The History of My Country's Future - India 2050

This post would go on to be selected as one of the 

Winners of the prompt 'Vision 2050' 

Dear diary, 

I was listening to dad and grandpa talk and boy, am I glad!

• I am glad that I can travel the length and breadth of my country and be called a fellow countryman, rather than be frowned on because of my state, religion or caste. That sounds so crazy. Did we really stand united in the past only on national holidays and during ball games? 

• I am glad that my wife can walk the streets of my city and not worry if she will be molested, irrespective of whether she wears a burqa or a skirt. She is an Indian like me and all my rights and freedoms, by logic, are hers as well.
• I am glad that I live in a country where I have the freedom to an opinion without having it being clamped down by those in power or my patriotism questioned. Ask anyone living in a regime how it feels.
• I am glad that the party I vote for has a fixed manifesto. It means that I know that they share my beliefs and will not change after I pledge my vote to them. 
• I am glad that people do not walk around carrying rifles and swords, threatening to kill people openly. It would seem like such a Bollywood cliche, don't you think ? Jo bhi Thakur ke kilaf saboot denge, uska dono haath thakur ke private museum mein aa jayenge !!
• I am glad that the politicians I chose are working together in Parliament to develop India. I would hate it if they were just arguing like a bunch of spoiled school kids and distracting everyone else. At least in school, you know they would be sent out and class would carry on.
• I am glad that I live in a country that knows to give respect for those who defend our borders. I would hate to think that they gave up their lives defending us and we stole the houses meant for their widows.
• I am glad that I live in a neighbourhood that has so many religions. It gives me so many different ways to celebrate and share in each other's festivities. How silly is it that other countries fight on the basis of something that differs in name but preaches love in all it's formats ?
• I am glad that you can't get away with a crime just because you are rich in my country. I can't imagine how disillusioned dad and his generation must have been watching it happen everyday in the news.
• I am glad that I am educated. It means I know my past, my culture and my rights when I grow up.

But I can't gloat while others suffer. Dad says that's not right. I feel sorry too.

• I feel sorry for countries that, unlike my India, allowed their children to die while food and medicines lay rotting a few miles away, out of their reach.
• I feel sorry for countries that, unlike my India, would let political outfits molest girls in public just so that they could debate on the size of her skirt.
• I feel sorry for countries that, unlike my India, voted for parties simply because they were forced to choose between the lesser evil. Dad always says it was like asking me to choose whether I wanted my surgery done by a three-toed donkey or a monocle-wearing crocodile. Dad's funny, that way.
• I feel sorry for countries that lived in the past - voting for legacies and religions, rather than ability and character. They will always look back on their decision with regret.
• I feel sorry for countries that chose politicians with no credentials other than they were the son of a politician or actor. How can you debate for the country's growth when you don't know the basics of civics and economics - the lifeline of a country's growth ?

I feel sorry for those countries.

Countries like the India my dad and grandpa lived in, back in their first quarter of the 21st century. 
Dad said it would have continued forever with the middle and lower class lost in penury or Facebook ( some weird communication device back then ) had their generation not decided to make a difference themselves. 

He said it hadn't been easy. In fact, it seemed easier to give up than carry on being the honest guy in a political world of bitterness and underhanded deals. But some people did stay. 

They fought against outdated traditions, archaic laws and the lure of bribes - and they lost.
And lost again. But they gained respect from a young India looking for 'a better option'. And slowly, people who wanted the country of their dreams back decided to move away from their family's traditional choice and voted for change. 

And then they finally won. That was a long time ago.

I'm glad that generation took matters into their own hands rather than let the country just die away... or else India would probably still be like those countries that I felt sorry for earlier in this entry.

Anyway, I am feeling sleepy. Log yourself out after you finish spell-checking and saving this, dear diary. I'll see you tomorrow night.

Wishing you a Happy Independence Day once more, buddy!

Sincerely,

Shrek SunnyLeone Roshan  

15 August 2050, 11:05 PM

P.S. I can't wait to be 18 so that I can legally change my name from this one given by my grandfather based on his favourites! That would be my second Independence Day!

Authors note:

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.’
I am writing on my 'Vision 2050' for India.