VISION 2020 IS A POSSIBILITY

This is my speech from debates.......

Dr A P J Abdul Kalam is a fool. Or so my worthy opponents seem to think. The people’s president, one of the greatest scientists our country has produced. To even suggest that a vision he has endorsed so strongly is an impossibility is insult to his genius. When one of our country’s greatest minds is assured of its success why do we find it so difficult to fathom?

We are a great nation. Our achievements are nothing short of astounding. According to a journalist at Newsweek “Today everyone wants to be in India. The world is courting India as it never has before.”
Why?

We are a great nation. Our achievements are astounding. We are the first in milk production. We are number one in Remote sensing satellites. We are the second largest producer of wheat and rice in the world. We have the fastest growing economic growth rate. 40 richest Indians are worth $170 Billion. 38% of doctors in USA are Indians. 36% of NASA scientists are Indians. The ISRO is the biggest threat to NASA’s monopoly on space research. Our communication systems are the most developed in the world. The Indian media has been hailed as the most proactive in the world. The IT sector is growing at an incredible pace. We have the richest cricket board in the world. Outsourcing is India’s business. Our Biotechnological sector is the fastest growing in the world. Bollywood is the biggest entertainment industry in the world. We have so much. Why then is it so difficult for us to believe that our country can achieve the objectives of vision 2020??

My opponents and skeptics seem to question “India? With its vast slums, dilapidated infrastructure and barely there villages? India with illiteracy, poverty, unemployment and corruption at every doorstep? Is that the India you believe is going to achieve VISION 2020? Yes, because that is no longer India. The India of today is awake and ready. The India of today has something different. SPIRIT. The spirit that can be seen right from the highest corporate office to the smallest slum. This spirit is what will make Vision 2020 a possibility. India is growing because Indians want it to. No longer are they satisfied with simply pointing their finger at authorities. They, we, have come to realize that in order to succeed you have to “be the change you want to see”. Our country has woken up to its potential and it is determined to soar.

A famous Indian once put it eloquently, "A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance." Famous words, spoken by the country’s first prime minister just after midnight, on Aug. 15, 1947. What Nehru was referring to, of course, was the birth of India as an independent state. What we are witnessing today is the birth of India as an independent society—boisterous, colorful, open, vibrant and, above all, ready for change. India's growth maybe messy, chaotic and largely unplanned but India is growing.

“ We no longer discuss the future of India," Commerce Minister Kamal Nath “Simply because the future is India.” The nation of 1.1 billion people after 60 years of independence deservingly stands poised on the edge of economic, political and social greatness. "Our Time is Now," asserts The Times of India.

Rabindranath Tagore had a vision for our country that ends thus:
“Into that heaven of freedom, my Father,
Let my country awake.”

The awakening is now. The awakening is this. The awakening is Vision 2020.

Twinkle Twinkle...five stars...

I guess i am feeling melancholic. Must be the rain or the emotion of the last post. But I just figured....This is my blog...my views and....my space.

This is a personal post so if you are not involved or interested close the screen and get back to work. if you do read this the people this goes out to are rare and have been part of my life for what seems like ever if you happen to meet people like them....hold on for dear life cause you may not be as lucky as me to get another chance.....

ANU: Hey....Its our last year man, after 13 years of being friends...well actually 12 years of fighting and then this year....I am soo sorry for all that...Maybe i didn't know what i was doing or maybe i chose to do it anyway....i have only excuses no reasons....but I really am sorry...i hope I have made it up this year. Thank you for everything.From slapping sense into my thick head to giving me the millionth chance. Thank you for accepting me and believing I could change...I think I have....I hope I have...I love you loads Anu....Muax

TANYA:

This is the hardest one...You are my oldest friend...I know i messed up but i am glad things are getting better...I hope they are...I know they will never go back to being like before....but if it counts....I am sorry....I was wrong....i know I haven't really made up to you but I want to. Thank you for always being there in spite of everything.Thank you for being the strong, level headed, sensible friend(God knows i need one). Thank you for that very necessary email that changed my life. I love you Tanaa.....

PS: If I ever get Nadal I promise I will share....:)Muah....love you

NEHA:My most mental, scariest,complex friend. Dude.....Do you think theres a chance I will ever completely understand you?...I hope not....For last year...shit...I am sorry...I know you said you have forgotten but I'll never mention it again....so this last time...I am sorry for all the misunderstandings and stupid emails....For this year and all those moments....Thank you sooo much....For all those stern lectures and chaotic moments.....For the support, the acceptance, the forgiveness, and the messages....Thank you for being there....I love you my Nutcase Neha....yes, more than your choco fudge.

