The President DR. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam’s Speech in Hyderabad .
Why is the media here so negative?
Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our
achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing
success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why? We are the
first in milk production. We are number one in Remote sensing
satellites.
We are the second largest producer of wheat. We are the second largest
producer of rice.
Look at Dr. Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into a
self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such
achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and
failures and disasters. I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the
Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and
bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the
front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who
in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid and a granary.
It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory
details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the
newspaper, buried among other news.
In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are
we so NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed
with
foreign things? We want foreign T. Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want
foreign technology.
Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that
self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this
lecture, when a 14-year-old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked
her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a
developed India. For her, you and I will have to build this developed
India. You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it
is a highly developed nation. Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come
back with a vengeance.
Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours.
YOU say that our government is inefficient.
YOU say that our laws are too old.
YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
YOU say that the phones don’t work, the railways are a joke, The
airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their
destination.
YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.
YOU say, say and say. What do YOU do about it?
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?
Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay,
Mr. Tinaikar, had a point to make. ‘Rich people’s dogs are walked on
the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,’ he
said. ‘And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the
authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements.
What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every
time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels?
In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the
job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?’ He’s right.
We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all
responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the
government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally
negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to
stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to
pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect
the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn
the proper use of bathrooms.
We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and
toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least
opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass
on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues
like those related to women, dowry, girl child! and others, we make
loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at
home. Our excuse? ‘It’s the whole system which has to change, how will
it matter if I alone forego my sons’ rights to a dowry.’ So who’s
going to change the system? What does a system consist of ? Very
conveniently for us it consists of our neighbours, other households,
other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not
me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive
contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families
into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away
and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a
majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away. Like
lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their
glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run
to England When England experiences unemployment, we take the next
flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be
rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to
abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our
conscience is mortgaged to money.
Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a
great deal of introspection and pricks one’s conscience too…. I am
echoing J. F. Kennedy’s words to his fellow Americans to relate to
Indians…..
‘ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA
WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY’
Lets do what India needs from us.
Thank you,
Dr. Abdul Kalaam
(PRESIDENT)