India hungers for rupees while its children go without food
I felt utterly ashamed of seeing this news in the Sydney Morning Herald.
We Indians are so obsessed & proud of our growing economy, that we fail to see that only the middle class & rich are becoming richer. The poor are starving and dying.
What a disgrace, and yet by tomorrow we will all forget this, and get back to our normal lives, trying to buy ‘branded clothes’, better homes, or better cars!!
Re: Today I am ashamed of being Indian.
And i thought it was about Tendulkar.
Re: Today I am ashamed of being Indian.
honestly me too.
I know what u mean Aussindian. Really sad.
Re: Today I am ashamed of being Indian.
that is the tragedy of the subcontinent not India alone :(
Re: Today I am ashamed of being Indian.
Aap ko abhi pata chala hai :smack:
Re: Today I am ashamed of being Indian.
That's the thing that's gonna hold India and China back. It's hard to make the leap from developing to what we consider "rich", if there are millions who are starving.
Re: Today I am ashamed of being Indian.
omit the today.... then its fine.
Not as Indian but as a Paki. And shame on so many levels my trigonometry kinda winds inside out.
Re: Today I am ashamed of being Indian.
What is the point of saying 'we feel ashamed'.Are we doing ANYTHING to improve the condition of the poor?If the answer is "No" , then we should really be ashamed.
Do we expect others(our govt) to do it for us?When we wont do it for ourself,then why do we expect others to do it for us ?
It all starts with a single drop of water,a single person-me,you,the person next to you and so on.Eventually it will make a difference.
So instead of sitting back & commenting(which is the easiest thing in the world to do), wake up & lets do something abt it.
Re: Today I am ashamed of being Indian.
Nice post OP. While words may ring hollow to some, this is a forum where that is the only medium for expression.
Re: Today I am ashamed of being Indian.
thats the story of most of the countries. At least India is much more better as a competent country. I guess the hierarchy of bureaucracy that we were bequeathed with, since independence, is taking its toll. :hinna:
Re: Today I am ashamed of being Indian.
Exactly, india has to reduce the poverty, of course, it will be an economical superpower, but i think that the indians have to wait to reduce the poverty
Just like in china
Re: Today I am ashamed of being Indian.
Little Princess: Whenever I visit India, I tip the Rikshawala or domestic help as I feel guilty / bad about their exploitation - however I am angrily told off by my relatives that I am spoiling them & increasing their expectations from them (Indians in India).
I have never lived in Rural India - and what I saw in that article shocked and troubled me.
Maybe members in GS could do something?? Or make a promise that we will pay one poor person everytime we visit Pakistan / India - say USD 200.00.
Re: Today I am ashamed of being Indian.
thts very thoughtful of you Aussindian! …
I think Overseas Pakistani/Indians can easily help out people back home via person or through reliable organizations across the country.
such as this SOS Children’s Villages - India we have the same organization working in Pakistan for orphans and underprivilaged kids!
Re: Today I am ashamed of being Indian.
Little Princess: Whenever I visit India, I tip the Rikshawala or domestic help as I feel guilty / bad about their exploitation - however I am angrily told off by my relatives that I am spoiling them & increasing their expectations from them (Indians in India). [/QUOTE
So true. I really agree with your relatives. I live in Bangalore. Here the IT biggies who return from abroad have truly made our lives miserable. They go out of the way to pay exorbitant amounts for whatever they take a fancy to. It is very difficult to hire an auto here. The common refrain is that "The IT guy pays double the regular fare.. why should I bother" By tipping the rikshawala and the domestic help you are not doing any good. You are just adding to the economic imbalance. The middle class is getting hurt by your actions. You could sponsor students or donate money to orphanages or something like that. People look for instant gratification. You feel happy by tipping him some extra money and the person gets happy be seeing the money. he would rather instantly blow it up on some cheap liquor rather than investing the extra amount for a rainy day. You could enable your domestic help to succeed by asking her to join some vocational training program if you are so concerned.
It is a long post, I agree and I am just pissed about people who just dont understand the ground realities and try making life difficult for everybody else.
[quote="Aussindian, post:14, topic:256050"]
Maybe members in GS could do something?? Or make a promise that we will pay one poor person everytime we visit Pakistan / India - say USD 200.00.
How do you define poor.. What are you trying to achieve by giving that person USD 200. Do you think he is wise enough to invest the money in something good. It is all a matter of choice. Yes something needs to be done but not doling out money. Sponsor students, donate money to good orphanages and old age homes. There are many such institutions which are doing yeoman service for the poor. It is just that we dont make the effort. We just blame the system and do things that hurt the economic balance...
Re: Today I am ashamed of being Indian.
^ That's a little condescending isn't it?
It seems as if your only concern is to ensure that the middle class prosper/not be harmed, and to heck with the poorest in the nation, since really they don't know how to help themselves. If they can't help themselves, then one of the reasons is that no one invests in them or helps them - society perpetuates the inequity.
When inflation increases in India and government employees receive a 15% raise to keep up with the 14% inflationary increase, do the same middle class increase payments to the lowest in the society and pay the rickshaw waala or their domestic help 15% more?
Re: Today I am ashamed of being Indian.
well said Sehrysh........
there should be moderation and balance in our actions when we travel back home........while I am aware first hand of the strife that Storm is referring to in Bangalore (my inlaws have been the "IT walay" there) this is not common in all areas of the subcontinent.
there are many, many poor people that will be born, barely survive and die and never see $200.
Re: Today I am ashamed of being Indian.
next 100 years sub continent has to live with this shame !
because begging is a good business , delhi beggers have fleet of auto rickshaws running on delhi roads . one day on a traffic signal a begger without legs on a small wooden cart came to auto on which i was ,started verbal fight with driver and threatened to take auto rikshaw from driver .after finish of the fight i asked the driver how come this begger was threatening you ? he said sir he is owner of five auto rickshaws , from the last week driver was unable to pay him the due rent of the vehicle that is why he was so angry.
people want free money from govt as subsidy on everything from fertilisers to electricity even crorepati farmers
99 percent people are corrupt , corruption starts from home goes to the school to offices to parliament.the person who is not able to board the bus of corruption immidiately becomes imaandar and joins anna hajaare.
too much reliance on religion ,when zahalat is mixed with it the outcome is disaster . deep inside his heart 50 percent hindus hate muslims , i cant say about muslims because i have many muslim freinds who say all muslims hate hindus 
but they cant be true .
zahil kabhi nahi sudharte let us wait for 100 years more .
Re: Today I am ashamed of being Indian.
I prefer giving money (tips, small amount of money) to the poor person directly, as I can see their happiness straight away.
It also makes me feel good about myself. (I know its a selfish feeling, but it's true)
Re: Today I am ashamed of being Indian.
Maybe members in GS could do something?? Or make a promise that we will pay one poor person everytime we visit Pakistan / India - say USD 200.00.
Paying US$200 probably is not going to change much, may be from malnutrition point it may help but it won't be long lasting. The help we can provide is support institutions that are helping poor in their education, in their living environments, providing them training to be able to make better living etc.
Re: Today I am ashamed of being Indian.
I prefer giving money (tips, small amount of money) to the poor person directly, as I can see their happiness straight away.
It also makes me feel good about myself. (I know its a selfish feeling, but it's true)
Honestly, that is a 'short-cut', by giving money we tend to think we have done our part and makes you 'feel good' about it, but that is really smog on the screen.