A Free Country

Chandana,
Very exhilirating and positive essay. All we young people have to do is to watch Mangal Pandey and realize how low we could go and how well we have bounced. Azaadi Zindabad and Yom-e-azaadi Mubarak ho aapko.
Thanks,

``Saaray Jahan say Gandha Hindustan (both India/Pak and also Bdesh) tumahara,
tum harami ho uskay.
yeh Kanjar ghat tumahara.``

Lepers and beggars drinking Pepsi and thinking they have landed on moon.

Kaura #2 {``Lepers and beggars drinking Pepsi and thinking they have landed on moon``}
That was funny, HA HA HA.

What happened yaar? Did the neighbor`s dog bite you again? :)

Nach sardaraaN nach le tu bhi aaj
Hogi teri shaadi kuRi de nal
Kar le jitna karna he ab raaj
Tu bhi khol dega apney bal :)

#3,

NO - while Innocent human beings lead or die without dignity - and the leaders perform fellatios on westerners,

brainwashed hijras are clapping and singing ``pak shad khad phad....and jan gun mun lun ...``


I am VERY angry at the sheep.

#4, Just trying to cheer you up, Kaura. :)
Happy Independence Day to you.

6,

NO - it is SLAVERY day - when basturds sold their Bharat Mata as two bit whore...... i can`t cuss like I cuss in private - otherwis you will know the extent of my anger.

Re: # 2

lagta hai kuch logon ke pepsi demaag per char jati hai ................ take ur self for example
mr. kaurasach

#6, Oh, now I understand what`s ailing you. Yup, Kaura is upset at Independence Day because Aug 14/ Aug 15 remind him of partition and all the mayhem that ensued. Cheer up, Kaura. You didn`t do it and neither did I. It was Manto`s fault. :)

....nice school essay...wish swaraj, bhuk hartal,satyagarha and tiranga were english words and there was a token abdul interviewed with the kumuds, conrads, parags, tanyas, muktas, anants and chruduttas...but then i forgot the biggest token..apj abudul kalam...;)
happy independence day...

re: this article
This is just a hogwash.
Some people interviewed claiming India is great blah, blah, blah.
Did anybody interview a slumdweller in Dharavi? or a Dalit in Bihar/UP?
India can never have claim to greatness as long as 200 million and more subsist on less than a dollar a day.
I have seen so much corruption in India that it is nauseating. I am told that Madras`s water problem could be solved but politicians won`t because there is a big lobby to keep Madras thirsty. Reason: water is sold for profit and bigshots are behind it. I am not sure how true this is but u get the picture don`t u?
I think corruption and general moral decline will take India down if corrective steps are not taken. Latter is more concerning and is now causing an epidemic of AIDS. India recently overshot South Africa in AIDS cases and has limited means (what else can u expect with morons heading the Health Ministry) to fight the menace.
Yes, India has done well to keep the flag of democrazy flying but one can argue of what good is that if every Indian can`t get a square meal a day. India can proudly say it has done a little better than Pak but is it better than China? China has grabbed bulk of global manufacturing jobs and is fast reducing its poverty. It is also building Infrastructure at breakneck speed. On my visit to the much touted Bangalore, i found the roads choked with traffick.
India needs to unleash the potential of its people in full measure. What it has seen is some pockets of affluence due to IT but much of rural poverty is untouched. Politicians, bureacrats need to be put in their proper place and their powers curbed. when that happens, India would have stepped on the highway to fast progress.
Sridhar

So long as we maintain Chandana`s optimism and honor and listen to our nation`s loving critics like rsridhar and kaurasach, we shall be on the right path.

rsridhar

u are absolutely right, as long as india cannot get mass manufacturing jobs it will remain a povert stricken country no matter what IT exports it makes. it is mass manufacturing and infrastructure building that took 350 million chinese out of poverty and keeps the same number of indians under a dollar a day.

#10 by khamkhwa.

[....nice school essay...wish swaraj, bhuk hartal,satyagarha and tiranga were english words and there was a token abdul interviewed with the kumuds, conrads, parags, tanyas, muktas, anants and chruduttas...but then i forgot the biggest token..apj abudul kalam...;)
happy independence day...]

Calling APJ Abdul Kalam a token Muslims is one of the greatest injustices you can do to Islam. He is THE true Muslim if there ever was such a creature. You guys are just an imitation.

#11 by rsridhar,

It is true that there is still along way to go, but we have made a beginning. Wouldn`t you agree with me that we are better off today than we were 10 years ago? Also, there is nothing wrong with being proud of one`s country. A Mozambiquan would be just as proud of his country as I am of mine. So where`s the beef?

On independence day, I travelled by road from Chennai to Bangalore and in just about every small hamlet enroute, I saw little kids with the tricolor on their shirts returning from independence day parades no doubt. Not just that, hawkers, autorickshaws and many more proudly displayed the flag. It was enough to make the chest of even a die-hard cynic like me swell a little with pride. Ironically, I don`t remember even seeing one swank car with the national colors.

India can do better if the curmadgeon political class is put in it`s place. For it is they who are holding up her progress by being gatekeepers (to collect taxes aka bribes) instead of facilitators. James M. Lyngdoh, the erstwhile Chief Election Commissioner put it best when he stated that politicians think they have a jagir for 5 five years to enrich themselves at the peoples` expense. They are smart businessmen who have cornered the market for political power. How else can you explain the 421 crore bid made by one of the Thakereys along with Murli Manohar Joshi`s son for one of the Mumbai mill land parcels? They have emaciated just about every institution that even threatens them remotely which is why, even after 21 years, not one of the accused from their lot has been prosecuted for their crimes against Sikhs (and indeed all of India) in 1984.

The siliver lining is the resourcefulness of the Indian people who grind away every day and keep the country flourishing, with no help from the political class (as the recent floods of Mumbai or the chaotic conditions of Bangalore attest). Hats off to them.

Dear author,

How old are you....8?

Maybe you could add these ``quotes`` to your article as well:

Babloo Kale, 23, unemployed resident of Koldongri, explains what independence day means to him, ``I am loving my country very much. I am true patriot, not like those ungrateful *&^%$$s who live here and burst the crackers when Pakistan wins the matches. In `92 riots, I burnt 3 bakeries along with local shakha pramukh. Showed them a lesson or two.``

Saugandh Singh alias Pappu, 31, originally from Muzzaffarpur, UP, but now living in Dharavi, speaks glowingly about the benefits of living in a free country, ``I can spit paan-tambaaku anywhere and nobody cares. My bachpan ka friend Kalia, is a driver in Gulf and says that you can get arrested there for doing this. What a joke! And you can`t give policewala chaipaani, so you can imagine how my matka den would operate if we were not a free country. My wife and 6 children would starve!``

&c&c