I am Bhaarath. 75 years young!!!

Posted on by Karthic Vaidyanathan

A rather surprising sales pitch from a street vendor triggered me to write a long pending article. I am proud of how India has evolved to be a global force despite facing many hurdles through its resilience and grit. Aug 15,2022, India celebrated its 75th Independence day. It is indeed a great moment to celebrate for all Indians. The country has gone through a lot in the last century. India was colonized and plundered until 1947. Wealth was sucked out the nation and was left to bleed in 1947 thanks to the ill-timed partition. The nation had to focus on rebuilding its base. Imagine bringing together 500+ princely states, Sardar Vallabhai Patel should have been burnt out at the end of the negotiations.

Photo by Lucky Trips on Pexels.com

Let us go through a bit of geography or history lessons. India is a country that is 1/3 of the size of the United States of America yet is 750 million more in population. Supposedly, The population of the state of Orissa is more than the population of Canada and the state of Uttar Pradesh is more populous than Brazil. India has 20+languages and do not be surprised if you cross a state border the language changes; if you cross a district border the dialect changes. People complain that India hardly brings home medals from international events. But keep in mind, the infrastructure spending on housing and industries needed to be given more priority compared to other areas for the welfare of the nation. India has also gone through a lot of invasions and there were more than 500 princely states in India when the British granted India independence. The day of Independence which should have been celebrated was rather welcomed with bloodshed caused by the bitter partition in which around 500,000(5 lakhs) lives were lost.

Moving on, 2008/2009 was a proud moment for all the Indians when AR Rahman and Rasool Pookutty won Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire. Little did I know then about the impact that movies had on certain people. A colleague visiting India from the USA was surprised to see tall buildings and a booming industrial sector in India and it was nothing like what people in the West had imagined after watching the movie. In the United States and in Canada, there have been times when people get surprised when my wife or I spoke fluent English. To this extent, media and movies have played a role in stereotyping India and Indians. Movies, media and social media have painted India as a struggling country. Believe me, tour India with an open mind, you will find people welcoming you with open arms and places that will pleasantly surprise you with kind architectural splendor that was built ages ago and the quality of workforce in India.

Picture Credit: https://publications.banque-france.fr/en/india-global-forefront-digital-payments, Times of India

The 3 pictures in the slideshow above show the present and the future of India. India has taken to digital payments like how a fish would take to the water. Whenever I want to avoid buying from someone, all I used to tell them was “Change illa ma. (I do not have cash/coins on me)” but a small street vendor pleasantly surprised me when she said, “Google Pay(GPay) irukku Sir!! (I got google pay)”. Such is the penetration of digital payments in India that small vendors and business owners have adopted for the growth of their businesses. Corporate heads across the globe are looking at India as a key player in their strategy and advancement. India recently jumped ahead of the UK in the global GDP ranking. It is an humongous achievement considering that this India was once a colony of the UK and as per a report British drained India of 45 trillion. India has steadily moved up the ladder from being 10th in 2014 to 5th in 2022 is no mean achievement.

Like every other country, India has its own share of problems. India needs to improve the ease of doing business, make it easier for small businesses to thrive, increase the products made under the “Make in India” program, urbanize the rural population, increase expenditure in building infrastructure and improve the skill levels of people to make them more employable. With a stable government that focuses more on these rather than focusing on appeasing the voters, I am sure India will become a bigger force to reckon with by 2050. Also, India has a young population, with close to 50% of the country’s 1.3 billion population below the age of 35. This gives India a huge advantage over countries that have an aging population and fewer working-age workers. For all those naysayers, wait for the magic to unfold in front of your eyes.

Jai Hind!!!!

India is indeed dependent: https://vyasonkeys.com/2013/08/15/india-is-dependent/

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India is Dependent!!!!!!!!!!

Posted on by Karthic Vaidyanathan

Disclaimer: It has been more than 6 months since i put anything on this page. So please pardon me for any errors in the following post.

Here is Karthic reporting from the so-called Garden city of India, Bengaluru. Is it still a garden city? I am not here to answer that, though there are hardly any good gardens now. Writing this post on the eve of the 67th Independence Day is more apt I believe. My Facebook page has already started to flood with emotional, patriotic and happy words about our Independence day. Also, not to forget those posts that are so sarcastic and questions what has India achieved in all these years to be celebrated. These skeptics do not understand the struggle that the nation is going through to make things better for it’s citizens.

What was the significance of this day 67 years ago? Why did the wisest, selfless, and brave men and women sacrifice their lives for us? Freeing us from the clutches of the British wasn’t their only vision. They wanted India to be self-reliant and self-sustained. They envisioned India could do better if they are independent.

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What is the real meaning of INDEPENDENCE? Not being dependent on “OTHERS”, we should be self-reliant and self-contained. The ability to manage our day-to-day affairs by ourselves without the intervention of others. Many who lost their souls for a brighter future for children of Mother India believed so. They felt that future generations in India should not be oppressed and suppressed as they once were. But are we doing enough to justify their sacrifice? We are trying but not hard enough. The truth might be a bitter pill to swallow. Many citizens(or even NRIs to great extent) only complain about the system in India and how broken we are. What have we done to fix the broken system? Nothing. I would say that the young brigades upon whom the leaders put their trust have not taken responsibility.

India is still dependent folks, on each and every one of us. It is high time we clean up society in whichever way possible. You do not have to be a politician or a rich man to do good things(I am not sure if they even do those though!!!!). Let us do simple and easy things that can make a huge impact. Here are a few tips for guys who think we can make a change only by being either of the two.

