Show us the direction...
As with all other things, the video has been doing rounds on facebook these days. Illustrating the value of Rs. 500/- for different people the video wishes to enlighten the public towards the glaring and ever widening class separation in the country. The intent is highly commendable but where is the practicality?
While the video enlightens the hip and happening young generation that's oblivious to the fact that there is, unfortunately, enough poverty in the country, pries open our eyes to the fact that a lot of students have to drop off from school owing to the lack of "money", it still tends to predilect towards monetary philanthropy. Is that really what we need? Will shelling out our hard earned money towards charity really going to get us a shining India? Will the foundations of a futuristic Mahaan Bharat, rest on the garbage dump of alms? If we all start living poor just because our neighbor is poor, and because you love thy neighbor. If everyone starts sending their kids to the badly managed municipal schools just because our neighbor can only afford that. Will it really take us anywhere?
Most of us just share this video, unwittingly, to show our commitment towards our country.
But as with everything that happens in our country, we shy to look towards the real problem and apply a rational solution. The video shuns the use of one's money to lead a good lifestyle. But isn't that what's we wish to have in the country. Somewhere down the line we, as always, miss the real purpose that we need to put our efforts towards. The entire purpose is having a strong economy with a high standard of living, for everyone. We just remember everyone but forget the high standard of living.
The problem facing us today is not that those who have are spending leisurely. Why do we not see it in the perspective of "we are creating a market at our own end". A market is equally important for an economy, as important as the ability to produce.
The lack of a strong market is what forces our country to bend under other countries' pressures and restrictions. A simple statement from US that if India enriches U235 then it will stop trade, makes our economy wet itself. No doubt that we have to buy U235 even for our Nuclear Power plants, and due to the cost factors we cannot have many of those. While most of the energy provisions in all developed countries are converting to Nuclear power.
The task at hand is to provide education, and that does not imply literacy. I was just watching a clip from Roadies, and I really hate the concept and psyche of the PI in that show, where a well literate hunk was being interviewed. He was literate, well groomed but not at all educated (wish the panel had kicked his butt the way they do with other much sane people). Today India has become a power to reckon with, for the entire world and that's simply because of the quality of knowledge that the current generation is bringing to the table. While countries are fighting to overhaul their education systems to be competent with the challenges our country is posing. We need to rise to that challenge, can't just sit there living the moment. It is a cut throat competition, not with our classmates but with the world that we have to rise up to. And to enable our youth for that, we need education. We need to breed warriors, not those who can go to a war, but those who are ready to pit their wits with the world. That will not come from charity, nor will it come from the hateful concept of "Reservation". It will come from strong measures taken up to provide education to our kids. Letting them hone their skills, not by letting them enter premier educational institutions by a quota system. What we need is to ensure that those who get there using their abilities do not fall off the branch, due to inability to afford it.
Coming back to the idea of Reservation. I could never fathom why do we have this concept for competitive exams. What does poverty have to do with a persons's ability to crack IIT-JEE and stand shoulder to shoulder with his affluent contemporaries?
Isn't it actually making their spines brittle by letting them have it for free? Never could I fathom where we missed the concept of "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime" during the drafting of our constitution. Let them have good education. A budget expenditure on retaining talent and letting it grow is all what our economy needs.
What we need is to envision a future where everyone gets according to his abilities. Let the human desire of every individual take control of him, so that he aims for the highest mark.
Just let the fire burn.
P.S: Alas today the opposite is happening. The kids of younger generation, well am from a young generation but then there is still a younger one around, are either devoid of good education opportunities or have gone really dumb. With the job markets flourishing in the country, the competition of our times has started dying out, or is faced only by those who do not have the means to tackle it (may be really talented but not able to buy books, get tutored etc.).
I do not wish to sit back in my old days lamenting about a time of my youth when our country was growing, the way our history books lament about the old days when India was a Golden Bird. That's past, gone, over. Snap out of the reverie, and get to work...
Comments