(Sainiput Punjabi)
Yes, I dare say! There is a paradox of a country on the face of our planet earth. Rather a Sub-Continent within Asia Sub-continent at that! It encompasses the areas from Siachin in the north to Kanya Kumari in the south, and from ArunachalPradesh in the east to Gujarat in the west. It has 7000 km coastline. With 32,87,263 sq km of area, it is the seventh largest country of the world. It has world’s second largest population, which is just over 15% of the total humanity. It has all the four seasons, nicely distributed, and rich variety of vegetation and animal life, with special types of flora and fauna.
At a point of history, when the humankind the world over lived in aboriginal tribes, this country had ‘Harrappa Civilization’ from which the modern world has taken the art of town planning. Shipping was developed here about 5000 years back. To create a reservoir for storage of water for irrigation, the first dam of the world was built in the Saurashtra region of this country. Ayurveda developed in this country was the first medical system of the world. The game of Shatranj was invented here.
The first university of the world was established at Taxla in this very country, 700 years before Christ, which taught more than 60 subjects to more than 10,000 students. Algebra, trigonometry, and calculus were invented and developed in this country. This country invented the number system and gave the concept of ‘zero’ to the world. The decimal system was invented here, 100 years before Christ. Sanskrit, the original language of this country as per Forbes magazine, is the most suitable and easy for use in computer. This country has never attacked any other country in its long history. Until 1896, this country was the only source of diamonds, the world over.
Mark Twain is said to have described this country as a land “…of dreams and romance, of a hundred nations and a hundred tongues, of a thousand religions and two million gods, cradle of human race, birthplace of human speech, mother of history, grand mother of legend, great grand mother of tradition…”
This country has a plethora of religions, sub-religions, places and objects of worship including rats, snakes and elephants, dead and alive god-men, ashrams, maths, holy families; all preaching the virtues of honesty, humility, compassion, equality of humankind, certainty of death, futility of greed, respect for elders etc. Every day of the year in this country is associated with this or that religion, religious place, or god-man. Almost all citizens of this country claim to be the followers of this or that religion, religious organisation, place of worship or god-man. Yet, in a letter to his mother written on his first visit to this country, WinstonChurchill described it as “…a God-less land of snobs and bores.”
In fact this country used to be a geographical region with many independent kingdoms, all perpetually trying to subjugate each other. That was until Islamic invaders humbled the warring kingdoms followed by the British colonial rule. The country achieved freedom after a prolonged struggle in 1947 and ushered into an era of democratic rule. Its army and civil bureaucracy are among the largest in the world. It is a nuclear power launching satellites with plans to send a spaceship to the moon. Its engineers said to be the mind power of the world are developing fifth-generation fighter aircrafts. But, the most obnoxious aspect of governance in this biggest democracy of the world is the criminal-politician-bureaucrat nexus about which less said the better. The result of this unholy nexus is all pervading corruption and double standards in public and private life.
Things are so topsy-turvy in this country that politicians are the most unethical and unprincipled players of governance: those in power and those in the opposition. While most of the ruling politicians irrespective of their party(s) remain busy in devising ways and means to amass wealth and the subsequent damage control exercises besides enacting impracticable laws, those in opposition have no motive other than blocking the government business in Parliament and the State Assemblies. The constitution of the country swears by secularism, but all political parties exploit religious sentiments of the people to the maximum to get votes. So much so, the communists theoretically opposed to the concept of religion also unashamedly participate in religious practices like ‘DurgaPuja’ in this country, just for the sake of votes. And tragically, the general public here is forgetful enough, so as to elect the same sets of unprincipled politicians and even known criminals again and again. No doubt, of late the country’s judiciary at the higher levels and the Election commission have taken up measures aimed at cleansing the polity, but ever increasing population, illiteracy and religion/caste based divisions are the main hurdles.
Next to the self-aggrandising politicians are the government employees, who flout the rules and misuse their official position to make money. Most of them come late, shirk work on various pretexts, enjoy atrociously extended lunch break, and leave for home early on routine basis, as a matter of right. That is despite the fact that they are entitled to about 200 holidays in a year. Also despite the fact that a very big chunk of them gets jobs and promotions under reservation, even being low on merit and very poor in performance. To behave in such a shameless manner, the employees are helped by numerous trade unions, whose main aim is to ensure pay and perks for them without doing any work.
Nothing happens in this country without ‘sifarish’ or bribe. If you want a ration card, a passport, or a driving licence. If you want a correction in your inflated power or telephone bill. If you want railway reservation. If you want to register the sale or purchase of property. If you want to admit your child in a school of your choice. If you want timely admission and doctor’s attention in a government hospital. Cent per cent chances are; you will have to pull strings from ‘above’ through ‘sifarish’, or cough up the befitting bribe.
In this country, the human rights organisations are only concerned about (read against) the killing of terrorists and criminals by the security forces, while they have nothing to say about (against) the killing of innocent and unarmed people including women and children by the terrorists and criminals.
