Tuesday, April 19, 2011

"India Vs Bharat" - Development Vs Change

I have a policy on this blog. I see no reason to "duplicate content", as it were, if I spot a well written article arguing my position on a public issue already out in the public sphere, especially if it is easily found in mass media.

In this spirit, I present to you a five year old article that remains relevant and deserves a wider readership:


India Vs Bharat: Ashish Tripathi, The South Asian. February 2006.

Ashish Tripathi wrote about his experiences while volunteering in rural Uttar Pradesh, asking why the growing economic development in India is so different from the grim realities of Bharat.

[....]

In our country we spend lots of money on movies, friends and parties. Most of us own mobiles and bikes. We live in a country where there are big buildings and parks that add to the beauty of city, especially at night when there are a lot of bulbs glowing on different coloured lights. I name this country as INDIA.

The other part of the country is dark and gloomy. This part of the country resides in villages. they lack all kind of basic amenities of life ranging from electricity to food to education to health facilities to safe drinking water. This is a country where people are so poor that they are suffering from Hunger and malnutrition. It is this part where people die of hunger and farmers commit suicide to relieve themselves of the debt burden. I name this country as BHARAT.

Has the economic boom in India affected the lives of poor of Bharat in any manner? Has the Per capita income of Bharat improved? The Policies of Govt., for Bharat are made In India in Five Star hotels and in Airconditioned rooms.

Can all of us be proud of a country where the farmers are committing suicide and people are dying of hunger and starvation.

Let us make an effort to improve the condition of our brothers and sisters living in the other part of the country. Let us do whatever we can for the rural India or the Bharat.

Working in rural areas is not easy. It is like a kurukshetra. To come here and participate in societal transformation is a spiritual challenge. Each of us living in this country can make a commitment in our lifetime to bring about positive changes in those who are suffering in villages.

Let's come together and take a pledge to make our country a better place to live where all of us can say "yes this is my country and I am proud of it".

Full article: India Vs Bharat: Ashish Tripathi, The South Asian. February 2006.

Ashish Tripathi, a PGDRM second semester student in IIRM Jaipur wrote this note. He can be contacted at ashish_life24ATyahooDOTcoDOTin 

2 comments:

Mitasha said...

Hi, I am in the cloud 9...:)...seriously happy to see someone came and read something and bothered made a comment inside my blogpage rather just voting me in Bloggers with a comment at bloggers wall "I voted for you please vote for me"...haha i know this comes under a term called "bitching" but its a stinking fact too. And also thanks because I got chance to find a nice blog which represents someone's personal point of view about things around and not about cricket...:)

but i have a opinion about these write up, may be a bit different...i am really not very sure if rural India need our "help", what we do living there, educate them?? are we educated enough to educate them?? for a long time these rural sectors were self sustainable...possibly that best starting point is self help for us "urban people", to get read of our endless greed which is destroying us though we are sitting on the huge but sallow number of Growth rate, but even the economists like Amartya Sen questioned this growth rate as the indicator for development...I dont knowbut I wonder if we can ever be a developed country with this unequal distribution ( hey I am not socialist, but I believe in limits of capitalism) wealth!!!

Pundit Commentator said...

Hi Mitasha. Welcome!

I appreciate your take on the issue very much. I agree with you that certain sections of urban India are getting carried away with material prosperity and it would be instructive to sensitize them and their kids who are currently growing up in the lap of luxury. I believe the best way to sensitize them would be a volunteering stint with a good rural ngo. There's really no substitute for direct personal field experience.

Not everybody will discover a capacity to actually do helpful productive work in rural areas - it's not for everyone, as Ashish Tripathi points out. But it's very important to get that exposure and instill those values in the next generation as Rolls Royce opens its nth shop. After you've done a one year or one summer,even stint, it will change how you work and look at things for the rest of your life.

By the way, I am also happy that you chose to comment back directly on the blog. I feel that is the best place for fellow bloggers to interact and support each other's blogs. I'm glad you're enjoying the feel of this blog.

Thank you so much for also telling me your honest opinion on this article. I can't tell you how pleased I am that somebody took notice of this particular one.

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