DATED – 15th August 2015
One of India’s beloved sons Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam passed away on 27th July 2015. As expected lots of literature, his quotes, incidents got circulated all across. I came across a letter he had written. He wrote – we want to complain about the corruption, municipality not picking up garbage, work not happening at desired pace, indiscipline, slow judicial systems, inefficient government, etc etc etc. We love to complain, give excuses and blame. But we don’t want to take responsibility for anything. When there is an opportunity to do something, we alongwith our family lock ourselves in a cocoon and want to just watch others do something.
He wrote further – Are YOU the same person when you travel abroad and when you are in India? Will you dare to spit on roads in Singapore? Would you dare to eat in public in Dubai during Ramadan? You would never go in Saudi without your head covered. You don’t throw empty coconut shell on beach in New Zealand. You wouldn’t bribe a police officer in America. Do you dare to break traffic rules in London? I know you wouldn’t dare to. Then why here in India? The person is the same, but behavior is surprisingly different.
I think the point APJ was trying to make was let’s not wait for others to improve our country, but we ourselves play our role –
- Follow traffic rules
- Pay taxes. It will help improve the country
- Be disciplined in your own life.
- Live upto your potentials
- Be determined – how much ever tempted I am, I will not litter
- Believe in yourself and your ideas
- Incase you are not convinced about something, don’t become a blind follower. Question
- Respect people for what they are
- Don’t lie just because it is convenient
- Study abroad, work to gain experience. But let there be some contribution from you for your Motherland
- If you are in a position to make a positive difference with your contacts/ network, do it full throttle
- Any kind of social work, not necessarily monetary, would be absolutely fantastic
- Smile
- Be proud of being an Indian and definitely not ashamed
Today morning in his address to the nation from the historic Red Fort, the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi rightly said – when we 1.25 billion Indians work together as – TEAM INDIA, there is no power in the whole world which can stop us from being what we deserve to be!
Let the 69th Independence Day not be just another holiday. Let’s pledge to do things at our own level and initiative RIGHT NOW and do our bit for this wonderfully capable country. A true tribute to the great Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam would be to live by his letter – behave and act same, whether in India or abroad, and Act yourself rather than waiting for others! Let’s together be TEAM INDIA. JAI HIND!
