The President of India DR. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam 's Speech in Hyderabad .



Why is the media here so negative?

Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our

achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success

stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?

We are the first in milk production.

We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.

We are the second largest producer of wheat.

We are the second largest producer of rice.

Look at Dr. Sudarshan , he has transferred the tribal village into a

self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements

but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters. I

was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the

day

after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The

Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a

Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an

orchid

and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The

gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the

newspaper, buried among other news.



In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are

we so

NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with

foreign

things? We want foreign T. Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign

technology.



Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that

self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this

lecture,

when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her

goal

in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India . For her,

you and I will have to build this developed India . You must proclaim.

India

is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation. Do you

have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance.



Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is

yours.

YOU say that our government is inefficient.

YOU say that our laws are too old.

YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.

YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke,

The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination.

YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.



YOU say, say and say. What do YOU do about it?

Take a person on his way to Singapore . Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a

face - YOURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International

best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in

the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are. You

pay

$5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim

Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to the

parking

lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or

a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity... In Singapore you

don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during

Ramadan, in Dubai . YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered

in Jeddah . YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange

in London at 10 pounds ( Rs.650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD and ISD

calls are billed to someone else.'YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph

(88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop,

'Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son.

Take your two bucks and get lost.' YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut

shell

anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New

Zealand .

Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo ? Why don't YOU use

examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston ??? We are still

talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign

system

in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and

cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an

involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the

same here in India ?



Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay , Mr.

Tinaikar , had a point to make. 'Rich people's dogs are walked on the

streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,' he said.

'And

then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the

authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the

officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the

pressure

in his bowels?

In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job.

Same in Japan . Will the Indian citizen do that here?' He's right. We go to

the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility.

We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do

everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect

the

government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all

over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper

and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms

but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.

We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and

toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity.

This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to

the public. When it comes to burning social issues like those related to

women, dowry, girl child! and others, we make loud drawing room

protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? 'It's the

whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my

sons' rights to a dowry.' So who's going to change the system?

What does a system consist of ? Very conveniently for us it consists of our

neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the

government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually

making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with

our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far

away and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a

majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.

Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their

glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to

England . When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight

out

to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and

brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape

the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is

mortgaged to money.



Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great

deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too.... I am echoing

J. F.

Kennedy 's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....



'ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA

AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA

WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY'



Lets do what India needs from us.