The Nation We Want

“What is the nation that you want?”

Had this question been posed a few years ago, I would have given the most ideal answer.

 I’d say:

“I want a corruption-free nation; I want to eradicate poverty; I want more opportunities; I want more development; I want education for all.”

Has the answer changed now? No, but the need of the hour has.

In the past few years, the nation has seen the most radical developments. From the upheaval against delayed justice to the inception of the Aam Aadmi Party, every day, famous or infamous, has been worth noting down in history. No more do we demand eradication of poverty and of corruption. India has reached that phase in time when the youth takes the responsibility on its shoulders. Want justice? Make your demand felt. Need eradication of corruption? Join politics. Yearn for better standards of living? Give opportunities so that you receive some. This is the attitude of the youth and it is reflecting on every social development. Rape, murder, corruption, poverty, sanitation, illiteracy and unemployment aren’t just titles given to social issues that can be tackled some other day. For the youth, the time is now.

What the nation currently needs is a review and a belief. Having been governed and trained by the same voice, the dreams of the nation have become obsolete. Since independence, India has grown at a faster rate than any other nation. We faced the green revolution, developed rural and urban industries, raised the literacy rate, improved infrastructure, launched PSLVs (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles) and GSLVs (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicles) and moreover, aided foreign nations in development too. Over 2013, India implemented Right to Education and made feeble attempts at freedom of cyber expression. We have accomplished the monorails and moon mission but we need fresh aspirations.

Haven’t all of us at times reached the point where we stop writing the ‘to-do list’ and actually do it? Be it out of exhaustion or the urgency of the need for change, the new wants aren’t mere wants; they are the change. Loftier issues will be confronted, one at a time. At this instant, the immediate demand is for voices to be heard, passions to be acknowledged and benchmarks to be set.

Back in 1947, India saw a revolution. Are we brave enough to make India envision another? I say yes. Our goal now is not to replicate the technical developments of Japan or the governance in the United States of America or the literacy rate of Canada. The goal is to establish a nation that dreams of new developments; that breathes in the assurance of humanity; that places ethics before greed. Moreover, the goal is to create a workforce of citizens that shall not stop until these goals are transformed into reality.

Here, I am questioned again:

“What is the nation that you want?”

I want a nation that stops wanting and starts doing. I feel proud and privileged to accept that the time of change has come and youth is powerful enough to take the reins of the future in their hands. The eternal quest for opulence will be satisfied. Yes, we have faced hardships and yes, more are yet to come. Back in 1947 our leaders took a pledge; they rested their dreams and faith in the future revolutionaries. Time has come to redeem it and we want to.