Where the mind is without fear... by Tagore (A contemporary take)

Tagoreji is the finest poet India could ever produce. This is a poem written by him during the struggle for Indian independence. I happened to read it recently and was awed at the fact that this 'prayer' holds true for 'free' India as well i.e present day India as well. It is a shame that a poem written describing a free India more than half a century ago, during the British Imperialist rule, has not been achieved to this day. It clearly indicates the fact that only the color of the skin of the exploiters has changed from white to brown, while we remain exploited. (in brackets are those problems our country faces today.)   

Where the mind is without fear(TERRORISM) and the head is held high(POVERTY);
Where knowledge is free(Corporate Coaching centers and Colleges);
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow
domestic walls(REGIONALISM/SEPARATISM/COMMUNAL Riots);
Where words come out from the depth of truth(CRIMINALS);
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(CORRUPTION);

 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. 

-- Rabindranath Tagore                                                                           

We -The Students

"Politics are dirty!" This is the view of everyone. Especially the youth. But the fact is Politics is not what our country needs. It needs leadership. It needs Reformers. It needs true patriots. Here is the speech by an a student to his fellow students motivating them to lead India.

"Everyone of us have ambitions. Everyone of us have dreams. We work hard to achieve them and later relax enjoying the fruits of our labor. This is the life of every common man in our country. We all live in bubbles. Its comfortable inside, all we worry about is our life. By any chance if this bubble bursts, then we come face to face with the reality. The real world is more depressing and our daily problems seem tiny. It is completely a different sphere. In our bubble world our mind focuses on two things "me" and "family". That is common man.

We, students, are one level away from becoming yet another common man. Our major worry as of now is to get a job in a famous MNC, get a fat salary and get a beautiful girl/handsome boy as life partner.
That is a perfect life. There is nothing wrong in yearning for this life. It is our right after all.

Everyday we read newspaper. The front page is occupied by a huge news item about some scam. "STING OPERATION EXPOSES SO-N-SO", "OPPOSITION ASKS SO-N-SO TO QUIT", "GOVERNMENT PROMISES PROBE", "FILTHIEST SCAM OF INDIA", "CORRUPT BABUS", BLAH BLAH BLAH and BLAH.

What the hell is going on!! It has become a national time pass for us to read/watch and gossip about these scams and it earns a booty for the media. Apart from that there is no major change. We go back to our 'bubbles' work normally and behave as though nothing has ever happened, Roz ki roti jo kamani hai hamko. The exposed politicians and babus are behind the bars while similar corrupt people succeed them in their respective posts.

We are ignorant about these corrupt netas and bureaucrats but we fail to understand that the end result affects us.
The existing generation of politicians and bureaucrats cannot do anything. They can't change the nation, they can't eradicate poverty(nobody can), they can't curb corruption(99% of them are corrupt!!!), they can do NOTHING. And even if there is a slight possibility that they can...they WILL NOT. It is a fact everyone has to accept.

If any change could be brought out. Only WE...youth, students..CAN. If every single person of the next batch of bureaucrats vows to stay honest to his country and act responsibly, if not a major change, a foundation for such a change will be laid. If youth enter politics and vow to to serve the nation with all their heart and work for the nation, if not a major change, the first brick for a super power can be laid. We've had enough politicians but we need reformers who can reform politricks to service for the nation from service to self. We need leaders who can change the system from the roots instead of those who held on to the branches of the corrupt system and make their own nest. We need people who think with their brain and those who stay honest to their heart.

We are the present of the nation, we lay the road and the generation next would follow. Our elders and seniors in the bureaucracy and politics can just TALK. They are too damn buried in the depths of corruption and age. They don't have the courage, energy or the intelligence to ACT. But we...WE CAN ACT. We have the energy, we have the brains and we've got the balls to DO WHAT WE WANT. And WE WANT CHANGE.

So my dear friends, let us join hands for this change, let us work for this change and let us show a path to our next generation. Individually we might just be little droplets of water. But let us come together. The ocean that we, droplets, form, shall wash out the "dirty politics" and the mess our ancestors have made since independence.
Jai Hind!!  

