Today, India is characterised by communal violence, religious strife, terrorist movements, regional alienation, political chaos, constant economic hick-ups, general corruption, Mafia raj, bomb-culture, etc. The great India of Lord Buddha, Mahavir, Shankaracharya, Swam Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, and Jawaharlal Nehru is on the verge of break-up, unless of course, we put an end to these malaises that are eating into its very fabric. The ills of decadence, hibernation, disharmony and the lethargic existence of the nation must be addressed to, if we want to see a glorious and a vibrant India. I dream of such a glorious and wonderful India in the days to come.
India is a multicultural, multi religious, multilingual nation and, hence, in order to maintain peace and harmony, due importance has to be given to the sentiments of each community. However, this secularing and pluralism have come to be subdued by religious fanaticism and communalism. In the name of construction of temples and mosques we do not seem to hesitate even to take the lives of our neighbours. Today, when we should be focusing on the country’s all-round development, our attention is focused in untangling the mess known as the ‘Ayodhya tussle.’
This undue importance given to religion has ruined our national peace, social equilibrium and international standing. Mumbai bomb explosion, Gujarat violence, Godhra incident, continuous Kashmir carnage, etc., speak volumes about how we have managed to turn the land of peace into a land of blood. Therefore, my dream of India is an India where religion would no longer be in national focus, where religion would be put into the backyard meant purely for personal practice. I dream of a day when people in India would live and die for their motherland than for their religion.
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Today, in India, the gap between the have’s and the have- not’s is ever increasing. Nearly 90% of India’s wealth is in the hands of 10% of people. The current social discrimination based on birth, caste and religion is breaking the national fabric. In my future India there would be no more concepts such as, Reservation, OBCs, Backward classes, under-privileged, etc. These man-made boundaries of demarcations would be broken down 21st century India would an India where everyone, irrespective of caste, creed, and religion, would have equal opportunities to live and work.
In my future India, everyone would have enough to eat and enough to wear. There would be no more deaths use to poverty and starvation. None would die due to paucity of medical facilities. There will be enough jobs for all, education would be work-oriented and everyone would have adequate opportunities for learning.
Every village would be connected by roads and by internet. The country’s military expenditure would be minimised and maximum would be spent for social improvements. Green revolution, white revolution and IT revolution, etc. would characterise our land.
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In my India of 21st century, the present evils characterising the Indian political system of India such as instability, rampant corruption, political scams, misuse of public money, glorification of leaders, horse-trading, criminalisation of politics, manipulation of election process, etc., would be unheard of.
My future India would have a political system, where person with dubious character or criminal background can never assume any public office, where election would no longer be based on money power or muscle power but rather totally free and fair.
My India of 21st century would be a great India highly esteemed by the other nations of the world. She would be a permanent member of the UN Security Council and her voice would be heard ‘loud and clear’ in the International arena. India’s role as the torchbearer of peace would be highly appreciated.
The Kashmir problem would be a thing of the past and she would have peace and friendship with all her neighbours. She would be considered a major Asian power at par with China and a highly developed nation with a world of IT professionals who are ready to venture out into the unknown frontiers.
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I do not think that my dream of India is too idealistic or too unrealistic. A day is not far off when I would be fortunate enough to see this glorious India sparkling with the noble ideals of peace, high economic standards, political stability, social harmony, international recognition, etc.
Let my country awake from its present slumber and rise up to great heights of glory and prosperity. It would be an India like the India which the great patriot Rabindranath Tagore visualised: “Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, where knowledge is free, where the world is not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls”.