The Difference Between "Bharat" And "India"

So here I am, restless, anxious and in a state of lull, with not even the remotest interest in these college studies, which are suppose to stimulate an intellectual revolution in me. In my opinion, books are just one aspect of learning, which are given undue importance, probably on account of the dearth of other methods of education which our system.

Yesterday, was infact the day when I went through an "intellectual revolution", and was enlighten through mere observation of our surroundings. No doubt I have been a keen observer throught my life, however it was just a petty thing thing like a trip to Juhu Beach, that brought me face to face with a plethora of new realisations. Just yesterday I developed a greater understanding of my society, city, country and the denizens of this devious land.

Pakistan, our highly unstable neighbour, is often rebuked by various establishments around the world on account of its fragmanted nature. There is an evident divide in the power between the army establishment and the civilian government, with the latter in control of the armed forces and acting out of sync with the civilan government. However, the more our country indulges in critcising our hostile neighbour, the more I ponder about our current state of affairs and whether a similar analogy is applicable to our beloved land. Various sporadic incidents in the past have reiterated the fact that India too is a divided land, divided on secular, religious and regional lines.

The Brutal Attacks on the women in a pub in Managalore, the attacks on the peace loving Christians in Orissa, the poverty in the region of North India(Kashmir, UP, Bihar etc), the chauvinistics attitude of the MNS just point out to the fact that we are are secular country and land of equality only on paper. The reality is far different from what our constitution has had planned for us.

Thus goin back to my enlightenment, there I was at the entrance of the ISKCON temple, face to face with the powerful manifestation of the phenomenon people commonly refered to as "GOD". Please don't mistake me for an atheist, its just that I m neutral about the existence on "GOD", and never let it really bother my aspirations or my life in even the remotest way. It was truly marvellous to see people depict such faith in single entity, to the extent of even waiting in long lines for hours undisturbed and in deep penance. This propostition can be corroborated by my visit to the Vaishnodevi temple just a couple of weeks back. Though I do respect the faith that people have in God, I came to the realisation that this merely becomes a means of seeking solace once they fail in a venture on account of lack of a 100% effort. People attribute their failure to luck, which in my opinion is unacceptable. A wise man once said-"God helps those who help themselves", and I couldnt agree with him more. 

 So now I was at the prominent Juhu Beach, once a pristine area, it has become squalid and the odour emanating from it could give the pigs a run for their title. Though the whole setting was beautified by the susnet over the unclear blue water, the cries of armies of hawkers and sellers irritated me intensley. Walking on the beach, looking at the tons of garbage adorning the sand, a new realisation dawned upon me. The filth on the beach was the outcome of several years of abuse on our behalf, and thus a beautiful place had been converted into a mess by our irresposible actions. Drawing a similar parallel with our country, we can find that this beautiful land has been turned into a living nightmare on account of our selfish, irresponsible attitude. 

Hence I use this tool as medium to request all my readers to please take care of our surroundings and learn to be more responsible citizens. 

Now here I was in front of the magnificent JW Marriott hotel, probably one of the best hotels in the subcontinent. The sheer grandiose of the structure was impeccable,and thus it has been accredited with a 7 star rating. However just besides it were the shanties of the hawkers and foodstall owners, the whole area is popularly refered to as Juhu plaza. The more I looked a these two seemingly contrary establishments the more contemplative I became. These two stuctures signified the two sides of our country, one popluarly refered to as the "Shining India", with a phenomenal growth story and untaped potential. The other the bleak, frail and suffering India, one in a dire need of help and assistance as depicted in the movie "Slumdog Millionaire".  We have been far from successful in implementing the principle of equality. The more we grow the more the gap between the rich and the poor becomes unbridgeable. On one hand we have Mukesh Ambani one of the richest man in the world, on the other hand we have large section of our population committing suicide on account of failure to repay their loans. So were are we heading with this divide. Financial analysts often refer to India as growing economy, but they often forget to make any comments on Bharat. There is no clear cut solution to this divison, however the government should take some concerete measure to bring about industrailisation in the rural markets. A large portion of India still depends on the vagaries of the rains and this is a delporable fact in this era of supercomputers.Only a fair and equitable country can sustain its growth and avoid resentment amongst its citizens.