Smart India

There used to be a time in my life when I thought I am a part of the upcoming youth of India. That I am an example of how the young people of this country think and I would sit and wait for my turn. I would look myself in the mirror and say when I grow up I will be surrounded by people who are honest educated and socially aware just like me and I will build an army, an army of SMART INDIANS. Indians who are educated, and are not afraid to use their education, their intelligence to fight the evils that have crippled my country. And this army of young educated individuals would be invincible. I was pretty sure  about the fact that educated individuals can any day take on and defeat a bunch of illiterate politicians and gundas whose only power is might. I always thought that as a community, we could take over this country that we love so much.
And then I grew up. And I realized what really the youth means. It was just another bus ride that I was taking. As I stood in the midst of a variety of people and in the midst of a variety of smells, in the heat struggling to maintain balance and not fall on the weird guy who was sitting right behind me staring at me as if I was an alien, I realized something. What exactly do we mean when we say the youth? And what exactly is Young India? I mean you have the rich brats whose only obsession is getting the latest apple products and the not so rich brats who lust after them. You have your hopelessly poor youth whose daily battles for survival consume their entire life and often pressurize them to take up crime as a way of life. Or are we talking about the young people who we see washing our clothes or giving us chai at the Gallas and thellas we so love to hang out at. Or should I say that the young India is another IIT or some IT college mass produced engineer whose is looking forward to doing an MBA from abroad or IIM and go abroad or that doctor who topped PMT and is on the run to become a brilliant Doctor studying with another who got in through a hefty donation and through the ever popular NRI quota. And of course we have our roadside Romeos, the smart men who wear the latest Hindi film style clothes, ride on bikes around and believe in living life to the fullest, who painfully sigh at the tragedies that happen everyday but don’t let them interfere with ‘fun’. the metropolitan modern people with money and ambition or the small town hard working not so smart simple guy or the wannabe or the unfortunate or the irresponsible talented and it goes on and on. And then it hit me.
One thing about Indian bus drivers is their super ability to stop a vehicle as huge as a bus overcrowded way beyond the safety limit. Within seconds they can go from 60 to 0. And they get years of practice with nonchalant pedestrians who know they are immortal when they walk the roads and expect a huge bus to stop for them to cross the road instead of weight like a loser for the grand vehicle to pass. When that vehicle was stopped I did something I never thought I had it in me and I stopped myself from falling on the weird staring guy. I stood with a new found pride and smiled and then it hit me. As a youngster I didn’t know much about how life really is and how hard survival is and still India is thriving. Yes there are categories that each of us falls into and yes the Indian youth shows as much uselessness as the predecessors. But there is something different about the people today. They are growing to become fearless. And today when I think I believe that there are people who want to be free and independent. India is a country that nurtures hopes and dreams. Every man who travels in a bus hopes to drive a bike on the road one day. Every person who grew up as a chaiwalla works hard to give his children a better life. That hope to get better one day is what drives this nation. Yes there is corruption. Yes there are evils that would disgrace the devil. But there is also hope. There is a sense of getting a better life. Its more than survival. it’s the greed for a better life. And as my understanding grows with age and I see people around me I realize that everyone is fighting for something. And I realized education doest really give you the kind of encouragement that you really need to bring about a change. There are so many educated doctors and engineers I know who are a far cry from being civil or for that matter socially responsible. I still hold that dream of having an army of smart Indians but I don’t see only educated people. I see normal Indians who have not only fought and survived but have grown to get better lives.
I used to believe that the period of the revolution for independence was the best time for an Indian to be born. To live with the feeling of fighting for something you deserve- independence. To be surrounded by architects of society who believed in virtues like honestly, simplicity and peace. To live in a world where every Indian had a common enemy- a white fascist gora. And most of all to live with the feeling that you are ready to die for the land you live in always swelled me up with pride. And today I understand that apart from the hunger of freedom it was their greed to make things better that made them fight the mighty British and defeat them. I see that hunger today. And its never black or white as it used to be when I was young. Its become grey.
So smart Indians is a possibility but a possibility with very different members that I had expected to be. I mean wouldn’t you want that chaiwalla who fought strong and hard to give his son the best education and make him an engineer or the woman who refused to beg and worked as a labourer and even as a prostitute to protect her family and send her younger brother and sister off to college. Or that young engineer who worked hard in college and is working with the brightest minds abroad or that lawyer who chose to fight for the poor labourer who lost his hand in the factory or the young journalist who exposed how corruption is so rampant rather than sit on an expert panel and ‘discuss’ what should be done or wouldn’t you want the bright young man who studied hard for IAS so that he could change his village into a city. These are the people I see today as young SMART Indians. People who aren’t afraid to go out and make things better. Maybe for themselves or for someone else. You cant hold someone for wanting a better life. One day this feeling will become the public sentiment. One day we will say no to useless politicians who want to create divides in the name of regionalism, language, religion, caste. We will stabilize our self from a bad shock. Maybe get up or not fall at all when someone pulls on the break suddenly and we will smile and say “shut up! ” and take control in our own hands.