SHIKHA: Shiki....sorry for all the times I messed up(though with you, thank god, there haven't been many) and for telling you that life is not all you thought it was.....Thank you for being the innocent Lil girl you still are and for caring about every b**ch that you know. Thank you for always always being there and putting up with my garbage.Thank you for playing Cupid. Thank you for giving me kuppa advice that gave me laughs and semma advice that found me so much....and yes, you are the best cappy ever.....I love you Shix.....muax

ROSHNEE: To the most dedicated footie player I know...i have had only two years with you so I hope i haven't messed up....if I have I am sorry.....Thank you for the sense you knocked into me last year. Thank you for letting me figure out how to fix it myself. And for being there. Thank you for all the encouragement. Thank you for all the right advice at the right times.thank you for being the dearest diary ever. Thank you for dragging me for "Mr Bean" and then chasing me outta the theatre......*secret five*....I love you my Superwoman Roshnee.....XOXO

PS: Yes, my cloak looks semma on you.

TO ALL OF YOU:

Thank you for putting up with me when I got....*ahem*.....high. And also for not shutting your ears when I sing.Much appreciated.

LOVE YOU GUYS MILLIONS.

For everyone else reading this....I have other friends in school and outside.....So many...and i love them all....I have shared fun and laughter with them. But its only with the "five fools"(i.e the people above) that i have shared tears.

"You may not remember all the people you laugh with, but you will never forget the ones you cry with"

Its a bird, Its a plane....

No you fools.....They are my friends...!!!!

Lessons Learnt

I am halfway through my last year of school......and I love it. its not just my educational institute that pleases me theres more to it. All those lessons you are meant to learn....and the laughter.

The last one month has been awesome. Busy but tons of fun- Sports and all the hard work and then Dramatics....all the running around ad finally winning!! Not to mention the hatrick in the play!!

And the laughter.

But I would be lying if I said that it has been all laughter. I know there have been a lot of tears.

At the start of the year I knew what i wanted when I left school-wonderful memories of the twelfth standard,my last year at school.And I have got it.Not because only amazing things have been happening but because that's the way I want it.

I have tons of friends, I guess you could say I am social but I am crazy deranged about some of them. The ones who live in my house almost all the time,the ones who are scared of my mommy,the ones who taught me the lessons I have learnt,the ones who defined and redefined friendship for me.....you know who you are ...I don't need to tell you...It goes deeper than that....You are the people I care about, the ones I respect and tell everything.

Yes I know some of you are thinking "Shes talking like they are perfect, she needs to learn that no body's perfect". Your right nobody is perfect but these fools are perfect....for me.

They do have their flaws...one of them being that they care too much about everyone else....yes, they do take saving the world into their own hands...I love them for it...but remember the tears I was talking about....this is where they come in......I have learnt lessons this year...this month....lessons that have shattered, reinforced and sometimes even completely altered my perspective on life.

I have learnt that you cannot please everyone.
I have learnt that true friends are harder to find then the proverbial needle in the haystack.
I have learnt that friendship does not mean the same thing to everybody.
I have learnt that five great friends are 1000.22 times better than 30 fun-friends.
I have learnt to work hard in what i believe in.
I have learnt to believe in honesty and my friends.
I have learnt to know what and who is important and give them priority.
I have learnt to love.
I have learnt to live.
I have grown up.

They may not seem like life's lessons but I believe they are lessons worth learning. I have the best things in life and they are not material. They took time to make, seconds to break but when I fixed them it was worth every bit of effort cause now they are better than ever.

Nostalgia....

I am in my last year of school....everything I do seems to be surrounded by an unfamiliar sense of nostalgia. Expected but unfamiliar.....and I am not good with unfamiliar.There is the sense of looking deeper into everything that I do....things I took for granted for so many years... they will never be there again. Fun, fights, classes, trouble, laughter, tears, fights , rebellion, laughter......I'm probably never gonna have any of it again...not this way.A reason to mourn....the end of two of the greatest years of my life.....And yet tears aren't the things that rise....its laughter....and joy. For all those moments we lived to the fullest.....I have a fondness......even the fights...there were tons of them...have taught me so much....I know i have lived my last to years to the fullest and i am proud of it!!!

School has always been great.....but the last two years have been beyond description......I went through a volley of emotions and feelings and have gone through what i consider a complete education.....I've learnt much more here, not just commerce and maths( I've learnt very little of that)..... I've learnt how to make new friends, keep old ones, learnt new skills, rediscovered old ones.....all those things that text books cannot teach you....those faraway things "only life was going to teach you"....well maybe this is what it is.....

I owe a lot of this to "THE GANG"....my constant companions, friends and at moments enemies even......Everyone of you played a part in my incredible memories of the last two years...We have had fun and amazing memories......laughter and good times is what I will remember....leaving school I have nothing to cry about....only reasons to smile....and its all thanks to you guys!!! Love you guys loadz!!!!

The Year I Turned Sixteen....

