In our hands....

                                                                                                                              - Suhas Tapaswi

More than ninety-five percent of us have nothing to do with the current Indian politics; in other words it does not affect our lives. Yet, all of us are blaming the politicians for the misery we are in. We forget that ninety-five percent of the events that make our life pleasant to live involve interdependence of us citizens; politicians have no influence on those aspects.

I once asked a gathering of senior citizens, "If there is any one present in the auditorium who can compare his present well being, as far as personal health, wealth and other strengths are concerned, with his childhood conditions and can claim whether his standard has gone down." No body, not even one person, women included, raised his or her hand. This goes to prove that the nation, as a whole, has made progress, each of us had opportunities and has made good use of those, and we are exposed to much better living conditions today. I will, in fact, give the credit for this progress to the politicians who ran the country in the last 60 years or so after independence.

We have sufficient wealth, either bestowed by nature or created by man, but do not know how to use it; no wonder there is the brain drain. If we, as citizens of India, realize the importance and respect individual responsibilities our lives will be far happier. Following four simple things, and they have nothing to do with politics, will revolutionize our life, as a society, and no one will want to go abroad and seek citizenship of that country for better living.  

• Punctuality
• Pride in the profession that has been selected or the person is engaged in - work is worship and duty is god 
• Public Hygiene; not personal, in that respect we are far better as a nation 
• Traffic rules

We should not respect these for the sake of obeying laws and fear of the fine, or to be good citizens, or for the sake of duty to others, but to improve our own lives, i.e. in the self interest.

(Mr Tapaswi is the originator of the Janasamwaad forum in Maharashtra.  After his retirement as CEO, Essar Projects, he has devoted himself to Social Research in Maharashtra and written two books on themes of development.  He lives in Pune.)