Shweta

BLIND

A city, a college and a career. Three things that define a lot more than any aptitude test can. As an impressionable modern young girl with a education career poses to be my only source that could help me sustain this life and more importantly this life style that I have grown accustomed to. Starting with the city I live in, I live in a simple city rather a mega city. it’s a fine cross between your run of the mill small towns with its own dash of modernity.  Gujarati at heart but dressed with Versace I am surrounded by people from all walks of life and all types of Guajarati. They are sweet with everyone, they have fun all the bloody time and they are smart when it comes to making money. And then there is my own background. A family full of professors, IAS officers, doctors and engineers and over expecting parents. They have big expectations and so do I. I love writing but I could never settle for a life that survives from paycheck to paycheck. And of course I am not the kind to shun away responsibility. So its tough to grow up in an environment where money is made and spent like the flow of a flooded river. Moreover morality poses a bigger dilemma than ever. Being brought up with values like sincerity, honesty, compassion and social responsibility doesn’t really prepare you for the world. It just kind of builds a character that you end up protecting and fighting, for the rest of your life.
Moreover college is your world. You have your peers, your friends who have dreams of their own, up bringing of their own and ideas of their own. Your ideas seem unreal in front of their more practical decisions. Your life seems more sketchy compared to their rich business nets to fall back on. Becoming an engineer was never a choice it was always the other alternative to medicine which I took fearing the intensity of studying medical demanded. And now that I am a proud Five point something Engineer in my third year I have the second biggest foot hold in my career glaring right into my eyes. And this time again I have two major choices- go corporate or go government. MBA or IAS.
Honestly being a topper in school is the worst fate a child can suffer. When you prove to your parents that you can win the battles they believe you can master the bigger wars. They brought me up with the belief that I could conquer the world if I wanted to and that I am destined too. And honestly this very belief scares the hell out of me. This entire deal with survival of the fittest. I envy the thinker of renaissance or the old poets and pundits that adorned the king’s court. They were treated like jewels as entertainers. Their work was appreciated and they lived an easy life. It is this easy life that we all fight for. Everyone wants to make it big and make life easy. The real reason for the shark fight out there. I can be romantic and talk about life as an artist who only lives to write. But romance is only as good as the three hour movie you watch. Once the romance fades reality hits you right in your front teeth. So now I am down to two choices ( my only choices)- either I can join the Indian Administrative Services and serve my country and gain access to power or I can gain the much coveted MBA degree from a venerable institute ( IIM or maybe abroad ) and become a big shot ceo in a company and earn in millions. I know I can do it. If I put my heart into it I can do it. As my dad makes me believe that I can rule the world. But these choices seem more like a rope around my neck. What do I pick? Do I go with that patriotism that I am struggling to keep alive within me or should I go for the comfort that I have grown so accustomed too. And I have seen great honest men turn into power hungry animals in a government that is meek internationally and a bully nationally.
All of us have heard the story of the unfortunate poor Indian who came in the way of the government. There are cover ups and there are conspiracies. The government is like the mafia with a license. Encounters, politically motivated murders and what not. Government kind of gives you ultimate security. And in turn you must give into the system. You can either get involved and alter your ways or you can stand as a distant by stander who never interferes- does his/her work and leaves. You take control and you have to control everything or be controlled.
And then there is corporate. You get to swim in money but that’s about it. You go against the very environment you want to protect. You cheat and bribe your own government. And you work like a dog so that you can live like a king. You are like the million others who pass out with you every day. You come up with thankless schemes for investment of money ( yours or someone else’s). and the only adventure your life has is the fluctuating market. You play with money. You win you earn loads. You loose someone looses a lot.
So it’s a choice between power and money. Two things you run after. Its like the decision you make is going to decide your position in the world. They talk about how miserable life gets and I somehow feel like a misfit. This choice is trouble. For someone who has no clue about life I feel like a blind person crossing a six lane highway on my own. Every step I take could take me to the safe side or could put right in front of a truck and then I am off the road.