THE INDIA OF MY DREAMS

Outline: In India today things are not as they should be – dreams are not futile – in the India of my dreams, there is economic prosperity, equality, along with democracy – she is industrialized; education is widespread; she believes in non-violence and peace – Tagore’s poem.

India attained independence on August 15, 1947. What has she achieved during fifty plus… years of freedom? Though there has been considerable progress, the overall picture of life in the country is depressing. What with spiraling prices and growing unemployment, the common man remains as poor as he had been. Though education has spread, its standard and quality have received a set-back. Nor is the political scene very encouraging. While the working of democracy is not satisfactory, the forces of religion, provincialism and linguism pose a threat to the unity of the country. Our leaders lack the qualities of idealism, integrity and self-sacrifice, which were abundantly in evidence during the days of the struggle for freedom.

In this bleak situation, it is natural for the youth of the country to turn to the India of its dreams. It is a mistake to suppose that dreams and visions are always futile-a way of escaping from hard realities. A dream often inspires the dreamer to work and strive so that it may come true.

In the India of my dreams, everybody has enough money. Though money is not the end of life, sufficient money is essential to the development of one’s personality. This general prosperity goes hand in hand with economic and social equality. The wide gulf between the rich and the poor that exist today has largely disappeared. I must emphasis that all this co-exists with democracy. People have freedom of thought and expression.

My ideal India is industrialized and modernized. Without industrialization a high standard of life is impossible. At the same time she has not discarded her ancient traditions and distinctive culture. So embodies the best in the cultures of the East and the West. Education is wide-spread, and there is practically no illiteracy. People have shed superstitious, outworn ideas and customs. While India is militarily strong, she believes in non-violence, and strives to spread in the world the message of peace and brotherhood of man.

I cannot better describe the India of my dreams than by quoting the famous poem of Tagore:-

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;

Where knowledge is free;

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;

Where words come out from the depth of truth;

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit.

Where the mind is led forward by three into ever-widening thought and action.

Into the haven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake