Very often I get these feelings that are we the nations of slaves, because slaves are the people who accept anything and everything dumped on them. Similarly we Indians too have this tendency to accept things as they are, without questioning them. Many of you may not agree with me, fair enough… because you guys are entitled to your opinion; however I would like to place my case before you and then expect an honest opinion from you
Let us begin our day and see how we accept the things as they are without reacting to them. Suppose you get up in the morning and go for jogging on the street you can hardly run on the footpath because either they are dug up or some lid above them has been removed or the best part there are no footpaths... now some of you may say Hey man why you want to jog on the footpath better go to some gym and do the same… Well friends then tell me can I at least use the foot path to walk! Well here you will find that your footpath has been invaded (encroached) by hawkers for whom footpaths have become a very good hunting ground. It is a wonder to note that most of the footpaths have been occupied by the hawkers and the general public like true salves ignores this, they have accepted that hawkers will sit on the footpaths so in their acceptance of this fact they have stopped using the footpath and has started walking on the side of road, the habit has been ingrained so deep that even where there is a footpath people walk on the side of the road. Why we do not raise our voice, why we are accepting this blatant robbery of the public space by few vendors who are hand in glove with the police and local authorities
Friends Iam a mumbaite , and if you are from my city you can very well understand what Iam talking about. I will give a small example here few month back as the work of metro was suppose to begin so the local authorities removed the cobblers who were sitting along the roadside and provided them the separate place. I was happy that the cobblers were removed and have been adjusted at suitable place, however to my dismay and despair I saw that a fresh lot of cobblers have now encroached those footpaths and have settled with their wares. My friends all this was happening within the close vicinity of say 50mtrs of andheri police station and it is only booming and bursting from the seams yet nothing is been done , people like true slaves have accepted this, they are not bothered that there footpaths are encroached upon….even the bus stops are lost in this melee. This was only the one way of acceptance of life as it is.
Last few days in Mumbai we have been receiving dirty contaminated yellow water, Has anything thing been done about the same… no … Only few newspaper have reported this but have we as citizen demanded to BMC why they are playing with our lives, No… we have accepted this fate and are hoping that after some days the proper supply of water will begin and things will move on… Tell me why we are accepting this nonsense from all quarters
Time after time, years after years the same corrupt politicians are elected and we feel nothing, where have the drive to rise against the injustice gone. I remember few days back a friend of mine visited me and said we were slaves and we will always remain slaves, Initially I felt offended however after some deeper thought I realized that to a large extent he was right, otherwise how could a handful british merchants rule India for so long and after the British left we are today being ruled by incompetent and corrupt handful politicians and like true slaves we have bowed down on our head and accepted them too!!!.
Many of my friends who read this article said “aashish why are you wasting your breath and our time on such articles, Things are going to be same so just tag the line” Friends the purpose of my writing this piece was not just to scribble few thoughts and move on…. I do feel passionately for my country hence I look upon you guys to come along me and develop leadership attitude within ourselves and make other feel too that time has come for us not to follow the trodden path but to make our own way a new way a progressive way ………….just as the great poet Rabindra Nath Tagore said ……
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake
