Mr. APJ Abdul Kalaam's speech in Hyderabad......A must read for every
Indian
Quote:
I have three visions for India. In 3000 years of our history people
from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our lands,
conquered our minds. From Alexander onwards. The Greeks, the Turks,
the Moguls, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Dutch, all of
them came and looted us, took over what was ours. Yet we have not done
this to any other nation. We have not conquered anyone. We have not
grabbed their land, their culture, their history and tried to enforce our
way of life on them. Why? Because we respect the freedom of others.
That is why my first vision is that of FREEDOM. I believe that India
got its first vision of this in 1857, When we started the war of independence.
It is this freedom that we must protect and nurture and build on. If we are
not free, no one will respect us.
My second vision for India is DEVELOPMENT. For fifty years we have been
a developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developed nation.
We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. We have 10
percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our
achievements are being globally recognized today. Yet we lack the
self-confidence to see ourselv es as a developed nation, self-reliant and self-assured. Isn't this incorrect?
I have a THIRD vision. India must stand up to the world. Because I
believe that unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. Only
strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military
power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand. My
good fortune was to have worked with three great minds. Dr. Vikram
sarabhai of the Dept. of space, Professor Satish Dhawan, who
succeeded him and Dr. Brahm Prakash, father of nuclear material. I was lucky to have worked with all three of them closely and consider this
the great opportunity of my life.
Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed
to recognize our own strength s, our achievements? We are such a great
nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to
acknowledge them. Why? We are the first in milk production. We are
number one in Remote sensing satellites. We are the second largest
producer of wheat. We are the second largest producer of rice. Look at
Dr. Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into a
self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters. I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a
lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas
had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a
Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert land into
an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone
woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside
in the newspaper, buried among other news. In India we only read about
death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE?
Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign
things?
We want foreign TVs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology.
Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that
self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture,
when a 14 year old girl asked Me for my autograph. I asked her what her
goal in life is: She replied: I want to live in a developed India. For
her, You and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim. India
is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation. Allow
me to come back with vengeance. Got 10 minutes for your country?
YOU say that our government is inefficient. YOU say that our laws are
too old. YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage. YOU
say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke, the airline is
the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination. YOU say that
our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits. YOU say, say
and say. What do YOU do about it? Take a person on his way to
Singapore. Give Him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. YOU
walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In
Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the
stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground Links as they are. You
pay $5 (approx. Rs.60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim
Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU comeback
to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you Have over stayed
in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity.
In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in
public during Ramadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to go out without
your head covered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee
of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to,
"see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else." YOU
would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 kmph) in Washington and
then tell the traffic cop, "Jaanta hai sala main kaun hoon (Do you know
who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost."
YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the
garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand. Why don't
YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo? Why don't YOU use examination
jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston? We are still talking of the
same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other
countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and
cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can
be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country why cannot
you be the same here in India. Once in an interview, the famous
Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay Mr. Tinaikar had a point to make.
"Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent
droppings all over the place," he said. "And then the same people turn
around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and
dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a
broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In America
every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in
Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?" He's right. We go to the
polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We
sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do
everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We
expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking
garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a
stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to
provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use
of bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best
of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the
least opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on
the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues like
those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud
drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home.
Our excuse? "It's the whole system which has to change, how will it
matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry." So who's going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbors, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to The system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand. Or we leave the country and run away. Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money. Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a Great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too....I am echoing J.F.Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians..... "ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY"
Indian
Quote:
I have three visions for India. In 3000 years of our history people
from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our lands,
conquered our minds. From Alexander onwards. The Greeks, the Turks,
the Moguls, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Dutch, all of
them came and looted us, took over what was ours. Yet we have not done
this to any other nation. We have not conquered anyone. We have not
grabbed their land, their culture, their history and tried to enforce our
way of life on them. Why? Because we respect the freedom of others.
That is why my first vision is that of FREEDOM. I believe that India
got its first vision of this in 1857, When we started the war of independence.
It is this freedom that we must protect and nurture and build on. If we are
not free, no one will respect us.
My second vision for India is DEVELOPMENT. For fifty years we have been
a developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developed nation.
We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. We have 10
percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our
achievements are being globally recognized today. Yet we lack the
self-confidence to see ourselv es as a developed nation, self-reliant and self-assured. Isn't this incorrect?
I have a THIRD vision. India must stand up to the world. Because I
believe that unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. Only
strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military
power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand. My
good fortune was to have worked with three great minds. Dr. Vikram
sarabhai of the Dept. of space, Professor Satish Dhawan, who
succeeded him and Dr. Brahm Prakash, father of nuclear material. I was lucky to have worked with all three of them closely and consider this
the great opportunity of my life.
Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed
to recognize our own strength s, our achievements? We are such a great
nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to
acknowledge them. Why? We are the first in milk production. We are
number one in Remote sensing satellites. We are the second largest
producer of wheat. We are the second largest producer of rice. Look at
Dr. Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into a
self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters. I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a
lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas
had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a
Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert land into
an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone
woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside
in the newspaper, buried among other news. In India we only read about
death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE?
Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign
things?
We want foreign TVs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology.
Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that
self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture,
when a 14 year old girl asked Me for my autograph. I asked her what her
goal in life is: She replied: I want to live in a developed India. For
her, You and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim. India
is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation. Allow
me to come back with vengeance. Got 10 minutes for your country?
YOU say that our government is inefficient. YOU say that our laws are
too old. YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage. YOU
say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke, the airline is
the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination. YOU say that
our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits. YOU say, say
and say. What do YOU do about it? Take a person on his way to
Singapore. Give Him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. YOU
walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In
Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the
stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground Links as they are. You
pay $5 (approx. Rs.60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim
Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU comeback
to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you Have over stayed
in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity.
In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in
public during Ramadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to go out without
your head covered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee
of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to,
"see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else." YOU
would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 kmph) in Washington and
then tell the traffic cop, "Jaanta hai sala main kaun hoon (Do you know
who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost."
YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the
garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand. Why don't
YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo? Why don't YOU use examination
jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston? We are still talking of the
same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other
countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and
cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can
be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country why cannot
you be the same here in India. Once in an interview, the famous
Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay Mr. Tinaikar had a point to make.
"Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent
droppings all over the place," he said. "And then the same people turn
around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and
dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a
broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In America
every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in
Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?" He's right. We go to the
polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We
sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do
everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We
expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking
garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a
stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to
provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use
of bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best
of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the
least opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on
the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues like
those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud
drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home.
Our excuse? "It's the whole system which has to change, how will it
matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry." So who's going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbors, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to The system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand. Or we leave the country and run away. Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money. Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a Great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too....I am echoing J.F.Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians..... "ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY"
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