Cry O my beloved India!

[Guest guest]

I forwarded the posting to another conference, and one devotee on that

conference commented as follows:

 

--One need only live in India for a few months to see why the people here

want change and were not satisfied with the BJP. The primary platform

Congress ran on was the need for a government to reach out to and make a

priority the rural poor who make up most of the Indian population--something

the BJP was accused of not doing adequately, choosing instead to focus on

urbanites and the wealthier classes of people. The poverty situation in

India is gross with thousands of farmers committing suicide every month. The

political situation here is of course, not simple, and change is not going

to happen overnight, but personally I think it is a healthy sign that the

Indian population is dissatisfied with how India has been ruled by Indians

and were bold enough to swallow their pride and vote for a party led by an

Italian Christian woman. Based on my own experience living in India and the

West, it is clear to me that in general westerners have a much greater

respect for the dignity of other human beings, less

self-centeredness on the individual day-to-day level, a greater sense of

cleanliness and politeness, and in general a much stronger and active

humanitarian and social consciousness. Frankly I am appalled at the lack of

concern Indians in more privileged positions have for their own countrymen

in less privileged positions. It seems the principle working ethos among

themselves when dealing with one another is how to best take advantage of

others without concern of the consequences and how to avoid being taken

advantage of by others. As one elderly Indian vaishnava here in Mayapur said

to me when I helped him to purchase some medicine which he could not afford:

"The people of India have no heart." So, I think it is potentially a very

good thing for the country, from a political and secular point of view at

least, to have someone from outside India who was educated in a context

where social welfare, including education, is a priority and not seen as a

threat. Somebody needs to do something, and on a practical level.

 

ys,

Tripurari Dasa