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August 25, 2009 - Goanet's 15th Anniversary
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Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:55:39 -0700 (PDT)
From: Anthony M Barreto <[email protected]>
Abdul Kalam: "I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper.
It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken
place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the
picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into
an orchid and a granary."
Tony: Not a bad achievement to match the Hamas. But I think the Tel Aviv sub
lacked in news sense. If that happens in India the sub and the chief sub on the
night shift will get the kick and rightly so because a newspaper is supposed to
be objective in its job.
Mario observes:
I agree with Tony here. Perhaps the Israelis are just too numb after 62 years
of relentless attacks.
Abdul Kalam: "In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime."
Tony: In India we read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime because that is
the primary concern here. In health care, where is the system? And it is not
just about international terrorism. In fact it is more about internal warfare.
Mario observes:
Kalam is wrong based on my observations. Newspapers everywhere lead with
articles about "death, sickness, terrorism, crime..." American journalists
have a well known saying about what gets reported first, "If it bleeds, it
leads."
Abdul Kalam: "Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name - ?YOURS?.
Give him a face - ?YOURS?."
Tony: Singapore and Dubai have rulers and administrators who are serious about
the rules of their countries. If I know I cannot bribe an RTA Officer I will
dare not try. But if I know I will never get the licence without a bit of
compromise on my beloved Dubai and Singapore ideals I will be compelled to
chose the Indian way to spare myself the harrassment and agony of going against
a treasured tradition of the country.
Mario responds:
Tony is correct about Singapore and Dubai, which are also tiny city states and
dictatorships with little tolerance for bad civic behavior. However, Tony left
out the rest of what Kalam said in this segment, which included London and
Washington, Australia and NZ. The civic behavior Kalam mentioned was the focus
of my post:
http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2009-August/182239.html
The kind of civic behavior mentioned is also commonplace in the western
democracies and in Taiwan and Thailand. This is what India and Indians need to
work on in my opinion: a sense of personal civic responsibility, which is
largely lacking in India. Just take the lack of consideration on the roads and
it is the same attitude everywhere.
Abdul Kalam: "What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it
consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities
and the government. But definitely not me and YOU."
Tony: Well I would recommend Dr Kalam something as simple as trying to get a
birth certificate from Panjim as a resident of Canacona to get a taste of how
impossible the system can be for somebody who is too stupid to stubbornly stick
to his avowed principles.
Mario observes:
Tony is correct about how it works in India - people feel they have no choice
but to go along and do whatever is necessary just to get done what would be
routine in most developed countries where civic sense and consideration for
others is the norm and small time corruption is minimal or even non-existent.
Tony concludes:
Dr Kalam or for that matter anyone else with a gift for words could use his pen
to make an equally compelling case with as much rhetoric to suggest that the
Indian political system has gone to the dogs beyond a point of salvation. And
that it is certainly sensible to shut up and endure it as best as and as long
as one can.
Mario responds:
I hope Tony is wrong when he says "the Indian political system has gone to the
dogs beyond a point of salvation." though I can see why he thinks so, and it
obviously seems that way to anyone who has to deal with the system in India on
a day-to-day basis.
I have been disappointed that other Indian leaders have not made an issue of
civic behavior, so I was surprised to see that Kalam had done so, but without
any follow up or interest shown by other leaders, Tony's sad conclusion may
well be the correct one.
The opinion leaders on Goanet have been concentrating on other issues which may
be more important in the scheme of things.
