INDIA - 15th August 2009 - HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

[Soofi]

How I wish the Western world absorbed Indian values and India absorbed the core of the western world's government institutions.

We will get there at some point.

Amen!!

Happy Independence indeed.

Happy Independence day bud!

 

[Doc]

How I wish the Western world absorbed Indian values and India absorbed the core of the western world's government institutions.

Ah, a wish that may infact remain that only ie. " a wish ".
Sadly corruption is too much ( in any field) The govt. is not concerned ( truthfully) .

Today & tomorrow ( 17th & 18th Aug.) we have an auto strike in the capital , most of the 16 unions are holding the city at ransom . and those who refuse to join the strike are getting themselves as well as their vehicles smashed up .(reminds me of the Blueline bus strike 2 years back) . and all this violence goes on in the presence of the corrupt police who stand as mute spectators ( they will only step in if cajoled by the media , when they have their faces plastered on the news) .
We can only voice our opinion , but can't do anything for this system is a well-oiled machinery which works only on pulling the right levers :sigh2:.
This is the true India , a democracy elected by the people , run by politicians & bureaucrats for 'themselves' :yes: .

 

[sashas]

Come on guys..I love this country, but I'm not myopic. I see that there are some very, very deep issues here that need to be resolved for this country to get ANYWHERE. The psyche of the average Indian needs to be changed drastically.

NO official work can be done without bribes, whether its getting a driver's license or buying a piece of land. There is no distinction between cops and criminals. We treat our women like shit. We treat our scheduled castes like shit. Heck, we even treat black people (by black I mean black racially, not in skin tone) like shit.

And the worst part is that we are still pretty smug about it.

Our stupid, ignorant media has drilled this notion into our heads that "India is the next US" and that somehow, India, is in the same league as China (it is not; its barely 1/10th of China in virtually all parameters, other than population).

And to top it all, we've got a terribly mediocre sense of accomplishment - we make heroes of our 12th class board and IIT toppers with full page spreads in newspapers, half of whom won't even stay in the country beyond graduation. What is the sense in that?

As a country, we're being run by frauds, criminals, and..well, engineers. Somewhere along the way, we lost our soul as a nation (just look at the pathetic state of our popular culture).


So love your country, but not like an ignorant, flag waving idiot - that kind of philosophy cost the Americans their last 8 years under Bush.

How I wish the Western world absorbed Indian values and India absorbed the core of the western world's government institutions.

We will get there at some point.

What Indian core values are you talking about exactly? Family harmony, which exists more in books and Sooraj Bajratya movies than reality? Being the world's doormat? Or doing the world's worst jobs and being proud of it?

See, when you talk of 'Indian values', you talk of - respecting your elders, your family, etcetra etcetra. But honestly, this modern world that we've found ourselves in is not very conducive to them. Honestly, how many sons/daughters you've seen who are wildly enthusiastic about their parents living with them after they are married (aka, the 'good son/daughter')? Most in this country do it not because we want to, but because we have to. And that to me is not a value; its a rule.

Take a long hard look at some of the so called Indian values. How many of them are performed willingly? And how many are performed with a resigned shrug of the shoulders, as something 'you just have to do'?


I'm sorry for the rant, but this thread just ticked off a pet peeve. I'm not very politically correct when it comes to my country, and I'm sick of the smug blindness with which my fellow countrymen see India, and I'm sick of the resignation with which we have accepted this fate - "hum to aise hi hain" - instead of striving for change. Remember - when you stop changing, you become extinct - the first rule of evolution.

 

[nameadvertising.com]

Are these your personal experiences or are you taking the pulse of the entire nation for every breath you take?

It couldn't be both. Perhaps Delhi is not representative of what India truly is.

I've traveled the breadth and length of the country. And bar a few sentiments, you are oh so wrong!

 

[ecomindia]

chris, did you visited hapur, nalkeshwar and all thesee places... (in context to length and breadth ), i am holding most of the indian state names and have taken me 4 years to cover 3 states only... (city and colonies),

i will get back on this with more and on your comments once back from office, right now... phir milenge

 

[sashas]

Are these your personal experiences or are you taking the pulse of the entire nation for every breath you take?

It couldn't be both. Perhaps Delhi is not representative of what India truly is.

I've traveled the breadth and length of the country. And bar a few sentiments, you are oh so wrong!

I'm 22. In these years, I've lived in:

Delhi: 2 years
Jaipur: 5 Years
Agra: 2 Years
Lucknow: 2 Years
Buffalo, NY: 1 Year
Bharatpur: 2 Years
Alwar: 3 Years
Udaipur: 3 Years
Jodhpur: 1 Year
Bhopal: 1 Year

My father was in a bank, so I'm used to shifting ever two years. I won't say anything about South or East India, but I think I have the entire Hindi heartland covered in this.

Traveling the length and breadth of this country is again cliche statement best reserved for travel books. A two hour stopover at some small town is not the same as a 2 year stint in the same town. You can't gauge the psyche of a society in 10 or even 100 days.

Please know that this is not a statement or attack against you or your beliefs. Rather, its the Indian middle class and its hypocrisies that are my target here. And you can't deny that this is the class that actually makes up a nation and its psyche.

But this subject is too vast, too passionate, too aggravating to discuss here (or anywhere). I know I cannot change people's perception about things. I am a liberal and we, as a nation, are essentially conservative, with little will to change even the worst of our practices (case in point: our treatment of women and girl children; believe me, living in places like Alwar and Jodhpur will tell you the real meaning of female feticide and the resulting gender imbalance).

So let's rest the issue. We won't get anywhere with it.

 

[nameadvertising.com]

Yes Puran, let's rest the case. You may not be wrong. You experienced what you did. Let's hope things get better in India for the issues you mentioned about.

 

[ecomindia]

yes, we all are keepng fingers crossed.
everycountry has some issue as i have said earlier (racism in US/Europe, Crime in Africa/East Asia) etc which will not be correct and too complicated to discuss here.

BTW Chris, which all places you have visited in India?? Will be too keen to know this!
Will really respect to know from the person who knows the place well and looking forward to know more asbt your visits there and how much you know hindi and other languages?