Happy Independence Day!!

Today is the 65th Independence Day of India, a reminder to express our gratitude to the tireless efforts of previous generations for gifting us the freedom of this country. India is a great country. Something that is a part of us, something very dear to us. But today, corruption runs rampant. It seems to have permeated every sphere of life. Open any newspaper, switch on any news channel, you will defintely find a news article on some scam or the other. Bad roads and filth are common place. Markets are very susceptible to inflation and price hikes have become very frequent. We also seem to be eternally plagued by internal differences.

The night is darkest just before the dawn. I hope, the dawn is coming. On this day in 1947, India had a choice. I believe the folks at the helm choose wisely and India became a Democratic Republic. These wise folks fought for our Indepenence and then gifted us Democracy for our future. India decided that it will not be a few that will decide what is best for it, but all its citizens will. The present day Indians are gifted children. We have the gift of liberty to choose the way we live. Our major challenge is to ensure that every citizen recognizes this gift and every citizen is protected from threats to such liberty.

My country has come a long way since 1947. Education is in a better state than ever before. India currently has the largest English speaking population in the world. Remote villages have now been connected by road network thereby facilitating the development of these places. We have made a lot of progress in providing electricity to each and every nook and corner of the country. You will find many confident modern girls with origins from small villages in almost every industry. Life expectancy has increased by almost 10 years. All these are signs of a progressive nation.

We have miles to go and we will get there provided we raise a more compassionate, more tolerent, more rational and more confident generation. Many of us have been outside India and know what clean road looks like, how simplest of government related things are done in an honest straight forward fashion, how girls confidently take on anything that comes their way. I wish all these intellectual, forward thinking progressive people will come back to India, come back into our spheres and togather we can work hard to build a great nation. If someone opens the door when we walk in, we say "thank you". This country has opened so many doors in our lives, how can we ever thank it enough?

Wishing Mother India a Happy Independence Day!!