It's a new year, a new dawn, and a time to dream big. One hopes that along with the headlong rush for global influence and position that the nation is engaged in, there will also be an inward gaze, a benevolent eye looking at the predicament of the common man in the cities, towns and villages across the country, writes Jahnavi Barua
Another year rolls to an end and a new year begins. As always, this turning of old into new brings with it a fresh churning: old dreams, aspirations and hopes are sifted over, and some discarded; new hopes flicker and gather strength, blazing into steady fires. This is the time of renewal, of rejuvenation, of fashioning anew tired spirits and lives.
At the end of the last year, the country had been seized by horror and grief at the brutalisation of a young woman in Delhi. An old story, perhaps, in a country where women are terrorised on the streets everyday, but there was something different, something distinct about this case that touched the souls of so many citizens of this country. People, normally impassive, who are used to turning away from others, responded fiercely to this tragedy. Perhaps it was the fighting spirit of the girl who, after her inhuman attack, endured several operations and then, poised on the brink of death, still displayed an indomitable will to live. She reached out to people around her, kept in touch with what was going on, and fighting through her sea of pain, even gave a detailed statement to the police from her hospital bed. The nation watched her fight with awe and waited with bated breath as she was airlifted to Singapore for further medical care. It was with immense grief that the nation received the news of her death on the morning of 29th of December 2012.
The first wish for the new year just appearing over the horizon is that what happened with this young girl never be repeated again. That from this senseless tragedy should emerge a resolute intent to make this country safe for women and children. Young girls — young boys too — some as young as in primary school, are harassed on the streets of our towns, cities and villages. Young women are jostled and pinched, lewd remarks are hurled at them in the jungle of our public spaces. Older women are no less safe — mothers, housewives, even grandmothers are not safe from predators on our streets. Time now that this attitude towards women change. It will take many years perhaps before it becomes a country safe for women and children. But one hopes that the change has begun. Maybe it has, maybe a spark has been lit that will ignite and burn strongly across the country.
Safety concerns
Safety, in another sense, also needs to be addressed; especially in our city, once called the Garden City, now mockingly referred to as the Garbage City. The city has, in recent months, been smothered by uncleared garbage that is seen piled up in small mountains at every corner. An offensive sight, a hazardous problem that demands an urgent solution. While the city is being defiled by these piles of waste, the buck is being passed around in the corridors of power, tossed like a ball from hand to powerful hand. In this new year, buoyed, hopefully by good intent and goodwill, it is hoped that the people who have the power to make a change will make it, decisively and effectively. The citizens of this beautiful city deserve no less and demand no less.
Their Garden City, the IT city of the country, deserves to be cleared of these unsightly scars on its face.
The situation with water in this city has not changed either. Ground water is scarce and getting scarcer still. While the citizens of the city have initiated — many on their own and others spurred on by Government regulation — rain water harvesting and other water saving measures, one wonders if more can be done, by both the government and the people. Without water, life will surely be as dry and parched as the desert the land will inevitably turn to. It is hoped that in the coming year newer and stronger initiatives will be taken to address this acute problem.
Along with the water, one hopes, the other long standing infrastructure problems the city faces are tackled. Traffic congestion, air and noise pollution caused by incessant construction still terrorise the city. Again, the resolution of these will be a long process; the streets of Bangalore will not be unclogged overnight, nor will the sky be clear in a day, but the process has to be initiated. By the combined efforts of the government and the people that are part of the infrastructure development, such as builders. Of course, it will be naive to believe that commercial considerations will rise over environmental ones, but sometimes there is no harm in believing in the goodwill and good intentions of men. Only when goodness is expected is it sometimes received.
Waves of hostility
An unexpected, unprecedented new danger raised its head in our city in recent months. Initiated by malicious elements, unfortunately taking advantage of events far away in another corner of the country, a tide of xenophobia washed over this most tolerant of cities. One can speak with conviction and confidence of the warmth and friendliness of this once small town. When one settled here more than two decades ago, it opened its arms unstintingly, and soon became home. Its friendly skies, often grey but nevertheless beloved, the soft rain that fell like a benediction every afternoon, the trees that surprised one by unexpectedly bursting into flower overnight, and the slow unhurried pace of life here soothed like no other place. The inhabitants of this city responded to this serene rhythm with a gentleness and tolerance unique to them. The recent waves of hostility against so-called outsiders, all fellow countrymen really, was thus all the more bewildering. Watching the national media reports which often painted Bangalore as a city dangerous to outsiders was difficult and disillusioning. Let us, in the coming year, ensure that Bangalore is never spoken of in this way again. Let us work together and bring this gentle city back onto the moderate path that it always followed.
Across the country, in the past year, there have been pockets of intense violence: in the Kokrajhar district of Assam, large scale riots erupted as a result of festering tensions against illegal aliens settling in native land. In fact, the same tension simmers across the entire Northeast of the country and vested interests keep these conflicts alive at great cost to human lives. The situation in Kashmir is as strife-ridden as ever.
