Beti Khelao will clinch the dream of a ‘Glorious India’

By Bansi Dhameja
Author, Thinker & Social Reformer
As an optimist, let me initiate my thoughts and expressions on a positive note by asserting that I am confident that the day is not far when my country…my India will emerge as a ‘Super Power’ in the true sense in different spheres.
My understanding of the word “Superpower” may differ from others since I interpret it as an overall and holistic emergence of my country’ in various spheres, and not just economic and military might
The objective behind writing ‘Mann Ke Moti’ is to inspire and awaken people towards addressing the lacunas that hamper the progress of our nation. By embedding a deep rooted message in the book, I have endeavoured to play my part in the progress of my nation. For ensuring the progress of the nation, the society has to evolve both at the micro and the macro level.
Every member of the society has to play his or her role if we need to see the progress of the nation. It aches to see every issue being politicized nowadays for achieving petty self vested gains. This is distressing, but a grim veracity of life.
The need of the hour is to keep off from such parochial mindsets that only believe in creating more chasms in the society, and gratuitous disharmony in the society.
I take great pride in sharing that my religion has remained intact as “Humanity” in all these years of my existence on Planet Earth, all thanks to my upbringing and virtuous parents.
However what baffles me on a personal note is the hue and cry about reservations. No offence meant, but if the trend of seeking and granting quotas continues in the country, then the day is not far when merit will literally have no say and significance.
Why can’t we all decide to live like ‘Indians’, instead of wearing a particular caste and community tag on our sleeves.
Why does a country of one billion unite only when a sporting icon like Dipa Karmakar brings laurels to the nation by doing what no other gymnast has done for the country ever before, or for that matter when India lifts the Cricket World Cup?
Isn’t it concerning that we get going only when the going gets tough, or when some extraordinary milestone is achieved?
If we stay consistently like a united entity by regarding “India first” as the only religion and caste, I can say with all conviction at my command that we will achieve unprecedented success in whatever venture we foray into. No dream will seem ‘gigantic’, when the citizens undertake a solemn pledge to stay like a unified family amidst all adversities and challenges.
For achieving our objective of a “Glorious India, we need to adopt and continually stir ourselves with inspirational slogans like “I Love India” and “Proud Indian” following which we dedicate some days in a month towards consolidating love and harmony in the society.
I firmly believe that this initiative could be the stepping stone towards realizing our key mission of “Glorious India”.
My aim and definition of “Glorious India” is an India whose citizens respect all religions and communities alike besides being extremely respectful of women irrespective of whether they are Indians or foreigners.
The crime graph could drastically be brought down if we pay heed to the two above mentioned suggestions, and this eventually would pave the way for a Golden era.
Having expressed that, I also wish to state that in the present day scenario, it is as much pertinent to give importance to sporting activities as it is to give importance to pursuing excellence in academics.
There is no dearth of sporting talent in the country, but the reason why India still trails in mega sporting carnivals like Olympics is because we neither groom our budding talent nor do we provide our athletes with the state of the art infrastructure to match up to the standards of the international athletes.
The mission of “Glorious India” will be fulfilled when we are able to provide a top class sporting platform to the budding talents of our country.
Despite having abundant spaces, it is ironical that our children are still devoid and deprived of playing spaces as an outcome of which we have to make a beeline towards academies and sports club which burn a deep hole in the parent’s pockets.
Sporting heroes render a great service to the nation when they bring rich laurels to their country by winning medals at international level tournaments.
In the present day scenario, citizens are united mostly when their sporting icons make it to the semi final, or the final round of an international tournament like what happened in the case of PV Sindhu when she made it to the finals of the badminton tournament in the 2016 Rio Olympics. It would make great sense if citizen’s right from the word ‘go’, could bolster the confidence of the sporting contingent that represents India on any international forum, and desist from making any detrimental utterances like what one famous personality of the country did recently. Also it is imperative to treat all games equally, and not nurture any nepotism for the popular games, or for that matter, hold pre conceived bias against the lesser known games. A game is a game, and the winners are winners, at the end of the day, which is why all games and sportspersons deserve to be treated at par.
The recent splendid performance of our female athletes should spell a clarion call to the entire nation that we must rise above our petty differences to contribute something worthwhile for the sake of our Motherland. The slogan ‘Beti Khelao’ can be the much needed game changer provided we implement it with all devotion and passion.