In this country, the police has become an instrument of suppression in the rulers’ hands. A prime minister swearing by democracy, whose election was invalidated by the court for using unfair means, had the tenacity to remain in power by imposing ‘emergency’. In this country, the security guards including a favoured one killed a prime minister.
In this biggest democracy of the world, ‘leaders’ are only born in certain families. A number of this country’s natural citizens are loyal to the neighbouring Pakistan to the extent that they do not even tolerate the victory of this country over Pakistan on the playground. A number of this country’s citizens take out umbrellas when clouds appear in Moscow or Beijing.
A big majority of the motorists including those holding valid driving licences in this country do not have the basic knowledge (read sense) of traffic rules, besides being foolish enough so as not to recognise the rights of other road users. Most of them stop at the red light crossing only when the police is present. Besides, they are totally unaware of the purpose of ‘zebra crossings’.
In this country people throw garbage on public places, relish in extending their houses/shops etc on to the roads and streets, steal power with impunity, try to break the queue where ever possible, kill each other in the name of religion, get jobs on the force of fake degrees or bribe, and conduct pre-birth tests to abort baby girls.
In this country, industrialists, traders, vendors, shopkeepers, transporters, private practitioners, and various types of other self-employed people seem to be thriving on evasion of taxes. The moment the government attempts to streamline the tax structure, they raise an outcry.
In this country god-men live like kings, and places of worship are built on encroached lands. The defence forces are short of thousands of officers while countless educated boys and girls face unemployment. The lawyers and court officials fleece the harried people seeking ‘justice’ from the court. The pending court cases go on piling up resulting in agonising delay in dispensing of justice while a good number of judges’ posts perpetually remain vacant. Some people even born about or after the freedom-year (1947) get pension as ‘freedom fighters’ while there are many instances of real freedom fighters facing disease and starvation in old age.
In this country, drought, death and diseases are attributed to the ‘anger’ of this or that deity. Teachers engage in private tuition. Government doctors run private clinics neglecting the hospital work. Industrialists take huge bank loans and refuse to pay back under various pretexts. There are those who produce spurious drugs and other consumables endangering common man’s life. Some persons manufacture synthetic milk using chemicals like urea to mint money. The ministers and bureaucrats stash unaccounted currency notes in ‘pujarooms’. Those accused of corruption and other malpractices move about in the society without an iota of guilt on their faces. The list is long, and the tragedy is that all these people claim to be religious to the core. So much so, even those engaged in managing the affairs of various religions and religious places seem to believe that being religious and making a livelihood are two different things.
This country has three names: India, Bharat, and Hindostan, all officially valid. No short of a paradox where I live and so do all the people of this country! Believe it or not!
At a point of history, when the humankind the world over lived in aboriginal tribes, this country had ‘Harrappa Civilization’ from which the modern world has taken the art of town planning. Shipping was developed here about 5000 years back. To create a reservoir for storage of water for irrigation, the first dam of the world was built in the Saurashtra region of this country. Ayurveda developed in this country was the first medical system of the world. The game of Shatranj was invented here.
The first university of the world was established at Taxla in this very country, 700 years before Christ, which taught more than 60 subjects to more than 10,000 students. Algebra, trigonometry, and calculus were invented and developed in this country. This country invented the number system and gave the concept of ‘zero’ to the world. The decimal system was invented here, 100 years before Christ. Sanskrit, the original language of this country as per Forbes magazine, is the most suitable and easy for use in computer. This country has never attacked any other country in its long history. Until 1896, this country was the only source of diamonds, the world over.
Mark Twain is said to have described this country as a land “…of dreams and romance, of a hundred nations and a hundred tongues, of a thousand religions and two million gods, cradle of human race, birthplace of human speech, mother of history, grand mother of legend, great grand mother of tradition…”
This country has a plethora of religions, sub-religions, places and objects of worship including rats, snakes and elephants, dead and alive god-men, ashrams, maths, holy families; all preaching the virtues of honesty, humility, compassion, equality of humankind, certainty of death, futility of greed, respect for elders etc. Every day of the year in this country is associated with this or that religion, religious place, or god-man. Almost all citizens of this country claim to be the followers of this or that religion, religious organisation, place of worship or god-man. Yet, in a letter to his mother written on his first visit to this country, WinstonChurchill described it as “…a God-less land of snobs and bores.”
In fact this country used to be a geographical region with many independent kingdoms, all perpetually trying to subjugate each other. That was until Islamic invaders humbled the warring kingdoms followed by the British colonial rule. The country achieved freedom after a prolonged struggle in 1947 and ushered into an era of democratic rule. Its army and civil bureaucracy are among the largest in the world. It is a nuclear power launching satellites with plans to send a spaceship to the moon. Its engineers said to be the mind power of the world are developing fifth-generation fighter aircrafts. But, the most obnoxious aspect of governance in this biggest democracy of the world is the criminal-politician-bureaucrat nexus about which less said the better. The result of this unholy nexus is all pervading corruption and double standards in public and private life.
