Tryst With Destiny

TRYST WITH DESTINY “Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom” - Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, 14th Aug 1947. These were the very words uttered by our first Prime Minister of Independent India at the eve of Independence day. At this 62nd Independence day, I would like to commemorate the same words but by keeping 21st century India into the background. Has India, the largest democracy in the world , Population of over 1 billion, with over 593 million districts, really redeemed her pledge? We need not look too far to find an answer to this Question, a glimpse into the events in past 1yr would be sufficient enough to partly answer this Question though not wholly. There were some laudable efforts and events which would surely make any Indian proud of his motherland. To start with, India has elected its most stable government in many years, with an ex-finance minister pragmatically leading the country, when rest of the world is slipping into hitherto unheard financial crisis. It would not be boasting off to add the most talked about National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), as the trump card for its unprecedented win in 15th Lok Sabha Elections, which ensured compulsorily 100 days of employment to every household. With the launch of Chandrayaan by India’s premier space research organization ISRO , India started its maiden journey on moon, there by adding another feather in its cap in the arena of Space Explorations. India has won its first Gold medal in Olympics, though the second most populated country in the world was unable to do so in past umpteen decades. With the launch and Success of two seasons of Indian Premier League , India has shown to the world that it has got both adroitness and the prudence needed to take a sport like cricket to the global arena and reap commercial benefits ,which otherwise was being played by a few handful commonwealth nations.

TRYST WITH DESTINY India’s Education system is one of the best in the world with institutes such as IITs and IIMs competing with the likes of MITs and Harvards on the global platform. Indra Nooyi, Arun Sarin, Vikram Pandit, Vinod Dham to name a few is the torch bearers of this legacy. Our businessmen like Lakshmi Mittal, Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, and Azim Premji perennially make it to the Forbes 50. But do these instances sufficient to answer the question posed above? No, there were also some incidences which would surely dig every Indian’s face into utter shame and disgust. Lets us start with the infamous 26/11 Mumbai Terror attacks, the height of audacity of our neighbor was at its full display when some 10 odd 17-yr old boys took the whole of Mumbai into hostage. What followed was the regular blame game, few resignations here and there, a chief minister of a state putting a dog and a martyr soldier on the same lines, another chief minister inviting a film director to the site for production of a movie. Till today, the convicted has not been sentenced and he’s constantly making the judicial procedure a mockery. After a few months another shock was in the waiting, The Chairman and owner of India’s 4th Largest IT company admitted to a fraud of over Rs 7000Cr by fudging its accounts, it put all the corporate governance standards into a Question. The employees of a global audit firm came out as a part of the vicious nexus. The final blow came to the employees who involuntarily became the part of this skullduggery and their career was jeopardized to the maximum. The firm was finally rescued by another IT giant, but the employees would never be able to get rid of the stigma and the pain that their leader has put them into. Lets us not forget the death of an honest and humble government servant, who fell to the greed of a chief minister for not giving in to her highly materialistic and unjust demands. Then there was moral policing by some of our so-called custodians of Indian culture, who didn’t even think twice before manhandling and abusing the women, thereby, violating the codes of the very Indian culture that they were boasting to protect. It will not be an exaggeration to mention, how a state , once a driver of industrial growth and Indian economy, was deliberately pushed into oblivion by some selfish cabals by ousting a top industrial

TRYST WITH DESTINY group of India and putting a question mark on its ambitious plan of launching the cheapest car of the world. But, with all these events of pride and shame had we really redeemed our pledge? No, not till now, when more than half of our population is still below poverty line, struggling for the basic needs of food, health and shelter. Not till now, when we still are eager to kill each other by indulging into ruthless acts of riots and massacres in the name of god. Not till now, when still majority of our leaders safeguarding their own interests above public and keeping enormous funds into European banks. However, when we were able to come out from the clutches of the British Empire 62 years ago, this small but daunting task of redeeming our pledge is not impossible to say the least. “Don’t walk ahead of me, I may not follow. Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead.

Just walk besides me and be my friend” -Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Ex-President of India.