The
following piece has two parts, first part is PM’s speech on
independence day with notes laden with key phrases he used, it was an
excellent speech given the exclusive background he is raised with,
indeed, he has come a long ways.
The 2nd part shows his lack of
inclusivism in his speech – he was raised in an irresponsible
exclusivist education system that does not promote cohesiveness. Modi
and several Indians are a product of that system, Hindus and Muslims
alike. We cannot blame them, but we have to work on changing the system,
all of us are responsible. Like he said in his speech to ask ourselves,
what am I doing to contribute towards the well being of India? Here is
my contribution.
It was a good speech – a comprehensive speech covering most aspects of the
nation building. It is good to hear good
Hindi. The notes were made as I was
listening, and this has become a habit of mine to make notes of key words and
phrases. I have not done the grammar or
spell check… oddly Modi caught himself with little grammar mistake around
24:15, nice touch, otherwise his language is perfect.
21:10 Ashoka’s switch from Yudh to Budh
chadayein
Grammar mistake – budha maa baap,
but corrects himself to budhay maa baap
development
infrastructure)
hai – digital India
e-governance,
effective governance, IT logon ko jodti hai – digital India
janbhagiyadari
in building toilet in schools By August 15, 2015
Development
by area – desh banana hai to gaon say shuru karo 2016
Adapt
one town in each district – to make it exemplary
– JP Narayan’s b/d
say dekh raha hoon
nahin thay…
gandhi thay sardar thay…
ignored Kalam Azad ( he is poor in history)
Gharibi ko door karien
Modi could have done much better. May be it is in not his blood to be inclusive in his language. At the very beginning, when
he recited the contributions of a variety of things to the nation, he could
have included Sufis contribution along with rishis and munis. Then around 60th
Minute he recites Gandhi and Sardar, but does not mention Nehru, because of whom
we have a firm and solid democracy, and he does not mention Maualana Azad who
lay the foundation for IIT’s that shines India. He does mention Shastri and JP,
but fails to mention the space program particularly during digitizing India
talk, and he forgets Vinoba Bhave’s bhoodan movement during the Kisan
segment.
fuller image of India and not an adhoori tasveer.
Towards the end when he was saying our nation is the nation of youth,
the following song was on my mind… and had to listen to it before I go
to sleep at about 2:45 AM
A desh hai veer jawanon ka
ADDED
Good to hear your wise words, indeed, it was a good speech. Yes, the
overall speech was inspiring and uplifting, its more like the state of the union
speech. I have a greater interest in India than most Indians living outside
India.
What do I want? Nothing but goodness for my country. I may be
out of India, but as the saying goes, India will never go out of me. Whatever I
write, speak, think or do, it is with the idea that every Indian should enjoy
his freedom to eat, drink, wear and believe whatever the hell he or she wants
to. I spend an inordinate amount of time on India – this forum Dallas Indians is
around for 11 years now, it takes time to keep it, my website http://mikeghouseforIndia.blogspot.com
has a lot of information about India… prior to that you know the work I have
done. Remember this is all voluntary work and I have nothing to gain but hear
rude comments now and then, and positive comments like yours, thank you. I take
them all as my Bachcahy and do not hold any grudge against any one.
Almost every other thing I write always highlights the pluralistic ethos
of India in all my work be it Huffington post, Dallas Morning News, radio, tv or
my speeches or wherever..
WHY?
My interest is our social fabric vis-a-vis pluralism – learning to respect
the otherness of others. Shame on us, the generations after independence don’t
know much about each other – whether you are a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian or
the other, you know almost nothing about the other, and whatever you know is bad
things. There is a flaw in our education system. My Middle school social studies
Urdu book had two pages on every religion, I wish it comes back and our future
generations are taught to learn about the beauty of every faith.
it better in one of the most read articles on my blog – Can a Muslim
Indian become Prime Minister of India?http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2012/05/can-muslim-indian-become-prime-minister.html
Many,
but not all Muslims are consumed with their self-interest and focus on their
dire needs, it will be a long time before a Muslim could become Prime Minister
of India. There are millions of Muslims like me, to whom, India’s interests are
prime, but not enough of us at this time to make the change.
Modi’s
un-inclusive language is not his fault, he was raised that way. He got many
historical facts wrong during his campaign, and he was taught limited version of
Hinduism, and not the universal aspect of it, being a Vivekananda fan myself, I
am amazed at Swamiji for not expounding on the idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbukum
fully, may be he did not feel the need for it at that time. Had he done that, it
would have become a template for RSS, without it, Modi’s India’s history does
not include any Muslim, Sikh or Christian contributions towards its richness,
and as such it does not come in his language. I don’t blame him for that, but
being the Prime Minister of entire nation, I expect him not only to say, ” I am
prime Minister of every Indian” but include that in his language, he sets the
tone. Our generation was molded by Jawahar Lal Nehru, thanks to him for giving
the values of secularism and giving us a stable democracy. Now Modi can put a
stamp of Inclusivism and Pluralism on the next generation, he lacks the
foundation and some day, I will do my work.
Take a look at our own
behavior – If the President issues Diwali Greetings or mentions about India
or Hinduism in his speech, we gloat and praise him for his inclusiveness. Don’t
you think the Adivasis to Zoroastrians and everyone in between will feel buyoed
by the recognition?
We have a responsibility to be inclusive, teach
inclusiveness, and at the end, each one of us would live a better life and our
India wins. Yes, I will continue to monitor Pope Francis, Narendra Modi and
Barack Obama, three individuals who can bring a positive change to their
respective populations. If we don’t speak it, no one will get it.
You
might cherish one of my vision of India at: http://nabsites.net/demo/happy-independence-day-india/
where everyone feels a part of the nation building and not excluded. More about
him at www.MikeGhouse.net