“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls;
Where words come from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action;
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.”
These inspiring words of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore in his immortal creation, ‘Gitanjali’ give me a wonderful vision of a country one dreams of. Tagore has portrayed the cherished and desired qualitative aspects of life, those of nobility, self-esteem, enlightenment, broad-mindedness, truth, perfection, apt reasoning, right action and the required awakening to be achieved by each and every Indian and that could be exquisitely woven into the India of my dreams.
India, the land of snake charmers and of rope tricks, is interlaced with a diversity of rich cultures shaped by her long glorious past, her remarkable and unique geographic landscape running from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and the assimilation of traditions and ideas from her pre-historic heritage, which grew over the past five millennia from the ethos of the Vedic Age down to the Indus Valley Civilisation, the rise and decline of Buddhism, the Golden Age, the conquest and the triumphal rule of the Mughals and the colonisation of the subcontinent. The dynamic diversification of cultural practices, languages, customs and traditions of this landmass illustrates a proper perspective of a unique combination. Her hard-won freedom from the British rule is now more than seven decades old, but woefully she is still surrounded by problems. So, it is obvious that I dream of how my country should be.
After Independence, India had to come in conflict with the Portuguese which led to the successful integration of Dadra and Nagar Haveli in 1954 and that of Goa, Daman and Diu in 1961. Then she had to fight four big wars—Sino-Indian War of 1962, Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 leading to the liberation of Bangladesh and the Kargil War of 1999. I dream of my country, India to be a nation of peace and tranquillity. India is a place where war has no business; India herself is the leading country in promoting universal peace, unity and integrity. Because of her efforts, there is a secure, peaceful co-existence among other nations. The India of my dreams believes in the policy of ‘live and let live’. She cooperates and accommodates with other nations and simultaneously accomplishes her objectives based on understanding, friendship and goodwill with all. But that does not mean that she has no armed forces at all! Well, I dream that her army, navy and air force each is ranked Numero Uno, be in power or in number. They are morally upright and always ready to sacrifice their lives for the sake of their matribhumi and the world peace. They are so brave and fearless that at times, they are deputed to disturbed areas in various places of the world as a part of Peacekeeping Forces of the United Nations!
Currently, we see that various crimes are on the rise. Some crimes go unreported due to the fear of further torture at the hands of the perpetrators, sometimes innocent people are made the scapegoats and unjustifiably framed into cases of crimes committed by others in the society. For her internal administration, I visualise a responsible government that would be quick in framing better laws for better life of the citizens, creating an atmosphere of amity among the people and implementing severe punishments for unscrupulous elements that would control the crime rate, in robbery, kidnapping, rape or murder, in such a way that they soon become obsolete issues. Each and every citizen of this country then possesses an outstanding, moral character, is honest and believes in prompt help and action when required. He or she feels proud to be an Indian and does not need to emigrate to a foreign land for permanent settlement when everything here is aplenty.
India has been a place where gods and goddesses have been worshipped alike since times immemorial, but still the women continue to be oppressed in some way or the other. In the India of my dreams, no ‘Saraswati’ will be deprived of education and no ‘Durga’ would be oppressed by the wicked. In fact, every woman will be educated and empowered. Today, the soul of our nation quivers when it hears of heinous crimes committed against women. India of my dreams will be a place where even at midnight, women can freely go around places. According to the 2011 Census report, there was a decline of girl population under the age of seven, with activists estimating that eight million female foetuses may have been aborted in the past decade. In the India of my dreams, female foeticide and infanticide will be treated as inhuman by everybody.
The National Crime Records Bureau of India reported that a total of 2,96,438 Indian farmers had committed suicide since 1995. Such a figure is a slur on an agrarian country like ours. Farmers form the backbone of our country as they sweat day and night for the production of crops. I dream of a nation where farming is considered as a noble profession and where farmers are given a guaranteed such minimal pay by the government that none among them lives in penury, leave alone is compelled to commit suicide, even if there is a scanty produce. All this can be made possible only with better governance and if well meaning reforms are made by our politicians. They can work together to ameliorate the condition of agriculture by bringing in purposeful agricultural reforms and making arrangements to introduce modern technologies in agriculture.
Hundreds of people die every day because they are in abject poverty. They find it difficult to run their families or get their children educated decently. Unfortunately, the richest 1% of the Indian population owns 58.4% of the wealth. The rich are getting richer and at a faster rate than the poor. The inequality of income serves as a major cause for the dismal access to healthcare and education for the poor. The India of my dreams will be a place where there will be amicability and unity among the haves and the have-nots; where the wealthy classes are quick to help the poor in need and strive to fight for the eradication of poverty; where timely assistance to the citizens and denizens is given during natural calamities like disasters, famines, droughts, floods, etc.; where child labour is unknown to people and the children are given the rights and privileges to go to school and acquire knowledge; where the education system is so lucid and robust that people from other parts of the world consider it their privilege to come and study in India as was in the times of Nalanda and Takshila; where the people are free from the shackles of shallow thinking and corrupt mentality due to their superior thinking and focus on attaining a high, moral character, imbibed into them from early childhood; and where people consider crime and corruption as inhuman.
The India of my dreams will make a magnanimous tryst with destiny when Tricolour is hoisted not only on the moon but also on Mars and we set up colonies there. Then truly, it will be a place where a small step of any novel idea or a good action becomes a giant leap for mankind. The success of the Indian Space Research Organisation peaks and reaches the skies whereby scientists and engineers from NASA come here to learn more. The scientists here have already made a breakthrough in harvesting a clean energy from nuclear power. Better jobs and lifestyle attract foreigners to come here and work. Most important of all, the economy is ever-flourishing. Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa have shown us to love mankind. In the India of my dreams, there will be no dearth of people like them. There, people will be always ready to help one another. Poverty, corruption, communalism, casteism, bribery and nepotism will not have any place. Laws will be simple and transparent. Justice will neither be delayed nor denied. Science and technology will be the best in the world. There will be food for all. There will be a uniform civil code which can accommodate every Indian to his or her satisfaction. Last, but not least, morality will be at its zenith and people around the world will deem it a pride to imitate us and call the India of my dreams as Sare Jahan Se Achchha.