Why?

And why must we stay indifferent? Why must we stay silent when injustice, infidelity and corruption is all around us? Can we not fix it? All that is required is that we act on it. All it takes is an impulsive action to address the matter at hand. There is a leaking drain in front of your house, why don’t you call the municipal corporation? There is a dark alley with no streetlights, you know it is unsafe at times, why don’t you call the municipal corporation? There is a pothole on the road you take to office, why don’t you call the municipal corporation? Why can’t proactive action such as this be your social media feed? It takes ten minutes to draft and print a letter. Why can that not be done?

Why must you not take more responsibility to ensure that the private colleges teach your sons and daughters better? Why can you not take action to ensure that they do not charge arbitrary fees? Blaming them for making money out of your weak-willed attitude is definitely not the way forward. When was the last time you wrote a letter to the principal raising the issue of zero playtime? When was the last time you asked for an upgrade to the library? When was the last time money was spent on donating books to the school library? We do not give thought to strengthening our own institutions. We do not contribute to the creation of better men, a better society and thus a better nation! What right do we have to complain about the sorry state of affairs?

We demand a better nation without doing a thing to better it. We plead with god to make our lives better, but do not realize that we already have what we need – a fully functional body and mind. Isn’t that a blessing enough to build a country? Will an extra pair of arms, or feet, or an extra head be an advantage? Will it help you add value to the country? No! It is only the will, and devotion to the nation’s cause which will ever help you do good. It requires a fiery heart to do good, and everyone must have a fiery heart. Will that smile on another man’s face not satisfy your ego? What sort of a life is it, if it is not lived to impact a billion others? Each of us has the capability to surmount challenges, we have all been given a lifetime of chances to try and do something or the other to contribute directly to society, so why not take up the cause of a billion others while seeking benefit for yourself?

Politics has been much maligned in this country, why must it be so? We do produce some of the finest minds, so why can we not better our own society? We provide the best and the cheapest engineers to countries abroad, so why are our roads and building so poorly built? Is it not our own folly that our nation’s administration is left to the scum, that it is left to thugs, goons, and third-rate humans to rule over us? What happens to the people’s voice? Why can we not calibrate individual decisions with the interests of the nation? Why must Sri Rama be born anywhere, except in our own homes? Why can’t every child born be dedicated to national development? At the end of the day, it is politicians who decide our fate, so why not urge the best to take up the mantle of responsibility? Why can’t the best, most eligible leader of the nation be born in our own homes? If we do believe that we are better, saner, and more rational, then why don’t we take up the mantle ourselves?

To me, that is romance. That is how to live.

Yes, indeed this is a thorny path, but why can it not be a path you choose? Why can we not put in the effort to spend sleepless nights for our people, our civilization and our country? Is it not what you own? Is it not where you were born? When we curse our fate for being born here, why can we not be the heroes who will change fate for generations to come?

It is every man’s fate to be born alone and to die alone, fortunate will I be when a billion weep when I die, and fortunate will this country have been for a son like me was born at her womb.