India @ 65!

India turns 65 tomorrow!

Got these pretty neat post from yahoo which I am sharing here. Original can be found here and here!

Images/Data Courtesy: facts.randomhistory.com, www.cia.gov, sree.teck.in, www.neoncarrot.co.uk, www.indif.com, www.real-factsabout-india.com, www.indiafolks.com, www.pratheep.com, www.economist.com, in.news.yahoo.com

64th Independence Day of India

We have 64th Independence Day of India on this Sunday. Now, I know that while it all yay and yippie; has anyone stopped for a second and wondered what it means, if at all it does.

What has this bought for us? And even more importantly, what have we done for India?

True, we have been able to do a lot of things that people were not able to do earlier; like listen music and watch movies on video iPods, talk on blackberries, wear fine French tailored suits, drive German cars with American/Nigerian friends, get high on vodka and run over migrant laborers, more variety of STDs and so on.

India has developed a lot over the years. But, more to the point, it has developed split personalities. On one side is the personality which everyone endorses; the ‘India Shining’ persona. Heads of various leading companies across the globe have been quoted as looking forward to India becoming a beacon in the global landscape (Read some here). Global consultancy firms have been ranking India high in various performance parameters (read some here and here).

On the other side of the spectrum is the India that nobody wants to talk about. The India which is barely able to cover four square meals of the day. The India which tried to host commonwealth games and is, seemingly, failing at that. The India which has a plethora of corrupt politicians like Kalmadi, Lalu, Behenji, just to name a few. The India in which spawn of rich tycoons go scot free even after killing a dozen people while a common man is killed in fake encounters and jailed for having sneezed. The India where the vigilante army MNS and Bajrang Dal think that it is their moral duty to curb the right to every free expression there is.

Kind of makes me wonder, which India is celebrating its independence day!!!

Image Courtesy: nehasinha.wordpress.com