Things are so topsy-turvy in this country that politicians are the most unethical and unprincipled players of governance: those in power and those in the opposition. While most of the ruling politicians irrespective of their party(s) remain busy in devising ways and means to amass wealth and the subsequent damage control exercises besides enacting impracticable laws, those in opposition have no motive other than blocking the government business in Parliament and the State Assemblies. The constitution of the country swears by secularism, but all political parties exploit religious sentiments of the people to the maximum to get votes. So much so, the communists theoretically opposed to the concept of religion also unashamedly participate in religious practices like ‘DurgaPuja’ in this country, just for the sake of votes. And tragically, the general public here is forgetful enough, so as to elect the same sets of unprincipled politicians and even known criminals again and again. No doubt, of late the country’s judiciary at the higher levels and the Election commission have taken up measures aimed at cleansing the polity, but ever increasing population, illiteracy and religion/caste based divisions are the main hurdles.
Next to the self-aggrandising politicians are the government employees, who flout the rules and misuse their official position to make money. Most of them come late, shirk work on various pretexts, enjoy atrociously extended lunch break, and leave for home early on routine basis, as a matter of right. That is despite the fact that they are entitled to about 200 holidays in a year. Also despite the fact that a very big chunk of them gets jobs and promotions under reservation, even being low on merit and very poor in performance. To behave in such a shameless manner, the employees are helped by numerous trade unions, whose main aim is to ensure pay and perks for them without doing any work.
Nothing happens in this country without ‘sifarish’ or bribe. If you want a ration card, a passport, or a driving licence. If you want a correction in your inflated power or telephone bill. If you want railway reservation. If you want to register the sale or purchase of property. If you want to admit your child in a school of your choice. If you want timely admission and doctor’s attention in a government hospital. Cent per cent chances are; you will have to pull strings from ‘above’ through ‘sifarish’, or cough up the befitting bribe.
In this country, the human rights organisations are only concerned about (read against) the killing of terrorists and criminals by the security forces, while they have nothing to say about (against) the killing of innocent and unarmed people including women and children by the terrorists and criminals.
In this country, the police has become an instrument of suppression in the rulers’ hands. A prime minister swearing by democracy, whose election was invalidated by the court for using unfair means, had the tenacity to remain in power by imposing ‘emergency’. In this country, the security guards including a favoured one killed a prime minister.
In this biggest democracy of the world, ‘leaders’ are only born in certain families. A number of this country’s natural citizens are loyal to the neighbouring Pakistan to the extent that they do not even tolerate the victory of this country over Pakistan on the playground. A number of this country’s citizens take out umbrellas when clouds appear in Moscow or Beijing.
A big majority of the motorists including those holding valid driving licences in this country do not have the basic knowledge (read sense) of traffic rules, besides being foolish enough so as not to recognise the rights of other road users. Most of them stop at the red light crossing only when the police is present. Besides, they are totally unaware of the purpose of ‘zebra crossings’.
In this country people throw garbage on public places, relish in extending their houses/shops etc on to the roads and streets, steal power with impunity, try to break the queue where ever possible, kill each other in the name of religion, get jobs on the force of fake degrees or bribe, and conduct pre-birth tests to abort baby girls.
In this country, industrialists, traders, vendors, shopkeepers, transporters, private practitioners, and various types of other self-employed people seem to be thriving on evasion of taxes. The moment the government attempts to streamline the tax structure, they raise an outcry.
In this country god-men live like kings, and places of worship are built on encroached lands. The defence forces are short of thousands of officers while countless educated boys and girls face unemployment. The lawyers and court officials fleece the harried people seeking ‘justice’ from the court. The pending court cases go on piling up resulting in agonising delay in dispensing of justice while a good number of judges’ posts perpetually remain vacant. Some people even born about or after the freedom-year (1947) get pension as ‘freedom fighters’ while there are many instances of real freedom fighters facing disease and starvation in old age.
In this country, drought, death and diseases are attributed to the ‘anger’ of this or that deity. Teachers engage in private tuition. Government doctors run private clinics neglecting the hospital work. Industrialists take huge bank loans and refuse to pay back under various pretexts. There are those who produce spurious drugs and other consumables endangering common man’s life. Some persons manufacture synthetic milk using chemicals like urea to mint money. The ministers and bureaucrats stash unaccounted currency notes in ‘pujarooms’. Those accused of corruption and other malpractices move about in the society without an iota of guilt on their faces. The list is long, and the tragedy is that all these people claim to be religious to the core. So much so, even those engaged in managing the affairs of various religions and religious places seem to believe that being religious and making a livelihood are two different things.
This country has three names: India, Bharat, and Hindostan, all officially valid. No short of a paradox where I live and so do all the people of this country! Believe it or not!
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