| May I have the pleasure to welcome you to | | | | alongside Ghana and Senegal with a CPI score of |
| ‘Incredible India’- Where the mind is | | | | 3.3 out of 10 on a scale where 0 is highly corrupt |
| without fear and the head is held high. The historic | | | | and 10 is highly clean. Where words come out |
| tryst with destiny and dreams that | | | | from the depths of truth. Any bells ringing? |
| ‘they’ saw turned into a diamond on | | | | Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards |
| 15th August, 2007. This is perhaps the best of | | | | perfection. This is just not the land of ‘lots |
| times. A time when we have created history as | | | | of people and lots of culture.’ These are |
| the prospective superpower, the deterrent | | | | the times when the Bachchans and Rais find place |
| nuclear power, the Information Technology and | | | | in the wax museums of London and New York. |
| outsourcing giant, the business and knowledge | | | | These are times when an Indian lady walks away |
| processing factory of the world and not to | | | | with the Booker prize and this doesn’t |
| mention the hackneyed protestations about being | | | | necessarily have to make the front page |
| the largest democracy et al. The head really | | | | headlines. Not to forget that this is the land that |
| stands high when you discover how Munna Bhai | | | | gave NASA two women who manned space. |
| and ‘Gandhigiri’ take the nation by | | | | While we waste time drawing gibes and guffaws |
| storm and actually make a difference to the | | | | about the state of Bihar, we have just failed to |
| Indian psyche. Fear vanishes from the mind when | | | | realize that a girl from the same place |
| you see the united ‘blue billion’ stand | | | | –Rena Golden – is now the senior |
| up and cheer for our eleven tigers as the nation | | | | vice president of CNN international. |
| roars out the war cry ! | | | | Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its |
| These are the times when the groves of | | | | way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit. |
| Academe in the country are making news across | | | | These are still the times when setting up a |
| the globe and churning out think tanks who power | | | | ‘people’ car’ factory in Bengal |
| global corporations. Where knowledge is free is | | | | involves bloodshed, bandhs and anarchy. These |
| not exactly the condition especially when the | | | | are unfortunately the times when our teens know |
| education in the country is still a challenge in many | | | | more about the shenanigans of our Bollywood |
| areas and an admission to premier institutions | | | | heroes and less about the four real life heroes in |
| comes along with a rider called reservation. | | | | the Kargil war whose undaunted courage under |
| Where the world has not been broken into | | | | fire won them Param Vir Chakra gallantry awards. |
| fragments by narrow domestic walls might just | | | | These are still the days when caste and creed |
| be a Utopian concept as the war on terror has | | | | decide our political leaders and life partners. |
| now transcended into words which come close to | | | | Where the mind is led forward by thee into |
| ‘conceit’ and | | | | ever-widening thought and action. We have come |
| ‘communalism’. The vitriolic activity | | | | a long way and the zeal to ‘to strive, to |
| of hostile neighbours, operations of twenty odd | | | | seek, to find and not to yield’ goes on. As |
| terror groups in the country, a million strong | | | | we stand at the ‘portals of change’ |
| military, battalions of paramilitary, the ubiquitous | | | | ready to face the rigour and the juggernaut ride |
| man in khakis and a hung House over the | | | | of inexorable competition in the near future, it is |
| ‘nuclear deal with the US’ creates a | | | | imperative for each one of us to recognize |
| quagmire. This is the battle to defend the walls | | | | ‘that this is the hour that produces the |
| that define our existence and to prevent the | | | | man.’ |
| creation of walls within the nation. It is the urge to | | | | The India 2020 concept is more than a journey |
| sweat more during peace and bleed less during | | | | of thousand miles and we have to take the right |
| the war. | | | | steps. |
| Transparency International Corruption Perceptions | | | | Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my |
| Index 2006 ranks India a lowly 70th position | | | | country awake. |