by Conscious » Tue Jan 29, 2002 12:30 am
I think people in our country have been exposed to media views that seem to mask our understanding and judgement to a great deal. It is sad that even in a democratic set-up we are confined to the views and outlooks of the Government. Take for instance how we view our neighboring countries. The only news reports we get about Sri Lanka are on the militacies. How many of us know how Columbo looks like or how to spell it. We know nothing more than what is given to us by the media. I am not just blaming Indian media but media in general. I understand the need for media to be cautious and judgemental on what they show keeping the country\'s interests in mind, but there is a line. When CNN shows China, they pick one street in Beijing with a thousand bicycles. I can\'t tell you how warped that view is. I have been to China a hundred times and it is nothing like it. Beijing is a thriving megapolis with parallels to any other city in the Western world. What we think is so heavily based on what is given to us by the media. i think we need to open up and start looking outside the box. I strongly believe that our view of Pakistan is the same. There are people out there that live, look and talk like us. I don\'t see why there should be such a vast difference in the way way we treat ourselves. I may be raising a controversial topic here but why should we think every Pakistani is an ISI agent trying to terrorize India. I read the other day that a well known Psychology professor from Lahore University
thinks we have been brainwashed to think we are different and I think it is absolutely true. Let me ask you a question - Has anybody considered the possibility of being one united country again? When the absolutely impenetrable Berlin wall between East and West Germany went up, there was never even a second of thought that things would ever change. However, even before we knew it, it came crumbling down. Someone has to start thinking different and it\'s got to be now or it will never be.
, 05 December, 2001, reply
I hope that this message is not just dedicated to this page , i wish everybody reads this and gives a thought atleast for a couple of minutes for our nation
vivek, 20 December, 2001, reply
After years of corruption, procrastination, egotism, and lack of motivation, it is becoming really hard to tell whether or not we would have prospered as a nation if the British had not left the country. Many a times I have questioned myself on what we have done as a nation to help ourselves, to grow ourselves, to feed ourselves and the answer invariably comes back null. I apologize if I am touching a few nerves here by questioning our progress and pride, but I feel there is a clear need to do so. Success and good life does not come on a silver platter. An enormous work goes into it, not just from the government, but also the people of the country. For fifty long years, we have toiled with socialistic and anti-capitalistic ideas fearing overthow of the \"Swadesi\' way of life. The country has since undergone exactly the same amount of transformation as an Ambassador\'s chassis in the same amount of time. We have been living in a shell worrying about competition, cultural dilution, and prejudice. Whether or not anyone agrees with me, there is a certain complex we Indians need to overcome that helps proliferate the arrogance we have. I feel we have wedged ourselves into believing inconsequential thoughts about how old our culture is, how advanced the religion is, how intelligent we are, and how Indians are so good at everything they do. Grow up people! WE ARE NOT THE BEST THERE IS! There are people twice and good as we are and ten times as intelligent in countries a hundredth our size and with a tenth of our history (- don\'t quote me on the stats). This is a capitalistic world and we need to go with the flow. I am not at all trying to undermine the effort we are putting in now. I think we are doing as great job (especially in the hi-tech arena), but there is a lot more to do. It is not just producing more software or starting up fancy coffee shops. It is the attitude that needs to change. WE need to think \"change\" and not fear it. We need to think \"clean\" and not litter. We need to think \"green\" and not waste. We need to think \"laws\" and not jump at stop lights. With so much to offer India can be a powerhouse of a nation but if you don\'t build it, they will not come. Start building yourselves and you will build a country with matchless potential. Another thing to keep in mind about attitude is to try not to condescend cultures and countries that have prospered. They might not have the cultural history we have, but whose got more people without food or jobs? Religion and culture means nothing to a homeless man with a family of five to feed. The point I am trying to make here is that although we tend to censure the West for social issues that we think we do not have, there is a whoile lot to learn from them. If we admit the fact that we are behind, we can move on to win the race. If we build it, they will certainly come.
Conscious, 05 December, 2001, reply
Basic human values - Have we forgotten what we really stand for in this maddening rush to try and move ahead in the world? We tend talk about development in terms of computers, pubs, coffee shops, and internet cafes, but is it really moving our nation forward? I think we are blinded and comforted by material changes that are taking place around us. What is really important for a country like ours to move forward is something less tangible but far more important. Take for instance, the way we value life. How many of us actually stop at stop lights when there\'s a red, to let pedestrians cross the road without fear of being run down by some idiot in a hurry to get his/her hair done? How many of us visit these newly established top-of-the-crop pubs, and not drive home drunk? All right, common people excused for now. Let\'s talk about how much our Government values life - how many have us seen road workers on highways and street sweepers with out any safety equipment? How many of us have read articles about fatalities at a construction site because the contracting company felt the cost of fall protection equipment was more than a man\'s life? Unfortunately, in a populous country as ours, we fail to recognize that every other life matters as much as ours. It saddens me to see how many people\'s lives we put at risk everyday and not think about what it really means. The culprits are in every one of us. We have lost the basic respect for life over the years and that is what we need in order to move ahead of the rest. One notch down, there\'s \"concern for others\" that we also desperately lack in. As result of our cultural upbringing, we have grown self-centered, blatantly disregarding what other people think or feel. What is most important to us is really us, then our family, then our caste, then religion, then the rest. I think we need to out the social evils within us before we start thinking about changing the country. We all talk of ideals and how this country can change, but the answer to me lies in every one of us. Unless we, the people change, the country will not. When you walk down streets the next time, make citizen\'s arrests. Let a person littering the streets know he\'s wrong. Tell your friend that jumps signals what it can lead to. Be responsible - tell your friends not to drink and drive. Baby steps now, but we will go a long way. If we build it, they WILL come. Ps: topic trivia: Indian roads kill an equivalent of the populations of the Island of Seychelles (in the Indian Ocean) every year!
