Our President(Ex) of India DR. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam's Speech in Hyderabad .
Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed
to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great
nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to
acknowledge them. Why?
We are the first in milk production.
We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
We are the second largest producer of wheat.
We are the second largest producer of rice.
Look at Dr. Sudarshan , he has transferred the tribal village into a
self-sustaining, self-driving unit.
There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed
in the bad news and failures and disasters. I was in Tel Aviv once and
I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of
attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had
struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a
Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an
orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke
up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside
in the newspaper, buried among other news. In India we only read about
death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE?
Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign
things? We want foreign T. Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign
technology .Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not
realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad
giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my
autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want
to live in a developed India. For her, you and I will have to build
this developed India. You must proclaim. India is not an
under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.
Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance. Got 10
minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is
yours. YOU say that our government is inefficient. YOU say that our
laws are too old. YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the
garbage. YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke,
The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their
destination. YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is
the absolute pits. YOU say, say and say. What do YOU do about it? Take
a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a
face - YOURS.
YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In
Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the
stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are. You
pay$5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of
Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to
the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed
in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status
identity.... In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't
dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to
go out without your head covered in Jeddah.
YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in
London at 10 pounds ( Rs.650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD and
ISD calls are billed to someone else.' YOU would not dare to speed
beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop,
'Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?).I am so and so's
son. Take your two bucks and getlost.' YOU wouldn't chuck an empty
coconut shell any where other than the garbage pail on the beaches in
Australia and New Zealand. Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of
Tokyo? Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates
in Boston ??? We are still talking of the same YOU.
YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries
but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on
the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved
and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the
same here in India? Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal
commissioner of Bombay, Mr.Tinaikar, had a point to make. 'Rich
people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent
droppings all over the place,' he said.' And then the same people turn
around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and
dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with
a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In
America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the
job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?' He's right.
We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all
responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the
government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally
negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to
stop chucking garbage allover the place nor are we going to stop to
pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect
the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn
the proper use of
bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best
of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the
least opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to
pass on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social
issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child! and others, we
make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at
home. Our excuse? 'It's the whole system which has to change, how will
it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry.' So who's
going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very
conveniently for us it consists of our neighbours, other households,
other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not
me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive
contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families
into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away
and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a
majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.
Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in
their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we
run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the
next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to
be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out
to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system.
Our conscience is mortgaged to money.
Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a
great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too.... I am
echoing
J. F.Kennedy 's words to his fellow Americans to relate to
Indians.....'ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE
TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY'Lets
do what India needs from us.
Forward this mail to each Indian
Thank you,
Dr. Abdul Kalaam
