Strengthening the Republic

If Independence Day was the birth of modern India, it is Republic Day that gave this birth a purpose, direction, and a soul. After the end of World War II, many countries attained independence, and democracy as a form of governance found its roots across the world. It very soon became the most legitimate and popular form of governance. However, the real challenge of building the nation was post-independence.

Across the world, independence was achieved at a high cost, after decades of struggle with the colonisers and with sacrifice by thousands of people. In India too, it was a hard-earned gift and valued by millions of citizens. People who led the independence movement saw these sacrifices as a part of their selfless service to the nation and its people. The movement nurtured a different breed of leaders, for whom nation building was the sole purpose of their life.

Millennials are born in a different age- for the most middle-class population that was born post-90s, freedom is a given fact and thus often taken for granted. It is a harsh truth that the current generation of Indians doesn't understand the gift of independence, and responsibility that comes with it.

It will be wrong if we only blame the millennials. Inspiration comes from role models in public leadership. Role models in 50s and 60s were leaders of independence, people who lived for the country and were willing to die for it. In the last three decades, there has been a severe dearth of role models in public life. For people like us who are born in mid-eighties, there was no one to look up to in our teenage except Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who valued dialogue, brought respect in politics. As a teenager, I was touched by his personality only to understand his politics as I grew.

Freedom fighters have played a big a role in educating masses. Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore used to write scathing articles criticizing each other's ideology, but had deep respect for each other. It was Gandhi who made sure that his favourite Andrews was there to take care of Tagore when he was not well and raised money for Shantineketan. The titles of Mahatma and Gurudev were given to the great men by each other. Last known respectful debates by political leaders were between Jawahar Lal Nehru and Jai Prakash Narayan about the flaws of democracy. These leaders knew that millions were reading their articles; these debates not only educated the masses but also kept the spirit of true engagement with national issues alive.

India has failed to inspire its current generation. In the last three decades, we haven't seen much of such written debates in the newspaper or respectful debates in parliament.India Against Corruption was a moment of awakening for many, but it's energy fizzled out. India lacks role models in public life who selflessly serve the nation. In a parliamentary democracy with a multi-party system, it is a shame that the nation starves for alternatives and doesn't have leaders to look up to.

Every generation has its own challenges and has to fight its own battles. As a higher percentage of our population is moving towards the upper middle class, and with basics taken care of, many of our young people are in pursuit of meaning in life and are choosing careers in the social sector. It is time that a significantly higher percentage join active politics- in any political party because we need good people everywhere.

India needs to end this leadership crisis in public space. The republic will be strengthened only if many more youth join active politics and lead the country through moral courage and imagination. Preserving the republic can be the highest tribute to makers of India and its constitution.

On this Independence Day !

Today as I write this reflecting on where we are after around 7 decades post independence, mixed feelings arise within me. I feel happy about so many achievements that we have had post independence, especially back in 1947 when the whole world was saying that India will break into small nations; we have brilliantly lived together as one nation. We are truly secular, democratic nation with so much of diversity. Our literacy rate has gone up drastically, we have an independent election commission and judiciary, we have achieved basic level of food security. There are numerous other things which we should be proud of today.

On the other hand I feel sad about the apathy that we have for our country. We as citizens don’t respect the freedom that we have got, the opportunity that this country has given us. I see India as one of the few countries where we preach about patriotism but don’t even act minutely according to it. I feel the country has given a lot to us but we for generations post independence have just taken from the country and not contributed back. We don’t understand our moral responsibility as the citizen. Citizenship is not a one way process and is not always transactional, it is a two way process. A nation will be in the best state when the citizens feel the interdependence with the nation.

You go to any railway station, bus stop, public toilet you will see that we least care about the condition of that place. Firstly we make sure that it is in the worst possible state and if not so then we don’t care to ask for a complaint register or make sure that we register our protest. We don’t want to engage with the institutions that are made for public interest, often the reason for not engaging is that what will happen by just one person protesting or complaining. I have often heard from my friends and family members,”What will happen by just you raising your voice. Nothing is going to change like this.” But I feel it makes a difference and the person thinks twice before doing the same thing next time.  

Today my only concern is that why don’t we follow the basic rules laid down by the constitution or before following, are we even aware of things happening around? Why don’t we confront people when something wrong is being done in front of our eyes ? Why don’t we make sure that we complete our work in best possible way and give our 100% effort ? Why are we OK with “Chalta-Hai” attitude?

We as citizens should think deeply on what culture we want to give to our coming generation and then see what changes we need to make in our daily habits. We need to be the role models who will spread the ripples of change. It is not always about doing big things, from my limited experience I feel, it is small but consistent efforts that make the difference.

Are we just going to be proud Indians or do something also?

