Damn’d

I recently drove down from Gurgaon to Noida to meet a friend. The round trip took me almost 3 and a half hours and provided a fascinating melange that India has morphed into.

Right from cruising at 100 kmph on the NH 8 to waiting for 10 minutes in the ‘tag’ lane at the Gurgaon toll bridge, to battling errant drivers on Delhi’s inner ring road, and smoothly gliding past the tolls at the DND tolls, I had this constant question on my mind, “What’s the rush, people ?”

The answer was quite blatantly on display, pretty much every where.

India is on a roll. India is the next economic super power. Lifestyles are changing (and upwardly so). Women’s empowerment is on a high (as evidenced by higher divorce rates and nasty female drivers on the road – Earlier, it was only the ‘macho men’ who would cut you off ), etc etc

There seems to be an optimism in the air. The Great Recession has taken down America and Europe while India has  remained largely unaffected and is steadily growing and ‘developing’. Just the perfect place to be, don’t you think ?

We still have a long way to go. The roads are in a mess, the air quality in Gurgaon sucks, people are generally rude everywhere and everybody is intent on building their own sheltered cocoon – the rest of the world be damned.

While ruminating on the state of things with a friend, she was of the view that things wont improve unless the government improves things.

Take for example, the toll gate at the entrance of NH 8 in Gurgaon. Its horrible at any point of the day and during peak hours is a downright nightmare. While there are special ‘tagged’ lanes for folks with pre paid smart cards the lanes are usually jammed with ‘cash payers’ defeating the purpose of having a faster lane. While the govt could have put in place a system of checks and fines, ultimately, it is us, the people who dont respect the system and then later cry that it doesnt work.

Something needs to change. A change in the fundamental mindset which includes basic civic sense, respect for your fellow man and a sense of ownership in our country. Most of us are hardened ‘cynics’ and believe that its somebody else’s problem(usually the government) to fix it.

So how do we bring about that change to create an empowered India. The answer  to some extent may very well lie in this movie, ‘Stand and Deliver’.

Its about taking a small group and bringing about incremental change, one day at a time, and preferably with children.

The adults of our country are already in a mess. The only hope left is with our children, and if we dont teach them what is right from wrong, or more importantly, how to figure out what is the right thing to do…well i guess life will go on as usual.

As MG said, be the change you want to see in the world. Or atleast give it a try.