Nano: Done To Death By Slanderous Tongue!

It was the wicked minds of the politicians through their two pronged slanderous tongue, have slain a vision. The vision of one man was envied by everyone else. Rival small car manufacturers must have heaved a sigh of relief.



Ratan Tata had embarked on a journey, which was a first in the entire automotive history. As expected, he was alone. There were many, who said it was not possible. There were many, who tried to discourage. There were many, who laughed it off.



But that’s the stuff dreams are made of. You do not expect others to believe in your dreams. Most of the time, you are on your own. Mr. Tata was a step ahead. It was not his dream, it was his vision. Of course he had the complete support and faith from his staff. Apart from a few misguided people, the entire nation was waiting holding her breath for the next revolution to take place.



But it did not happen. Should we feel proud when someone says that ours is the largest democracy in the world? I will certainly hang my head in shame. Despite being the largest democracy in the world, we are powerless, while the elected representatives satisfy their whims and fancies. Corruption is the way of life and sadly we have resigned ourselves to it. Nobody bothers to fight anymore, because it is just a waste of time. Right from the watchman to the highest ranked officials in government offices, the so called politicians, and the law are corrupt. Those who are not, are powerless to do anything.



The parliament sessions that are beamed live on the national television channel, stand testimony to what I have just said above. If you are bored and tired of surfing through the channels, I would recommend you to watch one of these sessions. The manner in which they hurl abuses against one and another, disrupt the debate, raise slogans, and if these do not have the satisfactory effect, then they throw fists, hurl shoes and slippers, rip off the mikes, destroy the furniture, violate a female member’s modesty…….all live on TV! What more do you want. Where’s the censor board when you need it.



If this is how our elected representatives choose to represent our country, then what would you expect from others. Having a huge crime charge-sheet against one’s name is a surefire success mantra to get elected. Why? Because ours is a democratic country where even criminals are elected as people’s representatives.



And I am not even talking about the auto drivers, bus-conductors and policemen. Otherwise this would qualify as a PhD thesis and not a blog post. These are the ground realities that we face everyday, but choose not to confront it. Mr. Ratan Tata also had to face a ground reality that his vision to roll out Nano’s from the Singur plant will not be realized.



The Tata’s issued a press release on October 3, 2008 saying that in the interest of the project's success and viability and in light of the opposition's continued agitation; there was no option but to move the project out of the state of West Bengal.



India is shining. Not for me. Look harder and deeper, with conviction. You will see the helplessness of an entire nation. We have become selfish. Here nobody cares. Angelina Jolie warding off depression fights for the coveted space with churches being targeted on the front page of the newspapers. Reruns of the Splitsvilla fighting for TV ratings with the saas-bahu soaps, while the nuclear deal and its ramifications is being aired on every other news channel.



We are Indians. We are like this only. And most importantly “It happens only in India.”



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