Just do it, for India

The little boy tugging at my sari pallu was no more than 10 years old. "Aunty, aunty... bhookh lagi hai," he kept repeating. Monotonously. Mechanically. Familiar whine.
It''s impossible to venture into the streets of India, without an emaciated kid or two following you around, begging for a few coins. It is so predictable an occurrence, you don''t notice it, or their annoying presence any more.Strange.
They''ve actually become invisible. Imagine millions of invisible kids running around the country in tatters. We have ceased to "see" them. We barely hear them. Soon, we will convince ourselves they don''t exist. Because, we''d rather they didn''t.
The little boy followed me around the crowded vegetable market as I smartly shopped for broccoli, Chinese greens, pak choy, bell peppers, fresh water chestnuts... Oh, all those exotic "foreign" vegetables that come at a fancy price.
Suddenly, it started to rain. I rushed to a silverware store close by and ducked in. Lovely! Gorgeous! Fabulous! How much?? The shop-keeper and I marvelled at the new product-range that had come in just that week. Hmmm. Silver sofa sets? Nice... Silver lamp shades?? Interesting... Silver mojdis?? Fun!!
Absently, I looked out and saw the little boy waiting patiently for me. He was wet and shivering. Barefoot and forlorn. Let''s skip what followed. The best part of the story comes now.
He told me he was studying in the fourth grade. He proudly pointed to his municipal school close by. "There it is," he said. "I love my school. I want to study more."
Then why beg...? "My mother cannot afford to feed all of us. It''s the money I get every evening carrying shopping bags for memsaabs, that is used for our dinner supplies. I hate begging. But what else can I do?" True. What can he do? Any answers?
This is just one little boy''s honest confession. There are millions like him. They believe they have a future in India. I believe they do, too.
Today, on our 57th Independence Day, the same little boy may be selling the tri-colour at traffic lights near the market. The sale of those paper flags will pay for his family''s next few meals.
Meanwhile, he will continue to attend school (wearing newly-acquired rubber chappals), and help his mother. There is hope in his large, dark eyes. There is hope in my heart too.
It''s easy to crib and criticise each successive government and blame the system for all that''s wrong with our country. We can mock the "India Shining" campaign and point fingers at murderers who aspire to be ministers (some make it, too!).
We can tear down our policies and shred reputations. We can blame, blame, blame. Nothing is going right... Where''s the governance we deserve? What about transparency, accountability?
Look at inflation. See the rapid slow down of our economy. Corruption everywhere. Who''s in charge? What sort of leaders do we have? Can someone please sort out the mess in parliament? We need to rethink our priorities.
The next fight in India will be over water - paani - and not mandir/masjid. Isn''t it time we grew up and tackled the old Kashmir issue? What''s all this nonsense going on in Manipur?
What we lack is national pride. Of course, education is the key to progress. Let us not get carried away with our IT success stories. Keep an eye on China - next thing we know they''ll grab all our BPO deals.
What about this...? What about that...? Well, my question is simple: What about you? What are you doing for the country? Don''t tell me. Ask yourself. Be honest.
And what about that little boy? The scrawny 10-year-old begging in the rain? He''s tomorrow''s Indian, too. And he isn''t going to stay invisible forever. Think about it. And keep the flag flying high. Jai Hind.