Today, the mood in India is to march to the border and slaughter those who killed our twenty brave men. And in the midst of this bristling rage, has come a call to ban all things Chinese!
For most of us this means checking if a product is made in China, then not buying it, which gives us very little choice but to buy one made locally and which brings me to the question, why did we stop buying our own products in the first place?
We did, not just because those made in China, were just cheaper, but also and more importantly that their products for that low price could also be relied on.
Ours cannot! And why not? Because, we have not made, ’reliability’ and ‘dependability’ a brand. Because, everything we do is built on compromise, which is just another word for ’corruption!’
As a nation, we think we hate corruption, and we did root out the previous government for this. I do believe that our PM on a personal level is not corrupt, but are we as a people corrupt?
Ask yourself! Because it’s not going to be soldiers or muscle that’s going to win this war against our heavily armed neighbor, but how we handle corruption in our backyard!
And where exactly is our backyard?
Our churches, temples and other places of worship, our housing societies and places of work, even our homes where we whip up, shape and manufacture this product called ‘corruption’.
I’ve sat on boards of religious institutions, housing societies, social clubs, and seen how openly we bluff, manipulate and fudge the truth!
We have made all these institutions, manufacturing hubs of dishonesty and corruption, and finally when the same minds move from their clubs to their workshops, from their housing societies to their factories, they use the same methods to create products!
And those products fail!
I’ve sat at homes where the telephone rings, a child picks it, is asked for his or her father and the little one turns and asks, “Daddy, are you at home?”
And there! We’ve done it: Made lying official!
The ‘made locally’ products we compromisingly prepare with our broken, worthless values, are as broken and as useless, also, as worthless!
If you and I want to fight the Chinese, the battle starts in our backyard. Your weapons have to be guns of truth and shields of integrity. Then and only then will we win these battles.
Practice fighting against injustice, pit yourself against dishonesty, stand against bullying of the weak and helpless, and as you build muscle doing this, that same new character in us, will manufacture products that are world beaters. This, and only this will help you tackle the aggression from our hostile neighbor! This, and only this will bring victory to our nation!
Anything else, is plain hogwash..!
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Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and writes a daily column, which has graced the pages of over 60 newspapers and magazines, from a daily column in the Khaleej Times, Dubai, the Morning Star, London, and in nearly every state in India, from The Statesman in Kolkata, to the Kashmir Times in Kashmir to the Trinity Mirror in Chennai.
Well said Sir! It’ll take some time and a lot of patience and effort to change our selves.
Absolutely correct. Totally not achievable. Readers may say this is true but shy away when they have to do it. And the basket will always have some proverbial rotten apples. Noble thoughts though.
You’ve hit the nail on the head, as usual, Bobby. I always told the children that a lying tongue is an abomination to the Lord. We’ve jumped from the frying pan into the fire with change of govt., sadly.
Reliability and dependability..total hogwash in our country..corrupt to the core..we teach our children to tell the truth at home..but when they grow up and have to face the world on their own..what they receive from others outside they pick up..it becomes ingrained in their minds..and hence they are battling it out too..confused dealing with corruption!
Corruption has to be rooted out starting from the top..then it can be watered down to the least..infact the poor maybe more honest than the richest people in our country..even in their words and talk..more reliable and dependable..
For 70+ years ,our subconscious mind has been programmed to ” chalta hai” attitude, compromising on our ethics and moral ,just to appease the masses!! In that race to appease the masses eyeing on votebank ofcourse, the true essence of truthfulness , quality and genuineness have gone for a toss, leaving behind nothing but corrupt measures to reach that goal….start from oneself rather than look upon the higher ups!! Repitition is the art to get the act of honesty ingress into our subconscious mind, which rolls out spontaneously ,rather than a thought over act..
To do away with corruption we need to strike at the roots not hack at the branches !
The whole nation loses its face when its peoples are dishonest, untruthful and corrupt.
It may be due to centuries of poverty.
You are right Bobby. Corruption , Compromise and Adjust has been there for years. Adjust a little and everything will be alright, this prevails even now. During theses days of Lockedown & Lockedin, we have learnt to adjust and manage.
The time has come for all of us as a nation to call the shorts and look for better days for all offerings. No more adjusting, no more compromising and most of all no Corruptive moves…
Well said
Honesty must begin within
Honest should be a main ingredient of Every House.
Your article is a bulls eye . My opinion is that the cleansing must begin from high and mighty . Then it will embrace the lower rungs . Otherwise it’s a frustration all along .
The Japanese did it.. nothing stopping India from raising the bar🇮🇳