Monday, April 06, 2009

Getting your Hands Dirty

Politics in the eyes of the average Indian youth is a dirty term. Today, it has almost become synonymous with corruption. The consensus among the youth today is ‘All politicians are corrupt’ (and in some cases immoral criminals.) While this is not entirely true, none of our leaders are people who evoke respect. Wait! Did I just use the word ‘leaders’?

This is what we are lacking most in our democracy- leaders, who can be followed, who can be emulated and who have a vision for the nation. A population of over 600 million under the age of 25 and no leaders to guide us.

The General Elections or more precisely ‘The Great Indian Political Drama’ is just around the corner. How can we contribute towards it? The obvious answer is to make it a point to go out and VOTE. This is not a right, it’s a duty. If you do not vote, you hardly have any right to question or criticize the government. Moreover, it is perhaps more important to vote the right people to power. For long, people of our country have voted for parties. This must change. We must vote for the most able candidates to represent us, irrespective of which party they belong to. A leader dedicated to the welfare of the people of his constituency will work well regardless of the party he is affiliated to. On the other hand, an incapable politician can bring about no progress even if he belongs to the most powerful party.

On a different note, in subsequent years, what we need most is greater participation of the youth in the running of the country. Thousands of bright, young people graduate from the premier institutes of the nation. How many of them play an active role in running the country? The fact is nobody wants to get their hands “dirty”. Take the case of the hundreds of MBA graduates from the elite IIMs. Some of the best minds in the country, no doubt, and yet they are employed to ‘sell shampoo sachets’.

It is time we, the youth of the nation, take up the baton for running the country. The so-called “stalwarts” of Indian politics have done their job and need a rest. It is up to us to bring about change, to iron out the flaws and take India to the heights it deserves. It is time we ‘be the change we want to see’.

3 comments:

Sushant Chandak said...

People like us dont know where to start. How to start. And whom to approach. If only these things become more clear to graduates like us im sure people would like to get their hands dirty !
BTW, if you do know of any such platform, lemme know.

Devdeep said...

I really appreciate your effort in drawing the reader's attention to such an important topic. Really, the need to elect a leader in the real sense assumes utmost importance. However, I still fail to realize, who to choose when they all seem like 'birds of a feather.'

Sukhi said...

yeah, this is one thing I strongly feel about...First of all a young country should have young politicians. There should be a retiring age for them too.
Next, some radical changes are required in the way elections are held. As in US, it should be based on person, and then he should choose his team of ministers irrespective of party, depending on the person best suited for the job.

Most importantly, those who venture into this field, should make sure they dont turn into them. Most of the time, once even young people enter politics, they mostly start thinking about ways to fill their own pockets. SO a self check is required