The independence 'way'
August 13th, ,at around 9pm, I was on my way to meet my friends. I was waiting at a traffic signal and someone behind hurled a rude 'hey' at me . I turned back and saw the 'hey source', a person in his late twenties, with a female pillion rider on an expensive bike, with an illegal, high intensity head lamp. I know, it's a lot of detailing, but it might help me going forward with this post. So, this person was trying to cut the signal and got stuck between my bike and a bus.
I hate random 'heys' but I thought of understanding the motive behind that. I turned back and to my surprise, he asked me that if I am waiting for someone! Well, I could not think about anything other than the obvious and told him that I am waiting for the signal to turn green. Unintended humour I would call it, the perpetual law breaker and his pillion rider lady was laughing at me for my response, and asked me to move ahead. I did not, but he made his way through the non-existent space, as I tilted my bike to save my leg and bike.
Nowadays I write a lot about road and traffic issues, I know it can be monotonous, but I think this is the only way I'm venting out my social frustration along with bringing in some awareness. Nevertheless, this post is not about road or traffic, it's about pseudo patriots who think that uploading a photoshopped image of the tricolour on Facebook, once in a year represents patriotism. No, if you want the country to be a better place, it has to start with you. Stop at traffic lights and see how the world is intact, instead of the fact that this is 2012. Stop bribing the bureaucrats to get things done. Go to the polling booth, stand in the queue and use the right to elect your representatives, or mark that you do not want to vote for anyone.
Think about the progress of the country, think about how the growth of a society can support this and think how each family can act as catalysts in this process. Ultimately, the revolution has to start from within, from an individual. If you are unable to improve yourself for a better India, stop blabbering about corruption, stop supporting phony Gandhis and Vivekananda's, stop posting stupid manipulated images of how political leaders invested crores in Swiss Bank Corporation (which is, again, non-existent).
There is no dearth of arm chair revolutionaries and passive aggression on social media forums. No 'ism' propagator will let go his brand new car or house to give wings for hundreds of little dreams. I believe that, when you advocate an ideology you have to live by it, everyday. I believe in an ideology which starts with me and then empowering others. Till I reach there, I will not blame the system, I will try to change it, one step at a time. And some day even if I realize that the system won't change, I will end up changing some lives, positively.
India is not hopeless, it is under construction and we are not just the clichéd 'architects of India', we are the masons, we need to build this country brick by brick. And if we cannot stop at a signal for 60 seconds, how can we take a look at the sad state of affairs and build this country. As my brother rightly put it across in an independence day message to me, "We got to do more. Vande Mataram"
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Image courtesy: nettsu's photostream on Flickr
I hate random 'heys' but I thought of understanding the motive behind that. I turned back and to my surprise, he asked me that if I am waiting for someone! Well, I could not think about anything other than the obvious and told him that I am waiting for the signal to turn green. Unintended humour I would call it, the perpetual law breaker and his pillion rider lady was laughing at me for my response, and asked me to move ahead. I did not, but he made his way through the non-existent space, as I tilted my bike to save my leg and bike.
Nowadays I write a lot about road and traffic issues, I know it can be monotonous, but I think this is the only way I'm venting out my social frustration along with bringing in some awareness. Nevertheless, this post is not about road or traffic, it's about pseudo patriots who think that uploading a photoshopped image of the tricolour on Facebook, once in a year represents patriotism. No, if you want the country to be a better place, it has to start with you. Stop at traffic lights and see how the world is intact, instead of the fact that this is 2012. Stop bribing the bureaucrats to get things done. Go to the polling booth, stand in the queue and use the right to elect your representatives, or mark that you do not want to vote for anyone.
Think about the progress of the country, think about how the growth of a society can support this and think how each family can act as catalysts in this process. Ultimately, the revolution has to start from within, from an individual. If you are unable to improve yourself for a better India, stop blabbering about corruption, stop supporting phony Gandhis and Vivekananda's, stop posting stupid manipulated images of how political leaders invested crores in Swiss Bank Corporation (which is, again, non-existent).
There is no dearth of arm chair revolutionaries and passive aggression on social media forums. No 'ism' propagator will let go his brand new car or house to give wings for hundreds of little dreams. I believe that, when you advocate an ideology you have to live by it, everyday. I believe in an ideology which starts with me and then empowering others. Till I reach there, I will not blame the system, I will try to change it, one step at a time. And some day even if I realize that the system won't change, I will end up changing some lives, positively.
India is not hopeless, it is under construction and we are not just the clichéd 'architects of India', we are the masons, we need to build this country brick by brick. And if we cannot stop at a signal for 60 seconds, how can we take a look at the sad state of affairs and build this country. As my brother rightly put it across in an independence day message to me, "We got to do more. Vande Mataram"
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Image courtesy: nettsu's photostream on Flickr
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