Sudhish's post truly kept me thinking and I have been compiling a list for the past week. Amazing what we can all do to play a part in the change. My list is by no means exhaustive and I hope people comment with more ideas.
Conserve energy. switch of lights/fan when it is not required. Take the stairs instead of the lift, at least when climbing down (less strenuous and anyway good for health). close taps tightly; don't let it drip.
Use telephones/mobile phones prudently. B'coz one can afford it doesn't mean one has to be on the phone all the time.Switch of your mobiles where they shouldn't be on, like temples n theatres (Maybe it is a cultural thing but we jus have to be 'connected' all the time)
Avoid waste. Be it food, fuel or water. Recycle what can be recycled. Be conscious of the impact of your actions on the environment. Conserve fuel. Car pool where possible.
Consume less. to rephrase...consume only as much as you need. And by consume I don't mean only food... electronics (esp mobile phones), cars, clothes, the whole lot. I am not advocating 'sannyasi' life. But seriously ppl! the latest mobile phone or the swankiest car is not a 'neccessity'. Think moderation.
Refrain from buying foreign brands paying thro the nose... jus for brand name and prestige associated with it. (where quality is the issue, sure! buy imported stuff but promote quality Indian brands).
Buy locally. Encourage the shops in your area. If your grocer sells bad stuff... stand up to him, tell him unless he improves his quality you will change shops. And if he does satisfy your requirments... stick to him. Loyalty pays.
Tolerance of everything is not a virtue. When you see something wrong, stand up against it. Make your point.(something I have great difficulty following but am making progress)
Believe in something passionately. The belief can be something as broad as seeing a developed India to something more specific, like Improving education leads to improved quality of life. But this belief will have to be a 'personal' one. Let us not have a 'herd'(aattu manthai) mentality.
Help others. You don't have to go out of the way to do it. Just what is possible and doesn't take too much of your time and energy. At least.
Be courteous. Say thanks/sorry even to strangers. Don't jump queues.
Everyday, make someone feel better. Be gentle to everyone. Appreciate others.
Respect elders. Listen to their advice. Take your own decisions but listen to them. The hallmark of Indian tradition is our family system where the elders nurture the young uns till they are settled and the youngsters take it from there and care for their elderly.
Spend more time with your family/friends. make new friends. Ultimately, good relationships is happiness. And happiness for all is our ultimate goal. (OK! 'all' is an impossibility... you get the idea, don't you?)
Respect women. A country that gives its women their due respect can never, repeat, never falter.
Unity is everything for us. Do not encourage factions.
Encourage good movies/books, especially 'original' Indian authors/moviemakers. (I consider the role Hollywood in particular and media in general has played in the Americanization of the world is huge and want our media to wake up and play its part in upholding Indian values and I don't mean only KarvaChauth and OmJaiJagadishHare)
Entrepreunership and employment generation pop up in my mind but I can't coin a proper sentence with it.
Accept that the change is slow. A drastic change is not only impossible it is also undesirable. Have patience.
Finally, Nationalism is good and so is national pride. But too much of anything is bad. Temper your patriotism. Being better than what we were should be our ideal and not to imitate another country or outdo them or even prove a point.
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One thing I haven't included but perhaps should have:
Don't work abroad. Do what you can for your country by being in it. (But I didn't know if staying in country and working for a MultiNational is any different from working for a MNC overseas. Also our expatriates seem to be doing a lot for the country).
I am confused if to be a part of the change, being in India is a necessity. I am sure the impact is maximum only if you do it being in the country. It is too easy to cosily sit abroad and talk of not spitting in the road or scolding someone who does that - b'coz you may not face such a person at all.
Right now I am just a student and am safe. Let us see if I can come back to India on completion as I hope to. That will be my challenge.
The least I can say now is, take responsibility for improving things in your country, being in it or being elsewhere.
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P.S. Yup! I did watch RDB. But more on it later.
17 comments:
ok before I comment on the post..how did you manage to watch RDB?
-Ridhish
Ram, I have one questions for you, how can you claim you are 'safe' by being a student abroad. You are forgetting
* your phd is not only helping you but your institution abroad!