Conscious, 10 December, 2001, reply
Life isn\'t getting any better. We need to act now! We take in an equivalent of 30 cigarettes worth of pollution a day just by sitting indoors. To add to that are our friendly smokers that breathe out ETS (Environmental Tobacco Smoke), a type A carcinogen with over 40 compounds proven to cause cancer in humans (not just laboratory rats)! I do admire the Government for have taken steps to ban smoking in public places and safeguard human health. In addition, it is also important that we, the people develop a sense of awareness and consideration for what is around us. An alarming 3000 people die everyday from second-hand smoke based diseases and that is not a number you can ignore. Well, smoking is just few drops in a potentially disastrous flood. Our country has not gone through the industrial revoltion the West did, when they polluted their air, lands, and waters in a very short period of time. Now, that\'s water beneath the bridge. We haven\'t gone through swings like that in our history, but what we are going through is a down trend that will fail to stop falling unless we do something. We can\'t afford to make mistakes like that and that is the absolute truth. We do not have leeway for another industrial revolution. We have to be more sensible in how we use natural resources to our benefit without depleting them. Further, this change will not just come from laws and regulations, but from within each and everyone of us. Every plastic bag you use is stressing the environment. Every time you drive a vehicle, you choke it, and when you stop caring for it, you will kill it. Try to reduce usage of plastic. Take your own bags to the grocery store (- many countries in Europe have been doing it for a while - why can\'t we?). Don\'t litter - wait till you get to a trash can to throw your waste ( and if you can\'t find it, go home and dump it). Try to compact your trash as much as possible. Find out if your municipality segregates trash - do it at home. The bottomline is to develop a sense of responsibility for the environment. Treat it like you would yourself. This basic consciousness is what lacks in our people. Most of us believe it is not upto to us to take care of the waste we produce. It is beneath our dignity to care or worry about it. Again, there is a historical social and cultural element that drives this mentality within us. It\'s time for us to move on and change the archetype. When countries in the West can do it, why can\'t we? If we can keep our houses clean, we can most definitiely keep our neighborhoods and the environment clean. Try to adopt streets or areas and educate people on what we will need to build a cleaner, better and a stronger nation. If we build it, they will always come.
Conscious, 10 December, 2001, reply
hi..... great message a bit preachy... but true nonetheless. If only we weren\'t so spaced out and clueless.... and what the hell..we are just cybercoolies ok? Lets for once do a \"reality check\" and realise that we are cybercoolies..
Rain, 16 December, 2001, reply
Thanks for your comments on the message. I apologize for having sounded a tad \"preachy\". I do think it is more important whether or not we actually practice what we preach, and I am trying to do that in my own way. I am not perfect, but I\'m trying to tread a path of self-realization and self-improvement and I hope the rest of you do the same. What I have realized the past few years is how much my cultural identity has influenced my thought processes. The big question that I still seem to confront is: \"how important is it?\" I feel we have always been influenced to think that we belonged to something or somewhere, be it a country, a culture, a religion, a caste, a sub-caste or even skin-color. But really, how important is our identity to us beyond our names? Why does one\'s religion, or caste form such an important part of who he or she is? We do not ask ourselves these question only because we have lived on one side for too long to even contemplate relating to the other. Further, it brings everything we were brought up with into question - even the traditions and values that our parents imparted to us, questioning which, would quite undoubtedly be considered blasphemous. We are living in constant fear of change; we are living under the shadow of an impending trepidation of becoming a non-believer in the eyes of society. We have therefore in fear, become bigoted - prejudiced against religions that are not our own, races that we hardly know about, and our own people that we think we know so well. When you really think about it, it is incredibly hard to understand what gives us the right to discriminate. I do not think there is just one answer to that question, but the truth is that we are all lead in our own ways to believe we are superior that THAT is a cause. If it\'s within the country, it\'s caste or sub-caste; if it\'s outside the country, it\'s religion, skin color, and social differences. Further, instead of working actively on eradicating this deep-rooted social disease, we are reluctant to acknowledge it (refer: minutes from The International Conference on Racism, South Africa, 2001). I feel the key to this issue lies in recognizing that each and every one of us is a part of the problem. Unless we take a stand, and tell our buddies and families what we think we should be, it will continue to be transmitted inconspicuously like a genetic disease to our following generations, gradually eating through society. It is also important to understand that it is not just our society that depends on it, but also our economy. I realize that is easy to talk about ideals and what our nation should be like, but taking steps towards the ideals is understandably difficult in a society like ours. Maybe, we will all find our own ways to combat the issue. I am trying to live up to the expectations I have placed for myself. I have given up my affiliations to the faith I was raised with, and denounced all associations with caste. I do not feel there is a need for me to look at society through pre-concieved eyes. Whether or not other people do the same is entirely left to their own discretion, but I sincerely hope that we at least not fear introspection with regards to our way of life and possible change. That in itself will help us move towards creating a nation, secular and free of racial and casteist prejudice like our forefathers envisioned. If we all don\'t help lay our society back brick by brick, it will never build. If we don\'t build it, they will never come.
Conscious, 17 December, 2001, reply
bv