What stops India from progressing?
- In Politics
- 05:07 AM, Feb 19, 2016
- Nilesh Singh
If I have to ask this question to everyone, I would be expecting a lot of answers from people about what in their view is stalling the development of this country. I just want to present a few of the things which are fundamental issues and impact a huge section of our people and need to be addressed before even thinking of taking a giant leap.
1. Caste-ism
It is often and sometimes rightly said that in some cases that people in India 'vote their caste instead of casting their votes'. Even after 68 years of independence it is unfathomable as to why not a single politician can voice this grave concern and make the 'janta' understand the evils of caste system and the dangerous implication of keeping it alive and kicking.
Many people blame the caste system on the religion known as Hinduism (which I don't think is a religion at all). There is enough material and articles online that negate this belief and it requires common sense to understand that caste was never meant to be draped at the time of your birth; it was always what you do and excel in. As I am writing this article and doing some research, I consider myself a 'Brahmin', when I work for my employer I consider myself a 'Vaishya' & also a 'Shudra', when I defend someone and stand for the truth, I consider myself a 'Kshatriya' and when I involve in doing my daily job from cleaning to cooking, I consider myself a 'Shudra' again. In today's world if you can be all four, I believe you have achieved the perfect body! We should thank our ancestors and God that today we have this opportunity to be everything at once. Believe me the world was never this good before.
Coming back to the caste system that is still widely prevalent in our country, thanks to the politicians and opportunists (or probably could have just said politicians), we are still playing the dirty politics of segregating one human with other based on their caste. We have already seen a rise in the number of sub communities agitating to consider themselves as part of lower caste so that they can avail the reservation benefits allotted to the low castes defined in the law. I understand that we need to encourage our poor population but when did poor translate to caste is beyond my understanding. The reservation system would only widens the gap between the hearts of people. We have kept this divide alive only because of the persistent chanting of caste everywhere especially for the vote bank. Imagine a world where we do not know what caste is and all beings are given equal opportunity to realize their dreams (in this case it would be quality and free education).
You don't have to reinvent the wheel, just look west and you will find the precedence or even better - become logical! Not to mention that this loophole in our society can be exploited for sinister activities as we see with Maoists and some anti national propaganda. People who complain about lower castes being converted into different religion should also introspect and clean the rot within before agitating. A hungry being has no religion and besides food the next thing a human seeks is respect in the society. Government should provide for the basic needs of people and the people should respect other people and treat them with dignity, irrespective of his/her social class. This alone would be substantial in fueling the engine of growth. Before moving on to the next point, people in India need to understand that this caste system reached this stage only in recent times. Every civilization had kingdoms and therefore a hierarchy, only the Indian civilization took the hierarchy literally and continued all the way to the modern days. Persistent attacks from the outside and subjugation of the mindset of the Indian people by the outsiders is one of the factors for the dismal state we are in today. We need to go back to our basics and understand the most beautiful thing that has been bestowed upon us - that is LIFE.
2. Language
Just like caste, the different languages spoken in this country, is another topic which commands a separate book altogether to understand. It is no rocket science that for a country to feel united there needs to be a common medium of communication. India is unique in a way that it doesn't have a national language as such, which I believe is nothing to be proud of because we desperately need one. I can go in length explaining the problems of not having a single mode of communication between fellow citizens. Skimming through the list, one cannot settle down in a different region within the country without knowing the local language. One cannot trade or open a local business without knowing the language of that region. One cannot make friends or even participate in the local governing systems without getting acquainted with the local language. To put it in simple words, if you do not speak or understand the local language you are considered an outsider which I reiterate is unique to India only because we do not have a national language.
Looking back in history, all of these languages spawned within a span of 2000-2500 years with an exception to classic Tamil (core Dravidian language) and 'Sanskrit' which was always the liturgical language. At this juncture we should all come to a consensus of having a national language, and looking at what we have in hand, it could be one of these - classic Hindi, Sanskrit or English. But we need one for sure! Next time I think of moving permanently to Mizoram, Kerala, Gujarat or Bihar, I should not be thinking of ways of dealing with the people but should be excited about the culture and local cuisine of that region. Common language comes a long way in uniting people and gives confidence to the government at the center to swiftly work towards the progress of its people. This also helps the state machinery work seamlessly with the central power. Even today the central government employees use either English or Hindi to communicate with their peers across the country and this should be willfully accepted in all the departments, be it private industries or local governance.
The solution might seem a bit unrealistic but it is not. The common language is what you learn in your schools and which would be the official language of the country. Then we have an international language which we already learn in schools so that we can communicate with the people across the borders. At last what we learn at home is the local language. We do not have to kill the indigenous cultures, lifestyles and cuisines of different region in order to maintain a common language; they can always go hand in hand. This was the case thousands of years ago and it can again be the case in the future. This might not be a big issue in cosmopolitan areas but just go beyond them and you will understand what I mean to convey. The dream of smart cities would kick in only with the realization of a common communication medium for all.
3. Marriages - Intermingling
If the above points are implemented, this would invariably happen. We need people from across the country and beyond social stature to intermingle. This will help diffuse the culture between two families and make them appreciate each other's culture. Born in Gujarat, but originally from Bihar, brought up in Mumbai and married to a Tamilian, I have only become more appreciative of our common traditions and way of living. I feel I am more able to connect the dots now than ever before.
As explained earlier, years of subjugation has made us slaves of our own pride. Everyone thinks that they have the most unique, historic and meaningful culture. Our land has been blessed with so many saints who have all along been advocating unity and embracing change. Just dig a little deep and you will realize that our core culture is the same irrespective of the region, language and the cuisine. It is true that the time and years of independent kingdoms have changed the look from the outside but the core is still untouched, unaltered and unadulterated. When I talk about embracing change, it should not be taken in literal way and it just means that embracing change for the good, and to reach the ultimate truth in the life.
Once we are able to resolve these core issue plaguing our society we can then move on to other issues like Corruption, education, infrastructure, geopolitics etc. It should not come as a surprise when we ultimately see that all these issues revolve around just one core problem which is corruption - corruption of mind, money, and power.
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