Love your country. Your country is the land where your parents sleep, where is spoken that language in which the chosen of your heart, blushing, whispered the first word of love; it is the home that God has given you that by striving to perfect yourselves therein you may prepare to ascend to him-Giuseppe Mazzini
There is no feeling like that of being an Indian, the pride that runs through your blood when you hear the national anthem "Jana Gana Mana" being played, when you see the magnificent parade led by our armed forces down the Rajpath on the Republic day, when you see the space craft sent by us reach Mars. It has been 66 years since India became a republic, when it threw the last vestiges of colonialism and became it's own masters, giving itself a new constitution.
At the time of the Independence, India was born with problems all around. There was this issue of partition which has seen two independent countries being born namely India and Pakistan. The economy was in shambles. India was divided several princely states. The biggest question was how to integrate this massive country and bring her under one flag.
The challenge was thought to be unsurmountable. Everybody predicted that this experiment will fail. India chose the toughest path of a democracy. Immediately after independence, we were forced to go to a war, a war forced on us by a diabolical neighbour who was bent on bringing instability to India.
Immediately after the independence, we set about building infrastructure including developing companies. Self reliance was the buss word. Giant industries that made everything from steel to cars were established. But the vestige of socialism remained as these public sector undertakings became unwieldy due to gross mismanagement and politics. But India also had built a robust private sector but they were chained by the red tape.
India found itself in the cross roads by the 1990's. Economy was nearing collapse. There
was this demand for change. India took the brave new path of economic liberalisation. That in subsequent years proved to be a game changer. The true potential of this great country was unleashed. Now India entered the league of the big boys, with high growth. With a growing middle class, the aspirations also changed. Indian companies went global with acquiring companies world over. The house of the TATAS, Reliance group, Arcelormittal group, The L&T company has now become global players.
 |
| Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Robby Rules |
With opportunities also comes challenges. India has to cope with ever increasing hostile neighbourhood. Country like Pakistan which is fast becoming a failed state are proving to be a constant bane. Competition with China is another of the emerging story. India and China has a long standing territorial dispute. That is now compounded by the growth of China as a world power. But China has also transformed to be an aggressive power that cannot be trusted. In this context, India will emerge to be a counter weight, checking a power that would otherwise create havoc.
India being a democracy has it's own pitfalls. The growth is slower compared to China. India also has the challenges of corruption, religious tensions and other internal security challenges. Yet this great country moves forward taking all challenges in it's stride, creating an experiment that has succeeded. India is my country. Whatever may be the challenge, we will move forward and emerge as one of the greatest countries in the world. We have faced many challenges, overcome insurmountable obstacles, yet prevailed.
Our time is only coming. We as a nation proudly moves on and will become the greatest country in the world, the beacon of hope amidst the ever increasing world of chaos. That is our strength. Be proud of our achievements . Be proud of the fact that we are now emerging as one of the most powerful countries in the world. Tat is what we are. We are Indians and we are proud of our great country.
VANTE MATHRAM, VANTE MATHRAM, VANTE MATHRAM
Comments