Sunday, March 4, 2018

I want to fix my country for the next generation

There was a time when I was in my own bubble and did not care about the world. I did my work, got paid, paid my taxes and that is all that mattered. I had money in my account and I was happy.
Today, I am a freelancer, taking a break, not working full time or earning like I used to, but I am aware of some of what is happening around me and I am bothered. I am frustrated, angry and concerned. And I do not want to keep quiet about it.

There was a time when our politicians looted our country. They have taken away crores and crores of tax payers’ money and we have done nothing about it. Black money, white money, foreign currency, gold, in many forms they have stored all our resources away in their lockers and we have done nothing about it. Scandal after scandal we Indians and the country has been looted and we have done nothing about it.

Now, it looks like the time for corporate giants to do so. Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, - I don’t know how big this list will go - are looting our country, our banks. Though, I do not have a clear understanding of how tax payers will be affected by this loot, I don’t find anyone else but tax payers who have to bear the burden.
Why is this happening in my country, why? And why are we keeping quiet about it? And more importantly do we know what we can do and what we should do? How do we work towards fixing this? How to get the money back and restoring some form of justice? I don’t know. This is one side to the problem.

The other side is, not letting such cases happen in the future. How do we do that? The other day, in a conversation with my father in law, he mentioned something about the loss of sense of pride. I understand it better today, looking at the number of people who have sold their souls for money. If we were to have a culture of pride in self, maybe we could turn out to be incorruptible?

This brings me to my idea of a sense of equality. Whether I am rich or not, educated or not, well to do or not, employed or not, if I have a sense of equality that I do not consider myself above or below anyone for whatever they may or may not have, then too, I can be incorruptible, right?

I believe in the idea of making money, creating jobs, growing economy and all that along with saving the environment and not exploiting any form of resources. I believe in working hard and not copying, growing and not pulling someone down, and being hopeful and not a cynic. I believe in the idea of having a sense of equality and the desire to work my way up the ladder the right way. Having a sense of pride whether I go up or not, whether I achieve what I aimed for or not. I believe in the idea of having a sense of contentment, using the term “enough” in life and applying it more often than not. I believe in having a sense of purpose that is bigger than self and bigger than my personal gain. I believe in feeling part of community and therefore having an identity that is not just me. I believe these could lead to a generation of solid and incorruptible souls.

I want to fix my country today, right now! I feel the need, I feel the urgency and I feel the desire. I want to leave a better society for the coming generations. I want the next generation to inherit a just, caring and trust worthy society which looks after everyone. I want to leave behind a society, a world with no corruption, no hate and no bitterness. I hope for a society with a sense of hope, trust, a sense of community with full of souls who are incorruptible.

Am I dreaming for something impossible? Please say “no”. I want to believe this is possible and I can work towards making this happen.

A concerned citizen.

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