I turned sixteen sometime back.....something i have been looking forward to for the longest time.
WHY?
Cause being sixteen means you are no longer a kid and fortunately you are not an adult either.It means that amazing mix of freedom and responsibility. People actually listen to you when you talk and value your opinion and yet you can still get away with the puppy dog look if you play your cards right....;).
The day I turned sixteen I woke up feeling great. It was just one of those days that nothing could go wrong. Not even the fact that I had my commerce exam the next day. It was just one of those days that I knew I was gonna love no matter what. One of the first people who called to wish me asked me how it felt to finally be sixteen and I replied very honestly and promptly that it felt great. But some time later thinking about it I realised that there was more to that question than just a simple answer. I read somewhere that when your sixteen your also fifteen, fourteen.....ten, nine....and one.Its true. There are times when every bit emerges that's what makes you such a complete person. Your memories and experiences never die they only serve to make you stronger. So I thought about it and here's some of what I think I learnt ...though some of it is admittedly nonsensical

• Hard work and passion are irreplaceable and usually yields good results.
• First impressions matter but its what you do with them that make the difference.
• Chocolate and pretty much all other food tastes disgusting just after you've brushed your teeth.
• Trust takes years to build and seconds to break.
• Teddy bears and hugs are eternal.
• You never know what you have until you've lost it.
• Just because you talk long and loud doesn't mean people have to listen to you.
• Words can and do hurt more then anything else. And you cant take them back.
• People can have problems and they can have solutions but the ones with all the solutions usually have their share of problems too.
• There are people other then dysfunctional celebs that have issues.
• You never really know the people you love and that's the beauty of it.
• Memories last forever specially the good ones.
• Proverbs and cliches can contradict each other but sometimes they make sense.
• There are other ways too solve problems then screaming and sulking.
• Reading too much into simple things screws everything up.

Being a year older means starting afresh. But it doesn't make all your previous years go away. Wisdom doesn't actually come with age it comes with experience. Being sixteen opens up a whole new world but it doesn't shut out the old one.

I wonder...

If you love something set it free
If it comes back, it was meant to be,
If it doesn’t, it never was.

The right equation of friendship perhaps. But no thank you. what does setting someone free mean? Letting them be themselves? Accepting them for who they are? Too unpredictable and definitely too risky. I know it’s a lovely quote and all but too many consequences and all in all too much effort. So much easier for us to live a cocoon existence with a certain number of people on our “friend lists”.

Some of us probably love our friends more than our parents simply because we are friends by choice not by any sort of obligation. Our friends love us for who we are and in spite of us. But do they really?

Love and friendship go hand in hand. Trust and humility add to it. Yet they seem to have disappeared. In an argument obviously you are right that’s why you are arguing but the other person also thinks she is right and that’s why she is arguing. Simple enough isn’t it? Not really. Is it worse to have an argument, swear, call each other names and in the end sort it out or keep it to yourself, pretend everything is fine and let the resentment inside grow? On the computer screen it seems easier to sort things out but in reality our egos are too big for us to step down from our pedestal where they are being constantly fanned.

I have always been a very strong believer in speaking my mind but at what cost? Talking it out helps …right? But what if the other person is unwilling to listen? Then what? Do you go down until you get trampled? Is it better to make promises you cant keep or not make promises at all and risk hurting someone? Is it right that you are labeled uncaring because you would rather not make promises you cant keep? Is friendship really just a little book where you note down all a persons pros and cons and then weigh them side-by-side. Are all mistakes unforgivable? What is the use of everyone except the ones that really matter seeing everything you try in order to make amends?

Our friends love us for who we are and in spite of us…. I wonder…

*If anyone has the answers to my many questions in this post please let me know...:)

The question I have to ask........

Is society right in passing judgment on an individual based purely on academic achievement? I believe not and yet this is exactly what happens.

In today’s ultra competitive modern world every one is struggling to earn recognition from the world at large. Pushing and shoving up career ladders is considered a normal thing to do. But at the end of it one of the things the pushers are looking for is approval.

For about the first twenty years of a person’s life he is a student and through those years he is watched and judged based on his “report card” which at the end of it all is just a sheet on paper after all. Just because a person does not do well in school he is labeled dumb by the all-powerful society…that social order that seems to have the right to pass opinion on all and sundry. Where did they earn that right from?

A notable example to illustrate my point-Thomas Alva Edison -His teachers thought him stupid because he questioned every answer given him and his doctors thought young Edison might have brain trouble because of his very large but well-shaped head. His mother, however, understood that her son asked so many questions because he wanted to know exactly how things worked. Yet until the light bulb his most notable invention he was considered dull.
I have nothing against education or the system that is perfectly fine. I do not claim that we should do away with education but I do believe that opinion should be formed on a person based on overall abilities rather than a solitary aspect. I think passing premature judgment on a person is not only wrong but can also scar people for life.

My suggestions on how to fix this- go back to the Stone Age where people were judged solely on abilities. Of course that Stone Age would have to include the TV, phone lines, chocolate and naturally the light bulb.

Of course my resentment could be due to the fact that as much as i might lowe and excel in what I classify as an 'education' and 'cultural enrichment' it still wont get me into college.....we really do need a wider criteria for judgement. Then again that could just be me sitting at my comp and typing maybe it just isnt possible....but it is okay to dream right...