  • Remove Illiteracy: Teach a child or contribute to their education.
  • Keep the country clean: Do not litter in public
  • Keep the environment clean: Plant atleast one tree an year
  • Spread love: Visit an old age home on a special occasion.
  • Go Local: Shop from small vendors even if it is 5 or 10 rupees more than the corporates.
  • Share Knowledge: Dare to discuss and be open to constructive feedback and seek constant improvements.                                                              

Jai Hind!!! I am sure this country will rise and become a force to reckon with. Make sure you are a part of this historic moment by doing something for our beloved Mother India.

Hey This Is India

Posted on by Karthic Vaidyanathan

March 11th 2010 was a day to remember. I booked an auto(tuk-tuk) to travel to the bank. The driver was chewing something and was second to none in cursing the roads and government rules. Although he did give some break in between to spit on the road. I listened to him patiently and did not utter a word back. He was constantly praising other countries and its beauty. Before, I got down he asked me didn’t if I did not like his arguments? I just replied like “Anna(Brother) I did like whatever you were speaking”. He replied “You look unhappy. Why might that be?”. I replied “You praised all the countries for their roads and cleanliness but you continued to spit on the road and . He replied “Hey bro, this is India”. I just smiled and replied “ I think you are missing a word here. Please tell it as Hey boy this is MY INDIA” and told him that I should probably retain some money for the clean India tax that I pay government. I knew by his reaction he was surprised and I gave him the money I promised and requested him to keep the city(country) clean before leaving the place. My cab driver asked sorry the very next moment and told me that he had been doing the same thing that the auto wallas were doing and promised me not to repeat it again. I felt much happier.

On April 2nd, On my way to Perambur, I was much elated to travel on the bridge that was supposed to be complete a decade ago. I must say it’s easily one of the well designed and a well built ones. But when I was about the reach the end of it, I found something that we are pretty much used to seeing in India. Writing names on the public walls. I felt heartbroken as the flyover was hardly a week old. When I expressed my dissatisfaction with my friend, I was not surprised by the response I received. Hey dude this is India. Why is there not a feeling that this is MY INDIA? Who else will care if we don’t? I hope this blog changes the view of the readers.

My sincere appeal to all those who read this blog to carry this message forward. Jai hind. Let’s try to keep this country as beautiful as possible.

Who else ll take care of mother India if we don’t.

Kapil’s Devils

Posted on by Karthic Vaidyanathan

As an Indian Cricket fan, I dedicate this blog to the Men who made Indians a great force in World cricket and stunned everyone. 25 years ago on this day 25th June, out of the blue India suddenly became a huge force to reckon with in world cricket. This World cup was a morale-boosting one for the nation. The Indian team was the underdog in the tournament. Not many would have expected them to even win 3 out of its 6 league matches let alone the world cup given they had won only one match against the lowly ranked East Africa back in 1975. The team did not win a single match in the 79 World Cup. The team consisted of a few all-rounders (Kapil, Madan Lal, Amarnath, Binny), a technically sound opener in the form of Gavaskar, and 2 dashers in the form of Patil and Shrikkanth. None of them were great heroes in the ODI arena then. They played according to the mantra ” Where there is a will there’s a way”. Kapil always insisted the team on fighting hard for success, which they achieved at last.

Heroes

It all started with the morale-boosting victory over the two-time defending champions West Indies on 9th June 1983 at Old Trafford. But India was then defeated by West Indies and Australians convincingly in the league phase(but India got a sweet revenge over the latter in the other league game). Then came the day that the whole Indian squad witnessed what’s called the “BEST INNINGS FROM AN INDIAN”. India’s team was struggling at 17/5 and then came an inning which can be termed as the perfect example of CAPTAIN’S KNOCK played by Kapil Dev, the chief architect of India’s victory. He scored a smashing unbeaten 175(Due to a BBC camera crew strike this epic knock had no video coverage sadly) and increased the confidence in the Indian camp with the help from the likes of Yashpal Sharma, Sandeep Patil, Jimmy Amarnath and others India went into the finals.

Old Trafford June 22: England won the toss and batted first.  the  Indian bowling England to score 213 (all out, 60 overs). Fowler (33 from 59 balls, 3 fours) top scored, and Kapil took 3 for 35 in eleven overs, with Jimmy and Binny taking two wickets each. In reply,  Yashpal (61 from 115 balls, 3 fours, 2 sixes) and Patil (51 from 32 balls, 8 fours) made half-centuries, as India reached their target in 54.4 overs, winning by 6 wickets in an upset victory over the Englishmen. Jimmy (46 from 92 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) picked up the man-of-the-match award for his all-round performance, which saw him add 46 runs to his earlier bowling success (2/27 in 12 overs).

The final was played in the mecca of cricket The LORDS on June 25th. Roberts, Marshall, garner and Holding ripped through the Indian lineup. The Indians were bowled out for a low score of 183 and Shrikkanth scoring the highest individual score of 38 for the match. This total is nothing considering the batting power of the Mighty West Indians. But the agenda was take the fight to the opponent for the Indians and no one forget the ball that got rid of Greenidge. What a snotter to start the defense. He left the ball expecting it to move away like the previous 3 balls but it swung in and took the bails. The great West Indian Viv Richards started to flourish with an array of powerful strikes. It took a stunning catch from the Indian captain to get rid of the great man and the man of the match Jimmy(in both semis and final) polished off the tail and the rest is history. However, the Indian bowling exploited the weather and pitch conditions perfectly to bowl out the best batting lineup of the era for 140 from 52 overs in return, winning by 43 runs and completing one of the most stunning upsets in cricket history, defeating the previously invincible West Indies.The joy and the celebration in the camp were great.

The proud captain lifted the trophy with great joy and pride. In two years’ time, India went on to win the world championship of cricket under Sunil Gavaskar. Let this inspire India to win more World cups.