*Please read this article by giving 10 minutes from your busy life.Really good....
** ** The President of India DR. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam 's Speech in Hyderabad .
*Why is the media here so negative?Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, ourachievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazingsuccessstories 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 suchachievementsbut our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures anddisasters. Iwas in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the dayafter a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. TheHamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture ofaJewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchidand a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to.Thegory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in thenewspaper, buried among other news.In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime.
Why are we soNEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed withforeignthings? We want foreign T. Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreigntechnology.Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving thislecture,when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what hergoalin 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.Indiais not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation. Doyouhave 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance. Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice isyours.
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 theirdestination.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. Givehim aface - YOURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at yourInternational best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eatinthe stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are. Youpay$5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM.
YOU come back to theparkinglot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurantora shopping mall irrespective of your status identity... In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public duringRamadan, in Dubai . YOU would not dare to go out without your headcoveredin Jeddah . YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchangein London at 10 pounds ( Rs.650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD andISDcalls are billed to someone else.'YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55mph(88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, 'Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so'sson.Take your two bucks and get lost.' YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconutshellanywhere 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 useexamination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston ??? We are stilltalking of the same YOU.
YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign systemin other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers andcigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can beaninvolved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be thesame 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 thestreets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,' he said. 'Andthen the same people turn around to criticize and blame theauthorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expecttheofficers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressurein his bowels?In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done thejob.Same in Japan . Will the Indian citizen do that here?' He's right. We gotothe polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility.We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to doeverything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative.
We expectthegovernment 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 ofpaperand throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide cleanbathroomsbut we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food andtoiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the leastopportunity.This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service tothe public. When it comes to burning social issues like those related towomen, dowry, girl child! and others, we make loud drawing roomprotestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? 'It's thewhole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone foregomysons' 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 ourneighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and thegovernment. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actuallymaking a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along withour families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countriesfaraway and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along & work miracles for us with amajestic 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 intheirglory and praise their system.
When New York becomes insecure we run toEngland . When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight outto the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued andbrought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse andrapethe country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a greatdeal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too.... I am echoingJ. F.Kennedy 's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians..... 'ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIAAND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIAWHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY'Lets do what India needs from us.Forward this mail to each Indian for a change instead of sending Jokes orjunk mails.
Thank you,
Dr. Abdul Kalaam.
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i just cud not resist posting this one coz i just cudnot ignore it. a friend sent it to me and it sure makes u think coz it hits u straight in the face no matter which country u belong..... if u like it get up and do something and if u feel its boring and cant read such a long speech there's nothing i can do...... isnt it... peace
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