincerely and vote not for short tern benefits but vote with the thought of your motherland in your heart. At the same time, I implore all political parties to contest a fight worthy of this great nation. Let it be fought on matters of development and growth. Let us restrain from digging dirt on others and focus on policies that are for Lok Kalyaan (social good). Let us have an honest contest where the leaders stand tall on the pedestals of sincere intentions to make life of every Indian better over the period of next 5 years. History would not remember you just because you achieved power, history would remember you for what you did after achieving that power. And for every Indian, let me quote Mahatma Gandhi –

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world”

Jai Hind
Shivank Kaul