India Has Done An Awesome Job Since Independence. Winston Churchill, Eat Your Heart Out.

How many of you have come across the following forward on WhatApp and Facebook?

I am guessing a lot of you because it keeps on being shared all the time on social media across the board. What’s worse is the last line of this forward – We INDIANS have worked very hard to prove him right.

No, we haven’t. Even remotely, we haven’t. Read ahead to know why this version of the quote is bullshit and why Winston Churchill is furious in his grave because his prophecy didn’t come true.

 

1.2 Billion People

Can we even comprehend the task of taking over and governing a billion people? Forget giving them happiness and jobs, just taking over a billion people and trying to keep them alive and together is a big deal.

Why don’t you walk into a classroom of 100 unruly children? You are a new teacher. Try to get them under control.
You did? Great!

Now assume each one speaks a different language. Very few of them can even understand each other.

All of them clamor for lunch money, because all of them are hungry, and not all of them do their homework.

Some of them diss and hate you openly, and some just want to leave.

Now multiply this number by a 10 million. And that classroom is India.

We were united in spirit when we wanted to make the English leave, and when they left suddenly, there was an awkward silence – What do we do now that we have this place to us?

Imagine the teacher just walks out, there will be a silence for 2 minutes in the class because they are coming to terms with the new situation before utter chaos resumes.

But, you know what? We still hold the whole classroom together.

 

It is easy to compare

Oh, look at the USA! Look at them! They have a large population too! But they are so successful!

Yeah well, USA doesn’t have Canada trying to kill it every day. It has an ocean on either side as a natural buffer against enemies, and the greatest threat to it lies a continent and an ocean away. It can concentrate on getting better without worrying about stupid things.

Also, it is 240 years old. It has had a civil war, blatant racism and hurt and depression before it got to where it is now. Don’t forget, we are just 68 years old, compared to their 240 years.

Then look at China! They are doing sooooooooooo well! Why can’t we be more like them?!

Let’s say you hate Modi or Rahul Gandhi or Arvind Kejriwal. Let’s say you gathered a crowd for a peaceful protest and you burn an effigy of Modi at the town square. Chances are that you will probably be arrested but then granted bail – in the off-chance. Mostly, you will not be arrested.

Try to do the same shit in China, I dare you. The last time someone did this in China, Tiananmen Square Massacre happened. No, no, why don’t you go there, and try to express your displeasure with the State? You could be on the TIME magazine cover! Like this guy no one in China really remembers –

 

Are we really lost?

No. I see success stories every day. I see people being inspired by success stories and striving to make their lives better every single day. This means that there is a potential to make our lives better here. We haven’t hit the ceiling yet. There are stories of waste pickers topping board exams.

A nation is not lost when there is still hope. People haven’t lost hope. Recently we were ranked third in the number of startups in the world. This, after people say that it is so difficult to set up business here.

How are we lost, then?

The day people lose complete hope to make their lives better is when I say we are lost. And I do not think that such a day will come.

 

Are we perfect?

No, we still need work. A lot of it. Every nation needs work. We thought that the Nordic countries in Europe were the best indicators of wealth and happiness and success as a nation.

Then shit got real when Syrian refugees fled to Europe. Not one of them wants to take them in.

How many Bangladeshis do we take in each day? Howe many do we feed every day? How many of them have Aadhar cards? Yes, there is a whole segment that wants them out, but there is a whole humanitarian segment of people who keeps them in. We have stretched resources, but we still take the needy in.

Which is the better country here?

 

It is a meteoric achievement.

It is. After the British left, more than a million people died on both sides in the bloodshed that prevailed during the partition. We recovered from that, managed our meagre money and licked our wounds. How is the other side faring?

We do not have half our country occupied by the Taliban.

And we definitely do not have an army proxy-ruling us. They could because they are extremely able and big. But the Army leaders vehemently deny this scenario every time, like they are speaking something sacrilegious. Kudos to them for respecting our constitution.

Yes, we need work. But it is extremely important to remember that we are not in a bad place. People still strive to better their lives every day. Many already have and many will in the future.

We haven’t gone to the dogs yet, even though I say so myself so many times. I admit sometimes it frustrates me – the condition of things. But when you look beyond it, and we have to – we do have a future. We aren’t devoid of it. And we certainly aren’t lost.

And Winston Churchill’s opinion can go and kill itself.

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