Everyday we find ourselves blaming the government for our woes. Be it power shortage, dirty streets, traffic jams or water-logged drains, we say that the ‘system’ is faulty and the situation is never going to improve.It seems quite reasonable to do so. But pause for a moment and consider. Is it really the system which is responsible for our plight? Aren’t we a part of this system too? After all the government is not only made up of politicians and government officials. It is we, the people, who form the government. We are its foundation. Therefore we should realize that whenever we accuse the system for our miseries, we face the brunt too.
Here I wish to focus on the lack of self discipline. It’s a common sight to see people spitting on the streets. The shopkeepers and householders sweep away the dust and garbage from the area in and around their property onto the roads or streets which are considered to be public, and thus of no concern to them. The street food shops are the dirtiest places where people throw away the paper plates on the road after eating. Yet, at the end of the day, we complain that the streets are never clean. The Municipal Corporation is sleeping. We expect their workers to come with brooms and wipe away the dust and garbage and shit.
Now consider that the same people are holidaying abroad. Do you expect them to do the same things there? Will you expect them to spit on the streets? Will they throw the garbage anywhere around them? The answer is NO. Instead they will be all praise for the government and the system.
The fact is, at the root of these chronic problems are the people themselves. Nobody is ready to take the blame or the initiative to improve the situation. This ‘nobody’ includes ME as well. My experiences as a student of Delhi university have shown me the truth in this. At the time of student elections I was shocked to see hundreds of pamphlets scattered all around my college. Yet, the students gossiped and chuckled as if unaware of the litter. I wanted to pick some of it and throw it in the dustbin. Yet, I was reluctant. I didn’t want to get embarrassed. The college remained unclean the whole day.
Still we say that the system is faulty. But yes, the system doesn’t include you and me. It is the responsibility of others, not you and me. It is sinful to do ‘small’ work – something that should be done by people of lower rank only.
We hold this system accountable for the power shortage. But we don’t want to be blamed for electricity theft. We criticize this system for huge traffic jams. Yet we are not answerable for the encroachments.
WE need a CHANGE. We need to change ourselves. It is not difficult. If we want to keep our country clean and beautiful we have to take the initiative. Next time you start to blame the system for all the problems that you face, try and remember the last time you did something worth something to anybody other than yourself. Remember-Charity begins at home, Change begins with you!
Bhavnit Batra
I really appreciate your thinking guys. It is true that we should not blame administration for everything. We can solve our 60 % problems if we could understand & play our role, yet I think that there are different sort of problems for which a common person blames the administration . India is becoming superpower, because of various strengths such as IT. However the ground realities look otherwise. Can we answer that even after 60 years of independence, we don’t hav proper systems of drainage, roads, traffic sense. Delhi has not had such heavy rains but if that happens, even Rashtrpati Bhavan would submerge. This is all because of the gross negligence of politicians towards the development of the country. Our civil servants are neck deep in corruption. Politicians are interested only in their personal power. They do not think beyond their power.
Our country is facing power shortage problem & if we try to save some units daily, we can make a big difference, still a question disturbs the peace of my mind. Why a bulb which uses 100 watt power costs Rs10 only while a 18wt energy saver costs Rs110. Now what can you accept a poor person. This is where only administration can create difference.
CNG service started very late in Delhi. Now when we know that CNG is very eco-friendly, what are we waiting for. Let pollution level make some new records in other cities, after that our administration will think abt that.
But what can one except from these governments when they are power hungry, destabilizing the elected governments, abusing each other and indulging in petty politics. As long as we have people like Lalu prasad, Mayawati, Mulayam, Buta singh, Shibu Soren and like. We can never reach even one fourth of what super powers have acheived. So Indian people needs to be self disciplined about everything, especially about cleanliness. Otherwise, India will become superpower in dirtiness too.
We should appreciate this article .
this is a habit of the people to blame the government before they know what they are doing ? ” Try to improve yourself first , then blame others ” !!
i remember the APJ KALAM speech on the same issue . but i really wonder when you have all the corrupted people actually standing in front of you n you have to choose the least corrupted person n you do tht but the end result will be the same , the same corrupted system . people go for the governmental jobs coz they want othave the bribe. the same people seek support of corrupted people n standfor the elections n then work under the influence of the same corrupted people . mr. APJ was there as president . can anybody quote something that brought a change to the sweet system of india . it was hell before n it will remain always .
Indeed, “Improvement begins with I”!
We need to discipline ourselves first, before we blame the system!