India's 7/11

The US took September 11 as their wake up call to terrorism, will we take the tragedy that occured in Mumabi on July 11 as ours ? All the progress or acheivement that I was hoping India would achieve in the previous post would come to nought if we do not value the life of an Indian.

Let us take the tragedy as a clarion wake up call on terrorism and what we must.

Indians in general are pacifists but that does not mean we have to put up with atrocities like these. Give the terrorists and their supporters a strong reply and let them know we value our brethren more alive than dead.

It is not enough if we say we will win the war on terror. Action must sound louder than words and the government must play its role as a leader..

Mera Bharat Mahan..

I was just reading an article "The Myth of India" in the NY times (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/06/opinion/06mishra.html?ex=1309838400&en=63b065e1403c4316&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss) and it really got me thinking.

The article talks about how the majority of India is still poor and about the differences between the haves and have not's. The comments make interesting read and gives an interesting perspective on how people think.

I personally think the article is another instance of people in the US using a high pedestal approach to judge people in other countries. We have different values and different goals. People should realize that money is not everything and that there are things (family, friends, and morals) that some people value more.

I agree some of the policies might be wrong or not achieving the intended purpose, but we learn from mistakes and we are really learning fast. To be considered one of the fastest growing economies within the last 60 years of independence (given our bureaucracy/red tape and growing population) is no small feat. In fact, we achieved this growth in the last 16 years. We have the smartest and most educated officials in the whole world (president-scientist, prime minister-economist) and most important of all, we now have the urge to do well and be successful in the world arena.

I am not saying we must rest on our achievements; one must keep moving ahead and learn from our mistakes. India is doing that, we are investing in infrastructure, implementing and revising policies and the government is becoming more an arbitrator and an implementer of social good which is the right direction.