India

*Warning: Another long, self-centred post below. The author promises that the next post will be limericks. But he does not promise that he will act on his promise. "

A nice young girl named Cynthia
Fell in love after coming to India
She being an outsider
They always chided her
So she changed her name to Priya.

My posts, normally, have a global appeal. And I like it that way. :-) But... today is different. I will post New-Lights 2 and some limericks too soon. I'm also inspired my my friend Absconding Soul's blog post here. Also...

Today is India's independence day. :-) I like being an Indian. Despite my inherently cynical nature, I feel this country is progressing. There are problems, but we're on the right track. Who's have thought that the world's second most populous country would be able to continously retain it's demacratic nature despite all odds? India's been doing this for 59 years, and undoubtedly there will be many, many more. The people here like democracy. It's not ingrained in their psyche. I feel proud.

There have been problems. The bomb blasts remind us we still live in an unsafe world, and the police making no breakthrough more than a month after the blasts is disturbing. The focus is shifting from the villages to the cities. Not much id being done about the farmer suicides in central India, while people are pushing for the need for more attention being given to Mumbai.

It's disturbing how the people are becoming more and more city-centric and upper-class-centric. The ground realities of India are different. Poverty is still a major problem, and people live in villages under tons of debt. Bollywood and IT may fetch India india international fame, but agriculture is still the blood of the country. The gap between villages and cities is rapidly increasing.

The problem with people
Complaining
And Abstaining.

But enough complaining. As people become more and more aware of their, and others rights, and act for what they think (case in point: the Rang De Basanti - style reservation protests by students across the country). An India where the citizens are indifferent to the government, and live for themselves, not caring for the nation is not, I think, what the future holds. Democracy holds sway.