All World
Gayatri Pariwar

The wondrous passion of sleeping giant

Whatever it is, our nation is indeed unique. With its huge population, varied cultures, India lives amidst diversity. After all, what is our age as an independent nation? It has been merely 63 years since we achieved independence and only 60 years since we declared ourselves as a republic. We have faced daunting challenges and overcome them through the innate strength and wisdom of our age-old culture. The mark of a true Indian is that he ardently wishes his country to continuously progress. It is this passion that differentiates us from other countries like China, Pakistan, Thailand and Malaysia. Our nation is a slowly awakening giant. Very soon this giant will rise and play a major role on the world scene.

A depressing scenario

There are so many ills with which the nation is presently afflicted – corruption is at its peak; poverty and hunger are widely prevalent; there is a miniscule class of people who are richer than necessary; there is a group of people who cannot get beyond primary education; there is another group which does not have access to any education at all and spends its childhood doing back-breaking labor. Even today, the women climb mountains and walk several miles to cut grass. Roads are not present in a majority of places. There is a substantial amount of adulteration driven by insatiable greed. Cost of living is continually on the rise. All major rivers including Ganga are polluted. All sources of water are getting depleted. Atmosphere is warming up continuously. Our political masters are seen exhibiting nepotism and indulging in corrupt activities. Atrocities on women are on the rise. The quality of food is going down due to genetic modification of crops by humans. Farmers are committing suicides.

The hope-giving story of a region

In contrast to the above hopeless scenario, there are encouraging signs of hope, too. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. It is important to know how much mass scale awareness about inclusive progress and growth has increased. For example take the case of Bihar state. Three to four years ago, it was one of the most backward states. Whatever negativity could exist anywhere was present in Bihar. However, one person brought an environment of change. The leader of this state has brought this state to such a position that what was once the most backward state is now the leader in inclusive and integrated development. International news media like ‘Newsweek’, ‘Time’ and BBC are excited about the change taking place in Bihar and they are singing paeans of praise. This is bringing in more and more investment into the state. Entrepreneurs were leaving the state due to incessant kidnapping and rioting. Now they are coming back and winds of change are sweeping over the entire state. We are not praising a person or a party, but the passion for positive change and channeling of collective human energy that made the impossible possible.

Circumstance of awareness

Media, which is the fourth pillar of the society, has played a very important role in increasing the awareness among people. The awareness has increased so much particularly in this decade (2001-2010) that everyone including women, young and old is fed up with the deplorable state of affairs and a wave of change is blowing amidst them. They are clamoring that they do not want to live like this and want to bring in change for the better. The change is coming about slowly. In the past three years, awareness has increased about the increasing pollution of rivers, water scarcity and global warming. With media reaching out to all, everyone is speaking. When more than half the population of a region has cell phones, it does not take long for information to reach all.

One attempt of ours

If this awareness continues to increase, our rivers and water sources will become cleaner. Hopefully, when we go to Prayag to take bath during the Kumbh of 2013, we need not carry clean water with us.  We have started a campaign to clean up river Narmada which starts at Amarkantak (Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh). Gayatri Parivar in Bhopal and youth group of M.P. have started this campaign as a huge Rath Yatra from Amarkantak to Bharuch, where Narmada joins the sea. They also performed an Abhishek with clean waters of the rivers at Somnath. In this campaign, over a distance of 1352 kilometers, more than 3 lakh people took a vow to work for cleaning the river. The Kalash Yatra that wove through more than 10,000 villages started Narmada Pragya Mandals at various places. As a result, awareness has increased tremendously in the adjoining areas of the river. Many youth have taken this as a means of employment and are now earning by cleaning the river. Four tributaries of the Narmada have been rejuvenated and a new sense of hope has been generated.

Initiative by our university

The project of cleansing the Ganga is another such effort undertaken by Gayatri Teerth Shantikunj. It has been first initiated in the stretch of Ganga from Gomukh to Prayag (From Bhagirath to Bharadwaj). Later it will be taken upto Gangasagar. Everything is possible if we believe in ourselves and in the innate soul strength of Mother India. It is with this confidence that we have started a six-month certificate course on ‘Water Conservation and River Preservation’. Someone has to take the initiative. Then, why don’t we take it?

Right to Information – a successful weapon

In the recent past, three remarkable things have happened. The Parliament has passed a bill on Right to Information (RTI) Act in 2005. This Act has done wonders. This has evolved as a successful tool against corruption. Even those who passed this bill would not have envisaged that this would prove to be a bombshell. In the past five years, citizens of our country have begun to understand the importance of ‘Right to Information’. The government too has undertaken practical steps to explain the true power of this Act. This can make the government transparent and could emerge as a strong tool for transformation. This legislation is probably the first of its kind which has given power to the citizens against those who run the government. It is a public officer’s duty to provide any information requested by the citizen within a stipulated time period. We have witnessed miracles of this Act during the past five years.

Right to Education for all

Many things are changing. ‘Right to Education’ has been made a law effective from 1st April 2010. According to this Act, the government gives the guarantee to provide free education to all children unto the age of 14 years. More than one crore children who had quit school will benefit by this scheme. 25% of seats in local colleges will be reserved for poor local students.

Identity Card to all citizens

Another revolutionary task that has been initiated is to provide unique identity card to each citizen of the country, which will include the photo, fingerprints of all 10 fingers, Iris identification and several other features of a person. These will be issued by the middle of 2011. Along with this, the census of the decade has also begun.

All these indicate that from somewhere or the other, the process of transformation has trickled from the subtle worlds to the physical world. All we have to do is to inspire people to swim with the flow.

The face of the villages is undergoing a change

The face of the villages is also undergoing a transformation. The villagers are also becoming assertive and aware. Why have the roads not been built? Why hasn’t the Sarpanch done this work? – An account of such things is being demanded. How are the schemes for their progress and development being executed? If they are not progressing as per the schedule, why so? The vigilance and awareness of the villagers with respect to such issues has increased. Slowly but surely, the ways of the government are changing for the better. So, if you see a wave of transformation in the entire nation, do not be surprised. The people are vociferously complaining that ‘MGNREGA’ (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) is not being implemented transparently and are forcing the government to take corrective action. It appears that soon the real benefits of ‘MGNREGA’ will reach the target population. This is also a revolutionary beginning.

Come, let us ask for better governance and take our country forward

Now, it is being said after all the Rights, we should now ask for Swarajya. In reality, the Independence Movement began with the call for Swarajya. It has begun to appear as though the time is not far when governance is directly under the control of the people. Instead of negative thinking, we should look at the coming decade with hope. Positive thinking should be spread in the entire nation in an infectious manner. Era transformation is bound to happen. The youth of the nation are changing. India is a country with the highest population of youth and will remain so till 2030. The empowerment of women is slowly on the rise. In spite of its defects, our country is emerging to be an economic giant, fountainhead of culture and as a path-breaker that can lead the world. Let us believe that this will happen. The supreme power of the Rishis who head the parliament of seers in the Himalayas is guiding this transformation. Have faith that this transformation will gather tremendous momentum by 2011. I am tempted to quote a few lines written by Atal Ji (ex prime minister) here – ‘India is not a piece of land, it is a live being. This is the land that deserves respect as well as ovation. This is the land of sacrifices and surrender. Each and every stone in this country is equivalent to Lord Shankar and each drop of water is pure as a Ganga. We will live and die for this country’.

Let us stand firm on the faith that what we apparently see is – The Darkness before the Dawn. Let us be the torch bearers for ushering in the New Era of Light, Love and Vibrant Life for all humanity as one family; ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbkam’.


To know how to wait for the right time is a great secret of success.