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August 25, 2009 - Goanet's 15th Anniversary
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As the lone voice of reason, truth and peace on Goanet, while recognizing
India's remarkable economic progress after they dumped extreme socialism on the
thrash heap of history where it belongs, I have also made several references to
the deplorable civic sense of many Indians in India and wished that someone in
a leadership position would campaign to raise the civic consciousness of the
country.
Now I find a speech by the brilliant but tonsorially-challenged ex-President
Abdul Kalam that did just that back in January, 2009, which somehow none of our
Indian Goanetters found of enough interest to post here:
http://randomthougts101.blogspot.com/2009/01/letter-to-every-indian-apj-abdul-kalam.html
Excerpt:
Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name - ‘YOURS’. Give him a
face - ‘YOURS’.
YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In
Singapore you don’t throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores.
YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are. You pay $5 (approx.
Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder
Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM.
YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over
stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity…
In Singapore you don’t say anything, DO YOU?
YOU wouldn’t dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai . YOU would not
dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah.
YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10
pounds (Rs.650) a month to, ’see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to
someone else.’
YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell
the traffic cop, ‘Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so
and so’s son. Take your two bucks and get lost.’
YOU wouldn’t chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail
on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand .
Why don’t YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo? Why don’t YOU use examination
jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston??? We are still talking of the same
YOU.
YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but
cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the
moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative
citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India?
[end of excerpt]
