INDEPENDENCE DAY MESSAGE

INDEPENDENCE DAY 2001

Speech delivered by Dr. Mervyn Carapiet

My fellow Indians,

The Indian story is told again for the 54^th. time today, embroidered as usual with calls to patriotism, loyalty to the Constitution and the leaders, past and present, and, as always, with a litany of complaints against the authorities and politicians. Which brings me to the point of today’s message.

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, and the mail never reaches its 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 and give him YOUR name. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don’t throw cigarette butts on the road, unless you’re prepared to pay a fine of $200/-, or eat in the stores, unless you’re prepared to be thrown out. YOU are as proud of their Underground Links as they are. You pay $5/- (approximately Rs. 75/-) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Peddar Road or Eastern Metropolitan Bypass) between 5.00 p.m. and 8.00 p.m. You come back to the parking lot and punch your parking ticket if you have overstayed 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 Ramazan 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/- (Rs. 720/-) a month to, “see to it that my STD and ISD calls are not billed or billed to someone else.” YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 kmph) 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 can’t 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 criticise 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 does it ?  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 stoop to pick up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. When did you last pick up a scrap of paper from the floor, walk down the corridor 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 these conveniences at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff that 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 forego my son’s right 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 and 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 the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money

Here in ..... each one is left to his honour and sense of responsibility to do his duty conscientiously for building up of the community under God.

My fellow Indians, this message is highly thought inductive, calling for a great deal of introspection, and pricks one’s conscience. I am echoing John 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 WE ADMIRE IN AMERICA AND OTHER WELL DEVELOPED COUNTRIES.”

Thank you, and have a nice day.

Barrackpore,

15^th. August 2001