Actor Siddharth at TiE ISB Connect part 1.avi

A LEGEND CALLED BHAGAT SINGH-

A legend is someone who dreams for the people. A legend is someone who lives for the people a. A legend is someone who dies for the people. A legend creates history. A legend can redefine it. A legend can install fear among his foes and spread love among his followers. You can kill a legend but not his thoughts. These thoughts inspire everyone. They ignite a fire in your heart that spreads from generation to generation. If a legend dies, its just the parting of his soul from his body. His soul is immortal. His ideal is his soul. It prevails even after the earth perishes.

A thinking revolutionary, an ultimate visionary, a fabulous leader who was way ahead of his time, a valiant warrior, Bhagat Singh was all this and much more. He is an ideal hero. He is patriotism personified.

Some consider him as a red blot in the, otherwise non-violent(that's what it is called in spite of the hundreds of lives which have been sacrificed and the amount of blood that has been shed) INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT. The English labeled him as a terrorist. But honestly, he was a valiant warrior. A warrior who fought for his country till the last drop of his blood. A warrior who threatened the very foundation of the English imperialism.

His aim was to "make the deaf hear". His ideas, inspired from great revolutionary leaders and writers like Marx, Lenin, and Trotsky, were aimed at the overall well being of the people with no religious or communal boundaries. He dreamed of an india, where man lived with perfect peace and complete liberty. He redefined the very concept of anarchism. He was an atheist and defied to accept God even in the last days of his life. He considered himself as a soldier. He requested the Viceroy to shoot him instead of hanging. It usually done to POW s. He was fire and
the flame he ignited burnt the entire British foothold in India. His death inspired millions of youngsters who fought with an immovable will and unstoppable courage to drive the British out.
His prediction has come true. Now the color of the exploiters has changed from white to brown. People are still being exploited. India yearns for a leader like him.
In his own words "It is easy to kill individuals but not their ideas. Great empires crumbled while such ideas survived".
INQUILAB ZINDABAD!!
JAI HIND!!

(THIS IS A TRIBUTE TO THIS GREAT LEADER WHO WAS EXECUTED ON THE 23rd of this month in 1931)

The Tale Of A Burning "State"

For the past one month, Andhra Pradesh has been burning. The beautiful state has been set on fire by a bunch of separatists. Buses have been burnt, trains have been stopped, bandhs have been called..........protests, hunger strikes, suicides......!!!!! Hell has broken loose!!!! The city of Hyderabad came to a standstill. People are feeling scared to go out. Why is all this happening??? What do these Separatists want???

Telangana, which literally means "the land of Telugus", has been a sensitive region from the day it was merged with the rest of Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema in 1956, during the state reorganization. The State Reorganization Commission which was set up in 1953 by Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister, decided to organize the states on linguistic basis. It was not sure on merging Telangana with Andhra as there were many problems being faced by the people belonging to it. They were in a very poor condition due to the unethical and merciless rule of the Nawabs of Hyderabad. But the government ignored this and made a pact called Gentlemen's Agreement which assures equal share for the Telangana people as well as Andhra people in terms of power sharing as well as administrative domicile rules and distribution of expenses of various regions. But the promises were never kept. In 1969 there was a student agitation which caused lot of bloodshed and loses. But what was achieved by it??? The answer is nothing.

All political parties have been using Telangana as a support for victory and ditching its people all the time. All this political drama for a separate state is nothing but a game for the chair and a war for monopoly over the region. All the politicians who are "fighting" for this "cause" just want more money to fill their greedy bellies because, if the state is united the money cannot be shared as they want. This the sole motive of every Tom, Dick and Harry who is "fighting". The students who are being used as pawns in this great political gamble have shut the thinking part of their brain for some reason. Of course the people of Telangana are suffering in with many problems like unemployment, illiteracy and the naxal peoblem. But a separate state is not an answer to these problems. A separate state would just intensify them. There is a live example for us, the state of Jharkhand. It was carved out of Bihar, itself a backward state, after a long agitation by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Party. Finally, ten years after the state has been formed, is there any major change???? Is there any development??? The politicians governing it are getting caught in scams and it became a hot bed for Naxal activities. The problems have doubled!!!!! Telangana would come to a similar state if it is separated from Andhra. It is already a hiding ground for naxals.

