INDIA OF MY DREAMS

There was once a time when my Motherland, India, was considered a ‘Golden Bird’. This was
because of its riches, vast natural resources and the great, bright future it was expected to have
in store, our rich, cultural heritage, old civilization and vast knowledge in every aspect of life had
endeared India and Indians even to the outside world.

No wonder, foreigners had been taking keen interest in us right from the dawn of their
awakening. But alas! It is all lost now. Gone are the days of past glory, riches, reverence and
attraction. The country has witnessed a sharp decline in its over-all image and we have now
become a nation, inviting mockery, neglect and indifference from outsiders.

India of my dream is, naturally, the same ancient land, full of peace, prosperity, wealth and
immense knowledge. I want to see it free from the problems that are bringing bad name,
destroying peace and creating unrest and despair among the masses.

In the first place, I sincerely wish the poverty to be banished. Everyone must get three square
meals a day. No one would cry out for food. Beggars would be hard to meet anywhere.

Slums and ‘Juggi Jhopri’ colonies should nowhere be seen. Everyone would have a proper
house to live in. Streets would be well-maintained and well-lighted. Care would be taken to keep
a high standard of hygiene and sanitation. There would be free and compulsory primary
education for all. All men, women and children would be educated and no one would remain
illiterate.

With the spread of education, check on the rising population would, naturally, follow. Everyone
would have a happy family of one or two children who would be well-fed and properly clothed.
They would be regularly sent to school.

Once the control on population is achieved, unemployment too would be non-existent. Every
eligible person would have a job according to his aptitude and ability. Discontentment with job or
salary would vanish. Men and women would be found highly satisfied and contented with their
respective jobs.
Further, there would also be matchless progress in the field of agriculture and industry.
Agriculture would no longer be dependent on favourable weather conditions anywhere in India.
There would be adequate, alternative means of irrigation, leaving little or no chance for the
failure.

We would be using the latest high-yielding seeds and the best fertilizers for having bumper
crops. The country would not only be self-sufficient but export food to other countries.

The problem of pollution in our country too would be solved forever. New technology would be
developed so that toxic fumes and effluents from motor-vehicles and factories are reduced to a
minimum.

Research would also show the way of rendering these toxic fumes harmless once they are
released into the atmosphere. People would then have a clean and healthy environment to live
in. Industrial development too would make further strides and we would not remain backward in
any area of industrial advancement.

All agree that India is a beautiful land with fascinating tourist-spots. They too would be further
developed and maintained. Steps would be taken to free them from the present menace of
beggars and unhygienic conditions. Monuments too, would be well-preserved.

All those in danger of falling to pieces owing to the hazards, caused on account of development,
(such as the soiling of the Taj Mahal by the Mathura refinery) would be maintained by scientific
methods.

Streets, gardens and shopping centers at all the tourist-spots would be beautified. Foreigners
would wish to return again and again to these places of beauty, which would lead to our earning
valuable foreign exchange, besides our strengthening the ties of friendship with other countries.

Social harmony would be preserved at all cost. The present- day evils would be done away with.
Dowry-system and bride burning would be regarded as primitive happenings as also child
marriage, caste discrimination and other such age-old customs.

Women would be respected and liberated. Today, while they are working shoulder to shoulder
with men, they are not always given the same scales of pay. In many areas of work they are
discriminated against. All this will be a past history.