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India Rising.

It took a new cartridge used in the ‘Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle Musket’ for the first organized rebellion against a century long invasion by a company. The rebellion brought Change and led to a shift from “Company Raj” to “British Raj” with the Crown assuming direct administration of India. It then took some 1650 rounds of fire on an unarmed crowd and an official fatality list of around 379 (337 men, 41 boys and a six-week-old baby) for the next significant change - the first ever series of a nation wide non violent resistance and civil disobedience - the change that paved way for what we call “Independent India”. It seems strange that ammunition formed part of the inspiration behind every significant change we saw in a country that was eventually formed by a non-violent movement – without firing a bullet.
Sixty years of “Independent India” has been quite action-packed with major wars with our own people who chose the other side of a border line, the never ending fight against some who chose to be corrupted and the crusade against those who chose the now trendy terrorism path. And every other time something terrible happened we have been ever ready to stand up and look up-down-right & left to find blame with our own people at the other side of the border or with our own people democratic India chose to govern our nation. Before we go forward lets just take a second in remembrance of all those brave authorities and the hostages who lost their life in the latest of the list, the “Mumbai Invasion”. Let us give respect to their final moments when they must have hoped for a change... a change in the way we are treated... a change in the way we are governed... a change in a way we are let to live – or die. And for those who are looking for a reason to rise, we have an official death toll of around 200 unarmed innocents and the ever inspiring “ammunition” angle that I mentioned earlier.
It would be amusing to mention the Defense Budget we have been spending over these sixty odd years at a time when we have seen ‘live’ the fact that the NSG Commandos were without a Plane at stand by to airlift them to the Site, the stark reality that 200 fire fighters fought at the site with just 2 bullet proof jackets, the nightmare that the coastal policing systems could be breached so easily without a fight. Yes we just saw a truth unraveling before our eyes. And yes, more than sixty years down the line it is still bitter.
We have been reading blogs and SMS messages where lot of people are complaining about the lack of action from the government officials, the lack of facilities and infrastructure for handling crisis situations. While fully agreeing with the majority who complain about inaction and inefficiency we need to learn to stop complaining. We need to learn to stand up and start acting.
Let me tell you a very small experience, something so small that we would usually discard as insignificant. Last week I was travelling in the rain along a road in our city where the footpaths were dug up by the municipality for some drainage work. In the rain I see an old woman sitting on the footpath moving the rubbles so that the water flows into the drains rather than flood the footpath. How many of us would take that one minute out of our lives to help others walk without having to step in the water? I’m sure a majority (including me) would just walk by cursing the corporation authorities for not doing their job.
We need to understand the fact that when our men stood up for the “Sipoy Mutiny” or for the “Non Co-operation Movement” they were fighting collectively for the nation. It was never an individuals fight for recognition or superiority, it was a collective action for a dream of a better tomorrow for the generations to come. And over the past sixty years that’s what we have lost - the instinct for collective action for what we feel is right. I’m sure most of us would have our own innumerable bitter experiences of trying and loosing. And over the longer term we have chosen to settle in our own little safety nets and just complain about the never changing system and the never changing ‘political drills’. But have we thought of when was the last time we tried to stand together to voice our opinions. When was the last time we tried to stand together for our rights... or what we felt was right. I’m sure most of us would need some time to figure that out.
It is only ironical that our men fought with everything they had (and that too nothing but the motivation of a better tomorrow) to give us the freedom to choose not to act today (even if we have a lot more than them). If a Chief Minster of a State, a very senior political leader can make mucky statements relating to a Martyr, who fought to save hostages during the recent attack on the Taj in mumbai... If a Minister can humiliate his Martyrdom by saying that his state would announce a higher compensatory reward than the neighboring state... If a political leader can get away with statements that such small things keep happening in such cities (referring to the Mumbai attack in November 2008)... If the authorities say that they did not get “actionable intelligence” does that not ring a bell? Because if it does not its just pathetic.
Let us not worthlessly break our heads on what’s, why’s and how’s of the current state of affairs or incline towards questioning the nation’s ripeness when it was let to be a “free one” and the great mans helplessness when he had to deal with violence from his own people fighting to cut out lines on the nation that he had fought for without arms and ammunition. Today’s state of affairs is the reality we have to accept and face while fully recognizing that there is no fool proof turnkey solution to the malfunctioning machineries.
While it might be inspiring to some to see the common man come out of his house and hold placards saying that they are fed up with politicians and the disappointing systems, we have to answer a bigger question of what would you replace them with in a democracy like ours where the majority choose to stay away from politics if they are worthy of doing anything else. It is the convenient elusion from every small opportunity to do something for the common cause that has created the void that is being filled by the present people and systems.
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"Majority of us choose to be a person who has been like this just because of what has happened, and complain on what could have been done. The other choice is to be a person from what has happened and the choice you made to do about that." [Courtesy – “Conversations with God”]
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