The fight should be for the development of Telangana rather than a separate Telangana. The fight should be against all those politicians who played with the Telangana issue. The fight Should demand the government to provide quality life for the people of Telangana. The fight should insist on providing good education and infrastructure to the backward Telangana districts. People should not blindly trust these politicians who are "fighting" for this "cause". They are no different from the current lot. The fight should not affect common man's life, who is already busy waging war on his own life. All this menace out there is just disrupting a common man's life.

If shops are closed, how is the shopkeeper going to feed his family?? If roads are blocked how can a son take his ailing mother to the hospital before anything happens to her??? If trains and buses are stopped, how can an eager father in some other town come home to see his new born daughter??? Whys should we, the common people, suffer due to an unethical protest??? Why should we sacrifice our lives for a merciless political game, played by those politicians who don't even care about us????

JUST THINK ABT IT!!!!

THE IRONY OF BEING INDIAN!!!!!!!!!!

What comes to your mind when u realize suddenly that you are an Indian???.........Patriotism??.....Pride??.......Self Respect????.........or.........Disgust??....Shame???.......Insult???
Well.....the latter emotions are not a common phenomenon!!......because we are or..... at least we all say we are Proud to be Indian........we are proud to have such an ancient and 'respected' culture..........we feel a sudden rush of patriotism when we hear our national song Vande mataram.......or when we see a patriotic film.......or when India wins a cricket match........!!!!!!!!!!!
What use is this bubble kind of patriotism which can burst any time!!!!!!!! What can you do for the India you are "proud" of!!!!!.......the answer is NOTHING!!!!!
Everyone talks about The Great Indian Culture. Why are we so proud of our culture????? Is it because of the casteism which still survives in our country after 63 years of independence!!!!..........Or is it because of the treatment women have been given for ages.....from Sita to every female foetus that's being killed!!!!!!!!! Why do people discuss India as an example for secularism and for unity in diversity?????.......Is it because of Babri masjid demolition or Mumbai and Gujarat Riots?????.........or because of the North Indian bhagao policy in Maharashtra or the Telangana movement in Andhra Pradesh!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Every politician "pays respect" to Mahatma Gandhi on his Vardhanti and Jayanthi. But.....how many of them actually follow atleast one single principle of his'?????
Every educated Indian knows very well how our Independence was earned.......how many lives were sacrificed for that and how many great leaders worked hard for that......How many of those educated Indians truly feel responsible and work sincerely for India?????
But everyone is ready to say "I am Proud To be an Indian".
The corrupt bureaucracy, the power hungry Politicians and the irresponsible citizen.............everyone say they honour their culture!!!! But there is no single person who follows it!!!!!!!
We are more inspired from Shakuni and Raavan rather than Ram or Yudhister.........We almost forgot that the Great Lord Buddha ever existed in India. Japan is an example of a country which developed with the support of the culture it believed in, Buddhist culture.
Our history taught us about Gandhi, Bhagat Singh and DR. B.R. Ambedkar.......but we have confined them to photos on wall and statues at every street corner. They are the poster boys of every damn political party!!!!!! But the fact is these parties are not worthy enough to even take the names of these legendary leaders.
And we have sealed their principles........and dumped them in gutter!!!!!!!!!!
This is the irony of being Indian my friends.........
We are proud of things we are not willing to follow!!!.......we are proud of things which we never do!!! We are proud of things for which we don't show any respect!!!!!!!!! KUDOS my friends!!!!!!!
Our ancestors have given us a precious gift earned with many blood sacrifices. It is our responsibility to take good care of our gift and pass it on to our future generations. Merely "feeling proud" of imaginary stuff does nothing for the nation. Whatever thought you have.....if its going to do any help for the nation then put it into action. Freedom wasn't won in one day or by one man..............its a result of 200 years of struggle and a million sacrifices .
So let's make our freedom worth it!!! Let us all feel responsibel!!!!!Let's make our nation....a nation to be honestly proud of!!!!!Everything is in our hands!!!!!!


JAI HIND!!!