"We end today a period of ill fortune and India discovers herself again. The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?" -        

                                                                 Jawaharlal Nehru 

Independence – for most of us it is a vague term, because we don’t know the pain of not being independent.  Sacrificing their lives the visionary, unselfish leaders of those days, gifted us the independence and today we are enjoying the fruits of their painful struggle.   

In the history of a nation, six decades is  comparatively a small period, yet we achieved a lot when we look at the brighter side.  From the position of dependency for food grains to feed the vast population of the country, we could achieve self reliance on the agricultural front thanks to the “green revolution, operation flood” etc.  and other measures. From the Agriculture to Science and Technology, India proved the world that it is second to none. Thanks to Economic Reforms, India is now in the race for World leadership.  It is the land of Vedas, it preached the world about civilization, its invention of zero brought revolution in the number system and been the basis for today’s computer languages and many more inventions and knowledge contributions to the world. Different regions, different cultures, different languages, yet united as a nation.    Many more reasons than described above for me to say loudly that “I am proud to be an Indian”.          

When it comes to the darker side of the coin, though we passionately talk about development, it has not yet reached a major chunk of the people.  The development is confined to urban areas and to a few section of people, rich  becoming richer, poor becoming poorer and the gap is widening. People’s participation is abysmal in any area of development, though we claim our nation as one of the largest democratic countries of the world.  Provision of essential amenities in the rural areas is remained a distant dream.  The country may have attained the independence, people are not yet independent in this country.  Successive Governments failed to make the people self-reliant. Though we talk of liberalized economy, the era of controls still ruling.  People are made to look at the Govt. for every thing.  Technological advancements not yet reached the rural India.  Corruption is rampant at every level.  Tensions among different sections of people are mounting on regional, religion and on caste basis.  Political leaders are instigating these sentiments and emotions for their temporary selfish political gains, putting the unity in diversity at stake.   

If I was a given a chance, I will alter the policies to make the people self-reliant and confine the Govt. to the role of a facilitator.  I believe that for many of the ailments of the Indian society, illiteracy of the people is the major cause and I will try to address this and enlighten them first. I will wipe out those politicians who try to capitalize on the sentiments of the people on caste, religion and regional counts.  I would also like to wipe out the corruption at every level.  My priority would be to cut short the widened gaps in development and see that the fruits of the development reach the people who need it. 

In a larger society like India, problems tend to exist.  What we require is an honest political set up to address these problems.  Unfortunately, the successive Governments and the government machinery lack this commitment. People shall rise to the occasion duly shedding out their confinements of caste, religion and regional feelings for a better India.   

Ø      Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;

Ø      Where knowledge is free;

Ø      Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by domestic walls;

Ø      Where words come out from the depth of truth;

Ø      Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;

Ø      Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;

Ø      Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action—

Ø      Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake. 

 -         Rabindranath Tagore Gitanjali - Jai Hind