* every single paper you publish adds revenue to your institution abroad
* all your research conducted is being used by the institution abroad to make it even more successful
So how is working abroad and studying abroad different? If we really want to make a change, why arent we all studying back in India to add value to institutions back home. Point to ponder. I just think its a biased view, working abroad and studying abroad to me means exactly the same thing!
My two cents for the day..
Ridhish
Rid! I am not going to tell you how I watched RDB. But be assured that Vishwas has long hands.
as for your other, very valid point, I do not see me studying abroad in the same light as working abroad b'coz
1. The PhD is an educating process and helps 'me' more than any institute
2. The institute is not getting my research work for free. It invests in me, partly as the scholarship they provide and more importantly as the infrastructure and supervisory staff without which no research would be possible.
3.Thirdly, while it is true that the papers I publish gets more revenue and prestige to the university, the knowledge is entirely mine as is the paper.
However, i admit there is some truth in ur argument. Rid! I hate u for shattering my feeling of being 'safe'.
Regarding studying back in India, there are too many issues to discuss and I reckon it warrants a post in itself. Soon...
My views again...
1. The PhD is an educating process and helps 'me' more than any institute
Similarly, my work here is also an educating process, the training and projects helps me AND the employer
2. The institute is not getting my research work for free. It invests in me, partly as the scholarship they provide and more importantly as the infrastructure and supervisory staff without which no research would be possible.
Similary the employer is not getting my expertise for free...it invests in me, partle as a INCOME they provide me as well as the infrastructure (supervisors, computers).
3.Thirdly, while it is true that the papers I publish gets more revenue and prestige to the university, the knowledge is entirely mine as is the paper.
Yup the projects I work in are entirely done by me, thus the knowledge is mine as is the work ;-)
My two cents for the evening this time ;-)
Ridhish
ps. was the copy of RDB u watched a good copy?....
my list ll have only one thing. "ponder abt what i must do"!
Romantic by twilight!
Pondering is something we do very well. What we have forgotten to do is 'action'. So I urge tht ur list not stop with pondering wat to do but includes some action
Ridhish! I give up! Can't say anything to your argument that 'working' is same as 'studying'. Given that assumption what you see makes perfect sense. I don't accept that so it makes a world of difference.
Anywayz let me not stop you doing your 2 cents.
thing is i'm never quite convinced that there is this particular thing schdule i must follow.. basically having trouble organising my thoughts. of course certain things have to be done. its only the fring that confuses me.
Shashi!
This is a problem with ppl of extraordinary capabilities. They seem to think too much. But if you put thinking aside and I don't mean stop thinking, only pondering, we may actually get a lot done. Don't u think?
We may after doing something realise tht it is not so good after all. But atleast we did something and now we can go ahead and do something else.
The list can be anything you choose and you can schedule it anyway you want. But I reckon we all have to do something and the more time we spend pondering is time spent un'doing'. pun intended. wat was it abt a journey of a thousand miles.
ram, don't be blatantly sarcastic abt compliments. i can't help it. (more on my new post abt this :))
cant help pondering, that is.
Shashi!
Blatantly sarcastic... I like that! Well! I am and I apologise. No hard feelings dude! I am just passionate about this whole thing that I guess I lost my objectivity.
Shashi! Just saw your post. I trust the post 'Quo Vadis' was written in reply to my post. If so, then I needn't make my point with difficulty at all.
"Cynicism keeps my blood forzen" you say... and I say let me thaw it for you. for the good of the world.
"Don't work abroad......"
It is a very global statement, eventhough I agree with the motive behind it. At some point of time, many of the recent expats will be returning back after some economical backgup. "When?" is the question...
I am not so sure abt that Ram... for instance one of my friends is marrying an Australian and wouldn't want to return to India (all the peeping eyes, wagging tongues). Also some ppl are so used to their lifestyles, luxurious lifestyles if I may so add, that going back to India is out of question.
Well. I think we need a new post. Before I come all the way to Adfa to kick some serious butt ;-) jk.
Ridhish
Hey Ridhish!
Just shows how sincerely we are working at ADFA. It is not like UC, u c.
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