Today, I pledge to be a more proactive citizen, follow rules more stringently, follow my duties in a better way and make sure to raise my voice if I see something wrong.   

Please share your pledge this Independence Day !

Happy Independence Day !

Regards,

Prakhar Bhartiya

Struggle Between Inner and Outer Self

The session started with a meditation exercise. The idea was to control the mind because mind is a wanderer and when we are seeking answers about SELF, we need to have a calm mind.

First two question asked by Chitranjan ji our facilitator for the session were :

• Why you are here today ?
• How will you change post session ?

All the participants gave different answers of the two questions and then the discussion went on. The big question that we pondered upon was, "How do we understand the conflict between inner and outer self ?"

Then we had an exercise where he proposed that for one hour let us assume that the relationship between inner and outer world is helpful in reaching our destination. And now share our views in the group with a situation that holds true for above.

We also discussed the distinction about FEAR and PHOBIA. 

Mostly during the entire session we were talking about conflict between any two ( it can inner and outer self or between two different individuals) and it happens mostly at four different levels. They were :

• You and I are adversary and the powerful person wins (No Point of Dialogue or understanding)

• Presence of adversary motives other to empower himself and then fight (One Wins, other Loses)

• Whenever two people are at conflict, one will try to understand why we are at conflict and look for others weakness and strike at them to win

• Whenever there is a conflict both sides try to understand the complete picture, dialogue and come to a conclusion (Win- Win)

For me the two were more importantly my inner and outer self. The constant struggle to be one has taught me many things about myself, has helped me in improving myself. Still there is a long way to go and huge scope of improvement but being aware of the facts and moments when this conflict happens gives me peace and opportunity to learn. 

(Just to add here, I know an amazing book " Seven Habits by Stephen Covey" that talks about this in one of the habits, "Think Win-Win". I would request you all to read that book. It has been a blessing for me, I still keep a copy of it with me and have recommend it to many. Please dont read it as a book but what worked for me was that I read one habit 2-3 times and then tried to imbibe it in me and then move to next. )

Apart from this couple of things that stood apart for me were:

• What I am today = What I was yesterday + What I learned today (what I learnt today majorly comes for reflection

• We also had a conversation around authenticity. Children should be given opportunity to express authentically because it is extremely hard as a kid to keep extreme emotions inside. 

• It is important to be aware of what we are saying, doing , thinking. Whenever we lose awareness we lose opportunity to learn.

Note: This happened during a learning event for the Changeloom Program of Pravah at Kolkata. 

(Chittaranjan Kaul is the Co-director Center for Learning Resources, Pune and also Board Member, Gandhi Fellowship)

Peace

According to Wikipedia, Peace describes a society or a relationship that is operating harmoniously and without violent conflict. But I don’t think that the end of violence means peace. Peace has a much larger meaning. It has many aspects; it can be mental peace, physical peace, peace of living in safe environment.

When I think about peace the first thing that comes to my mind is mental peace. For me this is really important. It is one the hardest thing to get. One can be in the safest place, have all the luxuries of life but still not live in peace. For example: For a daily wage earner who doesn’t know about his meal next day, mental peace is nearly impossible if doesn’t get work. So, mental peace comes from security for future which includes a lot more than just financial safety.

I think the meaning of peace, varies in different strata’s of society. For middle class peace is when they are assured that their old age is financially secured but this is not the same for upper class. If we observe a changing scenario, then we notice that the upper class of people are transitioning towards spirituality to attain peace because they have can fulfill all their financial needs and hence want to gain mental peace.

I believe that relation between desire and peace is inversely proportional. As our greed increases, we start losing our peace and start to grumble for small-small things. I know it is hard to control the desires but still if we benchmark our needs it becomes a lot simpler. We should define our needs and try to limit them and once that is done, life becomes easy. We feel the fun in life and start enjoying it and which eventually gives us immense pleasure and peace.

The environment in which we live also contributes to our peace. Physical safety is man’s first priority and the place where we live contributes a lot to it. If we have fear for our lives, it becomes very hard to live in peace. Take examples from our countries only; can we live peacefully in Taliban affected Afghanistan or SWAT valley of Pakistan or Kashmir valley in India or Naxalite hit red corridor in India or flood affected region of Bangladesh ? The answer is “NO” because our first priority will be to save ourselves and our loved ones life.  The living environment can be affected by terrorism or by flood or by criminal activities but if our lives are unsafe it is hard to live in peace.

Lastly I would say being a follower of Gandhian philosophy I believe in non-violence, truthfulness and simplicity. So, if we have these attributes in us, we can easily live a peaceful life.

* This is the answer to the question (What is Peace ?)asked to me while I was applying for South Asian Youth Conference, which took place last month in IIM, Bangalore and I was selected for the conference.