Dr. A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam's
Speech in Hyderabad
*Please read this article by giving 10
minutes from your busy life. Really good....
** *
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?
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. 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.
Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back
with a vengeance.
Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read;
otherwise, choice is yours.
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 aface - 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?
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.
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 towomen, 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
neighbours, 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 greatdeal 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'
Lets do what India needs from us!
Forward this mail to each Indian for a change instead of
sending Jokes or junk mails.
Thank you,
Dr. Abdul Kalam
