India's persona

The earth has 7 continents and 197 countries. All these countries have their own cultures. Now, I  imagine; what if all these varied cultures were part of a single country? Well, that is India in a

nutshell for you! This is a country where all the four corners are poles apart.

All the countries of the world have their own cultures and languages, because a nation is nothing but the people residing there. Therefore, I believe that the persona of a nation is nothing but the persona of the people in it. So then, what can we say about a country like India, where its cultures are so diverse?

I believe that India follows the principles of humanity, universal brotherhood and equality. Our value system is based on the principle of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”, which means “The world is our family”. Everyone who lives in India belongs to different religions, but all of us believe in living in peaceful co-existence, as “Live and let live” is our motto. Above all, when the need arises, all of us are ready to stand together for the nation, come what may. This echoes our principle of Unity in Diversity.

And so, on a final note, I can say that India is a tolerant, secular, peace-loving, helpful, generous, accommodating and friendly country.

And that is what makes me proud to be an Indian.

Contributed by Viraaj Kaza

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India is a very beautiful country with history dating back to about hundreds of years. It is a mysterious place with lots of attractions. Even with such a long history, the power of this majestic country lies within the hands of its youth. People here are very caring, patient and nice! In some places in remote areas, if you are a stranger, there is no need to worry for there will be someone who will let you in their home. :-) This place is colorful literally and in their hearts.

There are about more than six religions in India. This itself shows how much tolerance prevails here. The people are very interesting. They usually greet each other with the tightest of hugs, listen to songs in the highest of volumes, dance as if it was their last time to do so, shout the loudest and of course, eat as much as the stocks last! Festivals are the time to look out for, because I feel that Indians are the experts at celebrating their vibrant festivals!

The religious places in India give you the much needed peace and the silence to let the divineness sink into you. The mythological stories and the stories behind historical monuments intrigue you! You end up researching a lot about it; and in turn, you learn about your country.

Historical monuments are amazingly built. When you visit a place with historic heritage, you wonder how that architecture was made and how creative and artistic they were.

The beauty of India surely lies among the monuments and heritage sites. But the beauty is enhanced because of the kind of people living in it.

Contributed by Nikhil Kuppa

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We Are Like This Only!

We Are Like This Only!
...goes the saying in our country. Whoever coined this phrase has said it right.

There was a small plot lying vacant diagonally opposite to the flats where I live. For almost a week, I have been observing construction material being dumped on the main road causing inconvenience to all the commuters on this road...believe me this is the only main road for all the 250 odd flats of Sai Sairam Manor apartments and surrounding residences forget the rest who use this road as a short cut to Srinagar colony from Yousufguda.

Coz of this dumping and construction in full swing, one can imagine what the condition of the road and the plight of the people using this road would be. I decided to follow up with the Maintenance office folks of our Apartment complex to get the road cleared. I got a response from them stating that the supervisor at the construction site is not paying any heed to us so cannot do much!

So I contemplated for a day and then thought of resolving this problem on my own yesterday.

Yesterday, May 6th morning I decided to drop Shreya at her summer camp and then pick up some mangoes from Reliance Fresh as Sandip was keen on relishing some good mangoes...the Benishaan variety especially.

As my driver drove the steep slope of the apartment gate, I was perplexed to see that the road was completely blocked by this damn material and everyone just managed to drive on the rubble but not a single soul bothered to complain or request the supervisor at the site to clear this mess up. (This did remind me of the VIP Briefs ad...showing how people in India "adjust" in all ways possible:-) )

Anyway, I carried on with my work and thought of talking to the supervisor on my return home. I called up Sandip and updated him. (Sandip called up the GHMC call center and lodged a complaint.) As said, I did speak to the supervisor and couple of them at the site requesting them to make way so that people can use this road with ease. I was told that the whole masonry would be cleared in an hours time.

In fact my bigger worry was to get this cleared asap because even 10 mins of rain turns this road into a river, literally! You never know when the summer showers would show up their face in this city!

Being an optimist, I came home a bit frustrated thinking about the people around who live in the flats next door, next blocks, the so-called president of the society, the secretary, the treasurer, god knows what they designate themselves. These guys are always ready to assemble for any religious activity be it Ganesh Chaturti or the not-so-important one day affair of Rama Navami (atleast for me!), etc.

I came home and told Sandip that the situation outside on the road demands that we do something! Not for us but atleast for the people...for medical emergency as there was no space left on the road for an ambulance to drive in.

We decided to lodge a complaint and inform concerned government authorities so that something could be done sooner or atleast get a positive response.

The first thought the came in what to call Diya, our friend, so that we could get a TOI reporter to get this covered by the media. Diya, always positive in approach, told me that she would get back to me asap on this matter.

But I was loosing my patience and was really frustrated and starting questioning:
- Why is it that people are so indifferent?
- Why is that nobody cares or shows interest in getting things in order?
- Forget about the whole society, why does not one Sairam Manor resident come forward to make some difference in the surroundings of the apartment itself?
- Religious activities are given so much of importance...do I called this devotion? Loud speakers being played at full volume so show that Prayers are on.
Isn't this noise pollution?
- If the literates show this attitude towards the society, why do we expect the illiterates to behave in a better way?

Well...time was ticking by and Sandip only prompted to dial 100 and inform police. For me this was nothing new. I had dialed the Banjara Hills police station on various instances to get things in order earlier. Without hesitation I called up Banjara Hills PS but none answered the call. It was very unusual as there has always been a prompt response from these cops. I hung up. I dialed 100 and within 3 mins, someone did pick up the call. I explained the details with location. I was told that the police would reach the spot in 15 mins.

As I was waiting for the police to come, I took my camera and went down to click few snaps so that I could send it to the TOI. Diya called and confirmed the TOI reporter is only available by lunch time. But no worries, the cops called up to confirm that they will be reaching in 5 mins.
Sandip also came down and confirmed that the police would be reaching in 10 mins.

The cops, Sandip and I went to the construction site and spoke to the supervisor. Heated arguments, shouts, could only be expected. The cop was ready to arrest the supervisor and take him to the PS. But we interfered and said that our intention to call police was not to arrest someone but to get things in order. For all you know, the cops would take him to the PS and leave the supervisor after an hour or so...after taking some bribe? What do you think?

In sometime, the matter got resolved. We were promised that the rubble would be cleared in an hour's time and the same would not be repeated. And I did promise the supervisor that everyday I would take a snap of the site and keep it posted to concerned authorities if things get worse after this day!

Finally, came home exhausted but was really happy with the result and was content that we could do our bit to help others at least this way!

But it is sad that for such petty matters, one has to involve the police (these cops have much bigger challenges to handle), otherwise who listens to you?

We Indians are like this only!
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Author- Madhumati Dubey

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Olympics 2008 - Bhindra wins the first gold medal for India

Kudos to Abhinav Bhindra...he has done the country proud by winning the individual gold medal in the 10m air rifle event.

Also, he has set upon us new wave of enthusiasm and encouragement that we too can win Olympic gold medals.

I am sure that in the coming Olympics our sportpersons with support from the governments and corporates will win many more medals.

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