New conflicts have seized the central parts of the country. One hopes that in the months to come, these conflicts are at least, addressed, for one knows that to resolve them fully will take years, or maybe even decades. But a change has to begin and one hopes that the beginning will come in this new year.
Sense of frustration
Unemployment, hunger, lack of safe water, health facilities and education are problems that still persist across our nation. At the dawn of every new year, one feels the deep sense of shame and helplessness at the indifference with which successive governments have treated these critical problems. This new year is no different and one is again seized by the familiar sense of frustration. Yet, one hopes that some of these issues will begin to be addressed and will get a fair hearing. One hopes that along with the headlong rush for global influence and position that the nation is engaged in, there will also be an inward gaze, a benevolent eye looking at the predicament of the common man in the cities, towns and villages across the country.
Dry figures reporting great strides in GDP, lowering of inflation, ranking of our own in
the lists of billionaires across the world mean very little when the heartland of the nation is starving, bereft of even hope that things will turn for the better any time soon. Every farmer that kills himself, unable to repay a few thousand rupees, should strike a blow at the conscience of this increasingly indifferent nation.
What is it that ails this country? What is it that the nation needs at this hour? Too long we have looked to the government, to the established structures of power. Appealing to them seems to be of little use, they have grown complacent, lethargic with feeding on easily obtained power. Democracy is a tool politicians across the spectrum have manipulated effectively in this largely illiterate country. The true nature of democracy has never been revealed to the masses, a true democracy is still an elusive thing. Perhaps it is time to look within ourselves, at our communities, to see what we can do to drive the nation forward. There has been a concerted move against corruption in many parts of the country, and it is heartening to see ordinary citizens pouring out onto the streets in support of this campaign. People seem to now have had enough of being manipulated by the powers that be. Yet now, this movement seems to have lost impetus, there seems to be a danger of it fizzling out after all. Democracy must be built up from the grassroots and what better place to start than with the children of the nation. Across the country, in villages and cities, school children have to be taught good citizenship, the true meaning of democracy, the real nature of goodness and maybe, maybe, in the years to come, this effort will yield results.
So it is with rising hope, tempered of course by past experience, one looks forward to this new year. It has been cold these past few days, swathes of thick fog have obscured much of the northern plains, yet the sun still rises and manages to break free, pouring its warmth onto this beloved earth. Birds call out cheerfully in greeting and streak across the winter sky in brightly coloured flocks. May this year break free of the despair that surrounded the passing of the last. May the sun shine vigorously over our beloved nation, coaxing from it all the goodness that lies within.
Another year rolls to an end and a new year begins. As always, this turning of old into new brings with it a fresh churning: old dreams, aspirations and hopes are sifted over, and some discarded; new hopes flicker and gather strength, blazing into steady fires. This is the time of renewal, of rejuvenation, of fashioning anew tired spirits and lives.
At the end of the last year, the country had been seized by horror and grief at the brutalisation of a young woman in Delhi. An old story, perhaps, in a country where women are terrorised on the streets everyday, but there was something different, something distinct about this case that touched the souls of so many citizens of this country. People, normally impassive, who are used to turning away from others, responded fiercely to this tragedy. Perhaps it was the fighting spirit of the girl who, after her inhuman attack, endured several operations and then, poised on the brink of death, still displayed an indomitable will to live. She reached out to people around her, kept in touch with what was going on, and fighting through her sea of pain, even gave a detailed statement to the police from her hospital bed. The nation watched her fight with awe and waited with bated breath as she was airlifted to Singapore for further medical care. It was with immense grief that the nation received the news of her death on the morning of 29th of December 2012.
The first wish for the new year just appearing over the horizon is that what happened with this young girl never be repeated again. That from this senseless tragedy should emerge a resolute intent to make this country safe for women and children. Young girls — young boys too — some as young as in primary school, are harassed on the streets of our towns, cities and villages. Young women are jostled and pinched, lewd remarks are hurled at them in the jungle of our public spaces. Older women are no less safe — mothers, housewives, even grandmothers are not safe from predators on our streets. Time now that this attitude towards women change. It will take many years perhaps before it becomes a country safe for women and children. But one hopes that the change has begun. Maybe it has, maybe a spark has been lit that will ignite and burn strongly across the country.
Safety concerns
Safety, in another sense, also needs to be addressed; especially in our city, once called the Garden City, now mockingly referred to as the Garbage City. The city has, in recent months, been smothered by uncleared garbage that is seen piled up in small mountains at every corner. An offensive sight, a hazardous problem that demands an urgent solution. While the city is being defiled by these piles of waste, the buck is being passed around in the corridors of power, tossed like a ball from hand to powerful hand. In this new year, buoyed, hopefully by good intent and goodwill, it is hoped that the people who have the power to make a change will make it, decisively and effectively. The citizens of this beautiful city deserve no less and demand no less.
