Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam does
it again… what he always does best ! Read out his below speech of last
month..hats off to this man..we want men like him to be our CM, PM &
President!!..but more importantly, citizens like him.
Why is the media here so
negative?
Why are we in India so
embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, 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 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?
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 T.Vs,
We want foreign shirts.
We want foreign technology. Why this obsession with everything imported.
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.
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...
India is not an under-developed nation;
it is a highly developed nation...
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.
Y OU 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.
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 come back 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?
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 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'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.
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?
why cannot you be the same here in India?
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?
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 what
do we do?
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.'
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 neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the government.
But definitely not ME & YOU.
What does a system consist of?
Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the government.
But definitely not ME & 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.
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'
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'
Thank
you …
Dr. A.P.J. KALAM
Dr. A.P.J. KALAM
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