It was indeed a difficult decision to choose a topic to launch this blog – choosing to write a blog has been even more difficult. You see, to write something every week for the foreseeable future is indeed a big commitment and thanks to Salman Khan, most of the Bollywood loving junta (me included) believes in keeping their commitments.
I will be writing about the thoughts that are on the top of my mind – political/economic/social/totally random. Although i must confess that in the run up to the general elections to be held next year – most of them will be political as I believe the next elections will be a “do or die” event, more so for the current generation which started to work post Y2K (more on that in a future blog).
Coming to today’s topic –till about a decade back the government used to be ahead of the curve in anticipating the needs of the populace and planning for the same, the “5 year plans” had a great importance in shaping the future of the country.
10 years ago, something changed – the population became younger, we became global thanks to the digital revolution, expectations surged and yes – Manmohan (I am purposely skipping the Dr prefix – the degree in economics needs a revisit) happened to head the government. Unfortunately the thinking in the corridors of power and 10 Janpath has become more regressive.
This potent mix has resulted in the government being seriously behind the curve in knowing what is required to be done – not that if they would have known would have made a difference – but the mess certainly would have been lesser. So the recent debates about – poverty line (meal in 12 Rs, who are you kidding?), reaction to the Delhi rapes (women should dress decently and should step out of homes with a male family member – really?), Coalgate/2G/Railgate/CWG scams (no loss to exchequer – Noble prize for economics guaranteed to the perpetuator of such theory), High inflation not letting go of the country for the last 3 years (it will be brought under control – Theek Hai)), Currency out of control (should not matter – we live in India and earn and spend in rupees – another Noble coming), Other countries constantly testing our resolve - Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives (this is being hyped by the media – correct. BTW, which country are you from?) there are endless problems that the government needs to solve. But expecting them to solve this is expecting too much. There is one thing that they are ahead of the curve - in enriching themselves at the cost of the nation.
In Sanskrit there is a saying loosely translated as – the populace gets the rulers they deserve. I know we certainly deserve better. It is time we demand better. It is the darkest before Dawn and things get better when one thinks they can’t. There is an opportunity coming to change all this in the elections next year, it is time for us to exercise that mandate and get what we deserve.
All thoughts/comments/feedback is welcome.
Next week – Is gold the problem or the solution