Their Garden City, the IT city of the country, deserves to be cleared of these unsightly scars on its face.
The situation with water in this city has not changed either. Ground water is scarce and getting scarcer still. While the citizens of the city have initiated — many on their own and others spurred on by Government regulation — rain water harvesting and other water saving measures, one wonders if more can be done, by both the government and the people. Without water, life will surely be as dry and parched as the desert the land will inevitably turn to. It is hoped that in the coming year newer and stronger initiatives will be taken to address this acute problem.
Along with the water, one hopes, the other long standing infrastructure problems the city faces are tackled. Traffic congestion, air and noise pollution caused by incessant construction still terrorise the city. Again, the resolution of these will be a long process; the streets of Bangalore will not be unclogged overnight, nor will the sky be clear in a day, but the process has to be initiated. By the combined efforts of the government and the people that are part of the infrastructure development, such as builders. Of course, it will be naive to believe that commercial considerations will rise over environmental ones, but sometimes there is no harm in believing in the goodwill and good intentions of men. Only when goodness is expected is it sometimes received.
Waves of hostility
An unexpected, unprecedented new danger raised its head in our city in recent months. Initiated by malicious elements, unfortunately taking advantage of events far away in another corner of the country, a tide of xenophobia washed over this most tolerant of cities. One can speak with conviction and confidence of the warmth and friendliness of this once small town. When one settled here more than two decades ago, it opened its arms unstintingly, and soon became home. Its friendly skies, often grey but nevertheless beloved, the soft rain that fell like a benediction every afternoon, the trees that surprised one by unexpectedly bursting into flower overnight, and the slow unhurried pace of life here soothed like no other place. The inhabitants of this city responded to this serene rhythm with a gentleness and tolerance unique to them. The recent waves of hostility against so-called outsiders, all fellow countrymen really, was thus all the more bewildering. Watching the national media reports which often painted Bangalore as a city dangerous to outsiders was difficult and disillusioning. Let us, in the coming year, ensure that Bangalore is never spoken of in this way again. Let us work together and bring this gentle city back onto the moderate path that it always followed.
Across the country, in the past year, there have been pockets of intense violence: in the Kokrajhar district of Assam, large scale riots erupted as a result of festering tensions against illegal aliens settling in native land. In fact, the same tension simmers across the entire Northeast of the country and vested interests keep these conflicts alive at great cost to human lives. The situation in Kashmir is as strife-ridden as ever.
New conflicts have seized the central parts of the country. One hopes that in the months to come, these conflicts are at least, addressed, for one knows that to resolve them fully will take years, or maybe even decades. But a change has to begin and one hopes that the beginning will come in this new year.
Sense of frustration
Unemployment, hunger, lack of safe water, health facilities and education are problems that still persist across our nation. At the dawn of every new year, one feels the deep sense of shame and helplessness at the indifference with which successive governments have treated these critical problems. This new year is no different and one is again seized by the familiar sense of frustration. Yet, one hopes that some of these issues will begin to be addressed and will get a fair hearing. One hopes that along with the headlong rush for global influence and position that the nation is engaged in, there will also be an inward gaze, a benevolent eye looking at the predicament of the common man in the cities, towns and villages across the country.
Dry figures reporting great strides in GDP, lowering of inflation, ranking of our own in
the lists of billionaires across the world mean very little when the heartland of the nation is starving, bereft of even hope that things will turn for the better any time soon. Every farmer that kills himself, unable to repay a few thousand rupees, should strike a blow at the conscience of this increasingly indifferent nation.
What is it that ails this country? What is it that the nation needs at this hour? Too long we have looked to the government, to the established structures of power. Appealing to them seems to be of little use, they have grown complacent, lethargic with feeding on easily obtained power. Democracy is a tool politicians across the spectrum have manipulated effectively in this largely illiterate country. The true nature of democracy has never been revealed to the masses, a true democracy is still an elusive thing. Perhaps it is time to look within ourselves, at our communities, to see what we can do to drive the nation forward. There has been a concerted move against corruption in many parts of the country, and it is heartening to see ordinary citizens pouring out onto the streets in support of this campaign. People seem to now have had enough of being manipulated by the powers that be. Yet now, this movement seems to have lost impetus, there seems to be a danger of it fizzling out after all. Democracy must be built up from the grassroots and what better place to start than with the children of the nation. Across the country, in villages and cities, school children have to be taught good citizenship, the true meaning of democracy, the real nature of goodness and maybe, maybe, in the years to come, this effort will yield results.
So it is with rising hope, tempered of course by past experience, one looks forward to this new year. It has been cold these past few days, swathes of thick fog have obscured much of the northern plains, yet the sun still rises and manages to break free, pouring its warmth onto this beloved earth. Birds call out cheerfully in greeting and streak across the winter sky in brightly coloured flocks. May this year break free of the despair that surrounded the passing of the last. May the sun shine vigorously over our beloved nation, coaxing from it all the goodness that lies within.