Tuesday, October 04, 2011

THE GUILT WE SHARE

By Siddarth Sehgal

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”  ~ Edmund Burke

We Indians are very simple people, we don’t ask much in life. Decent education, a good enough job and family, these are the only focal points of our world.

Strangely enough, despite being a developing country, we are among the happiest people on Earth but there is other side of our nature too. We are not known to be adventurous; we don’t bother others nor like to be bothered. Whatever comes along the way, we accept it and move on. I am not saying that we don’t complain or get angry towards our problem but in the end, our acceptance comes into play.

You can argue that other people around the world are just like ordinary Indians. Yes, that is true but the point is that our problems are unique. Our politics apparently doomed, our system strangled in corruption, people struggling with inflation and terrorists trying to break our every sense of security & morale. These are just a few parts of our plight and if that is not enough, then let me remind you of our two neighbors who are determined to bring our democracy to its knees.  

I can appear to you like thousands of other writers on the blogs, Facebook and magazines who would try to deliver the solution or wreak anger towards our stalemate system but before you draw out any conclusions, I would like to share with you a small story of mine. Perhaps, after reading you might be able to see why I so badly implore for a change in the way we live.

A year ago in September of 2010, while working on an article for my university newspaper I came across a report on CNN’s website about Common Wealth Games, which were still two of weeks away from the opening ceremony and to my amazement, the webpage was filled with the videos showing fiascos in the preparation of the games.

I saw journalists showing protruding pipes from the streets, broken windows and unfinished paint jobs. A famous British correspondent boasted on TV about how he entered the stadium with a bag full of would be explosives without any security check, there were videos of international athletes denouncing the games and lots of other stuff that wouldn’t make us very proud. It was shameful and shocking to the core but it didn’t stop at CNN. The failures in the organization of games were grabbing headlines in all the major media houses of the world.

It was a sort of eye-opening moment for me. I couldn’t find any valid reason why some politicians and bureaucrats would trade their country’s reputation for a heap full of banknotes.  We have seen hundreds of political scam in the Indian political history but none of them came too far to mar our pride in front of International community. It was treason towards India and its people.

Still after a year, people have forgotten everything. No one now ask questions about the CWG case, everyone is back to their work & lives like nothing happened at all. For how long do we have to turn a blind eye towards our mistakes? For how long would one billion people carry the guilt of few tens of individuals? Why it is that the country which produces thousands of brilliant engineer, scientist and doctors each year is having a hard time producing few incorruptible politicians. Meanwhile, Suresh Kalmadi is spending his time in jail comfortably and many other responsible officials are still out enjoying free air. 

Whatever I discussed could be entirely meaningless or useful to you, I leave that choice to your conscience but still I would like to end my story with a quote I read somewhere. The reason an honest man is priceless because his soul doesn’t have a price tag on it.

---

Other posts by Siddarth Sehgal:

Silver Spoon

Indian Government’s schemes to weaken Team Anna

The Problem of Caste-based Reservation System in India

Why Anna Hazare is Important?

 

Copyright 2009-2012 Pravasi Herald All Rights Reserved