the 50th year is still fresh in my memories... was still in school ...
it's been 11 years since then... and believe me things have changed...
K for all those who want to send me SMS's... orkut scraps... send me emails... please don't ... I do not want them...
I request to all those overtly patriotic only on 15th Aug or 26th Jan types... refrain from reading any further...
couple of days back Abhinav Bindra won a gold in olympics... first time an Indian has won an individual gold in the Olympics... everyone around was jubilant... at least 10-12 people's status message on my google talk screen read, "gold...., we've arrived,... East or west India is the best... and the likes"... 108 years that India has been participating ... we won a gold for the first bloody time... we boast of our hockey team holding the record for most gold medals by any country in the sport... and this time we don't even qualify...
A day before y'day, I was stuck in office late... cause of excessive work... I received a pop up... on my screen a friend sent me this on chat,
" this one Ch**iya wrestler, dunno from where, threw his bronze medal since he expected a gold"
and I was taken aback... I mean... how can one use such words... the attitude... Guys!!! just think once at least once before you let loose a comment on someone... this guy has won a medal... an Olympic Medal... (for those not aware- Swedish wrestler-Ara Abrahamian-silver medalist in Athens 2004)...
We come from a country which has won a total of 16 medals in the past 22 appearances... a single medal... and we all are going ga ga about it...
Read this in Ara's post match interview...
"I can't care about this medal. I wanted gold"
"This will be my last match. I wanted to take gold, so I consider this Olympics a failure..."
(read through about his match... apparently some controversy costed him the gold)
I mean I personally would bow down to such a performer... he might not have deserved a gold for his performance but... the respect he deserves is much more than that of GOLD...
Rediff reads,"Akhil stuns the World Champion"
I was reading an excerpt from the interview of Akhil Kumar...
ask him... anything and all his answers always tell you a simple story....
"I've come here for gold... I do not see anything but the gold... I train for the gold... I pray for the gold... I fight for the gold..."
he ended his interview with a simple line...
"if I don't win gold... I'll be forgotten..."
... I can understand... for a cricket frenzy country like ours... nothing but cricket speaks... nothing but cricket... no other sport... has that kind of fanaticism or enthusiasm or appreciation...
Anyways coming back to the Akhil story...
I bow down to people like you...people like Ara... a true inspiration...
It's about standing up against all odds... to believe truly in yourself... and to work towards your goal... with everything u've got... being true to yourself... just to aim to be the best... and for not settling down for anything less than... I'll pray for you Akhil... you'll never be forgotten...
What better timing for this two events to occur than 15.08.08...
we Indians... have a habit of rationalizing everything...
A reality check... when was the last time you went to a Government office and got your job done without paying anyone... when was the last time you decided to apply for your driving license in the legal way... when did you went to the court for you knew there will be a final hearing... when was the last time... you didn't try and bribe the officer for you got caught crossing the signal... when did you bother to get into a bus only at a bus stop... when was the last time when you got up and offered your seat to some one in need... when did you follow the queue... when did you stood up and owned up your mistakes... when was the last time when you actually didn't behave racist... when was the last time when you did something good for some one without a personal agenda... when was the last time you took that extra effort to aid someone who really needed the help... when was the last time you apologized for your mistakes... add to it... the politics... the showdown of corruption at national television... we all know how f**ked up everything around is... but we still SMS to the entire bloody world... we are the best....
best in what???
Look inside... think for yourself... are we really the best...
Admit it... we are no where close to the best... forget best... being qualified as good... is a far of territory...
and believe me everyone who reads this... the first thing that comes to our bloody mind is...
to kya karien...?
kuch nahin ho sakta...is desh kaa...?
main kya kar sakta hoon...?
(translated as, what should we do...? nothing good can happen to this country? what can I do...?)
I must admit... there would be many who would have tried to stand up and bring about the change... there are many of us... who really do question the anarchy of the system... but we always do face the stronger, "What you gonna do???" forces... and as individuals you do sometimes have to give in, give in in front of this stronger "what you gonna kinda?" system...
Well do you still call yourself superior to the world... for the fact of the matter is you can't even call yourself superior to the third world countries... don't dare even comparing ourselves the first worlds... but we'd still send a million SMS's to depict our superiority in form or another...
For argument...we may have had a superior cultural history... but should we continue to call ourselves superior to the world on this base... reality check my friend... just ask yourself how many of us are still culturally connected... we make fun of people of all races to an extent that our humor is a mental harassment to another... forget other races.... we do not have a tolerance for people of different regions of our own country... remember the dialog,
"kya aapko apne hi desh mein mehmaan bankar rehna achcha lagega"
(Translation: would you want to stay in your country as a guest)
The dialog wasn't there for fun... but that is in fact the reality of our country...
<<
We may boast ourselves saying we have values... Values... what the hell is that... if the synonym you choose for value is suppression... yes we have values... for we force our women to lack of options... we get them married off to random people we choose... without even bothering of their adaptability or taking into consideration their acceptance on something of her own life... giving them the basic education... is considered waste of money and against the culture... <<
we force children to live life, out of our will ... impose our code of conduct... imposing and expecting children to do everything we say... is called child abuse... if you ever
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All I am saying is... stop pretending... stop living it up in a dream... accept... admit... for reality is a different picture from what you are painting... yes we are morally superior... we do have values... we are the best .... but only when each one of us is true to ourselves... when each one of us... gives the best shot forward ... each one needs to see the common dream... the GOLD... to bring back the crown of once upon a time tagged "the Golden Country"... to where it belongs...
For once let it be a reality when we next hear the slogan
"East or West INDIA is the Best"
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