Why America is Great?

The Clinton episode shook America, but subsequently the candid confession of the President once again proved the greatness of America as a nation. How many of us, politicians or otherwise would candidly accept their guilt, that too in front of everyone? Our sincere attempts to cover up our shortcomings, ultimately boomerang making the situation messier.

America is also great because of the dignity of labor. Men there are generally not assessed or ranked in the social circles because of their job profile. The dignity provided to each and every single member of the society is also a reason why America is great.

"Satyamev Jayate" is our slogan, but we rarely believe in it and hardly ever practice it. The indian society survives on falsehood. But on the other hand, the American society lays tremendous premium on truthfulness in all matters, official and personal.

A smile on every face is what one finds while walking in America. On the other hand, walking on streets in Indian cities one would come across people with a frown on their generally morose faces as if they are handling onerous responsibilities of the nation. Official meetings are also drab and dull with each trying to impress the other with his work or a false notion of responsibilities that generally do not exist.

Here we are busy and remaining busy, whether there is any output or not, is considered creditable. There they are delivering, remaining busy is just not important.

And most importantly, we shall forever continue to have potential because we are preserving it carefully. On the other hand America is fiercely consuming its potential. Yet we seek credit for having potential. How immature!

The true path is different

I firmly believe that our way of doing things is definitely the wrong way, be it any sector, state or organization in the sarkari sector. Otherwise how does one justify our "bottom of the heap" ranking amongst the nations of the world.
If our way was the right one, our country would have been in the top fifty, but at present that seems like utopia.
Why the hell, this simple thought does not come to the majority of us, the top shot nincompoops of the nation? And why the hell it should come, because we are forever busy satisfying the unsatiable, the proven system and mechanism of non deliverance.
All my visits overseas have reinforced this belief of mine, that what we are doing is wrong and the way we are attempting it is even more wrong. But it is always easy to tread the oft beaten path and therefore we are where we are. Reckless chaos is what I would term the sarkari way of working in our country, but it keeps us terribly busy and satisfied. After all diferentiation between delivery and remaining busy is what we have been unable to learn even after spending a lifetime in service of the self, not of the people.
Overworked but underutilized as opposed to underworked but overutilized is the scenario in which I find myself and my colleagues in, almost all of the time.
When shall we change things physically on the ground?

Forever busy

When shall we stop remaining busy and start delivering?

Well we the bureaucrats of India whom a british playwriter once described as a bunch of bumbling nincompoops shall forever remain busy satisfying the unsatiable, the system of non deliverance.

When shall we become mature enough to realize that remaining busy is not enough and that this scenario places us in a make believe world where we imagine that the country, state, organization of our dreams will fructify with our highly misplaced efforts.

It is true that India has potential. Unfortunately all of us have a notion that having potential is a good state of affairs to be in, wheras the truth is just the opposite. Having unlimited potential in every single sector, as is the case in our motherland goes to prove that we have been a sheer failure in our efforts. Decimating potential, and not accumulating it is the key to happiness and success.

The remaining busy syndrome has been taken so far by the bureaucracy of India that we almost everyday and on every occasion grumble about the heavy work on our shoulders and at the same time judge others by how busy they are. We are so bloody busy that we dont even have time to improve the system, or to place our objectives and the goals in the correct viewing frame. And therefore in our over-drive to create unproductive work, we are everyday devising new policies, procedures and rules, while at the same time remaining totally unconcerned about delivery. What an ingenious way of working, it is only indian bureaucrats who are capable of such a devious approach.

And why not. We have emerged as an end unto ourselves. Our concerns do not extend beyond our small worlds that comprise of our own near and dear ones. Even others in the organization can go to hell, and the common man does not figure even in the farthest of our dreams.

How the hell can this country even dream of finding a place in the top 100 nations of the world when the drivers, and we certainly are one of them, do not even know the way, have eyes but no vision, have no innner motivation to drive unless cajoled, greased or bambooed, and lastly who would sell the car at the earliest possible opportunity.

But we are happy and content, just remaining busy.

Experts on advising others

My belief that we indians as a society are experts on advising others is getting stronger by the day. Ask any man on the street how the nation can go forward, and he would know. Everyone, each one of us has an opinion on how the nation should be run, how the railways can do better even under extreme climatic conditions or how the airlines should tackle problems during fog, how the crime rate can be reduced, how economic prosperity can be brought about or evn how to improve cities. What we do not know or rather do not appreciate is how we should be doing our own jobs.
We believe and quite often take pride in being busy, even though the deliverance might be zero. And that is the tragedy of our nation. We all believe in cleanliness even though we would like someone else to ensure it while at the same time we can continue to litter and make this country a giant dust bin. Since coming back to the railways, my conviction on this front is getting stronger by the day. I find it rater surprising that so far I could not locate even one establishment or evn one small room in this gigantic establishment that can be called clean and/or orderly by decent standards.
Perhaps the reason for such and many other similar issues lies in our inability to govern this nation properly, a fact that is amply reflected through our ranking on various international indices. I hope for the sake of the nation, that we as a society should mature as early as possible. Amen.