Its been a long time since I finished reading a book the same day I started, but I managed to do so yesterday, with Chetan Bhagat's Revolution 2020. It is very well written, with an excellent plot and most importantly, it has a purpose. I highly recommend that you take a few hours off to read it.
I felt that the book was very similar to Upendra's movie 'Super'. Both mock the existing system by pointing out the flaws and hindrances therein, are good entertainers and cater to the masses. I didn't feel that either story was the least bit exaggerated. The issues are there for all to see and everybody is aware of them. But there is hardly a soul who is half-willing to give a rat's ass about it.
There is a reason why India is in such a pathetic state today. It is not the system, or the politicians. It is the 1.2 billion people that are to be blamed. The Indian society well and truly follows the accounting principle of monetary unit, which states that you only record those transactions that can be expressed in monetary units. Every person at every stage is evaluated in terms of his monetary worth. The college you join, the course you take up, the job you are hired for, are all evaluated socially in terms of future monetary returns from that act.
I remember the time when I was deciding between colleges and courses to do my engineering. Every person who asked me what my plans were, or offered advice on what to choose, or commented on my indicated choice (and there were plenty of such people) either spoke of the scope a particular branch had, or the placement statistics a particular college boasted, but not one person asked me what I was interested in. The story has not changed one bit over the last five years as I have seen my junior batches go through the same charade. Things were no different during placements. Every company and job offer was evaluated in terms of the pay and opportunities to go abroad (which, to an Indian mind, translates into more money).
The colleges are ranked based on their placement statistics, professions on average salary offered, and in schools, kids with a higher pocket money are the cooler ones. The attitude is the same in every person across the country. Every person is after one single thing in India and that is money. Unless there is a turnaround in this attitude, there is no hope for India. The corruption rates will remain high, the crime rates will remain high and respect for honesty will only exist out in the open (not in the hearts of people).
Do you honestly think you have reason to complain about the state of affairs? Of course you don't. You're the reason why things are the way they are. Its upto you to change your attitude and spread it among your friends. Only then is a revolution that will change the country for the better happen.
Can you make it happen?
I felt that the book was very similar to Upendra's movie 'Super'. Both mock the existing system by pointing out the flaws and hindrances therein, are good entertainers and cater to the masses. I didn't feel that either story was the least bit exaggerated. The issues are there for all to see and everybody is aware of them. But there is hardly a soul who is half-willing to give a rat's ass about it.
There is a reason why India is in such a pathetic state today. It is not the system, or the politicians. It is the 1.2 billion people that are to be blamed. The Indian society well and truly follows the accounting principle of monetary unit, which states that you only record those transactions that can be expressed in monetary units. Every person at every stage is evaluated in terms of his monetary worth. The college you join, the course you take up, the job you are hired for, are all evaluated socially in terms of future monetary returns from that act.
I remember the time when I was deciding between colleges and courses to do my engineering. Every person who asked me what my plans were, or offered advice on what to choose, or commented on my indicated choice (and there were plenty of such people) either spoke of the scope a particular branch had, or the placement statistics a particular college boasted, but not one person asked me what I was interested in. The story has not changed one bit over the last five years as I have seen my junior batches go through the same charade. Things were no different during placements. Every company and job offer was evaluated in terms of the pay and opportunities to go abroad (which, to an Indian mind, translates into more money).
The colleges are ranked based on their placement statistics, professions on average salary offered, and in schools, kids with a higher pocket money are the cooler ones. The attitude is the same in every person across the country. Every person is after one single thing in India and that is money. Unless there is a turnaround in this attitude, there is no hope for India. The corruption rates will remain high, the crime rates will remain high and respect for honesty will only exist out in the open (not in the hearts of people).
Do you honestly think you have reason to complain about the state of affairs? Of course you don't. You're the reason why things are the way they are. Its upto you to change your attitude and spread it among your friends. Only then is a revolution that will change the country for the better happen.
Can you make it happen?
CONVERSATION