India -- a nation, an idea or just a dream

India as a nation :

India is a country with population of more than 1.2bn people according to 2011 census. India's economy is growing at the rate of 4.5 (GDP). India has a unique mixture of people from different religions but according to preamble of constitution, india is a secular nation. India's 60% (acc. to 2011 census) population still lives in villages. more than 900 mn indians own mobile phones. More than 137 mn (not enough) indians are using internet & 59% of them access internet via mobile phones. India is largest the democracy in the world & is known for preserving the human rights of it's citizens.

India as an idea :

India as an idea could be traced back to a time when it was ruled by the british empire. That was the time when people were patriotic. These patriots had an idea of a great nation -- which will be run by a government of the people, by the people & for the people -- a democracy. A democracy which will be secular in nature, which will have freedom of expression, freedom of speech etc. They struggled for a long time(more than 150 yrs) & victory was theirs. On 15th august 1947, india became an independent country -- a democracy. The then PM of india, Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru became the first PM of independent country.
Our constitution was a masterpiece drafted by Dr. Ambedkar. It contained everything that our freedom fighters ever thought of; but most importantly -- freedom. Freedom of speech, freedom of expression etc are one of the most recently used or publicized fundamental rights.

India as a dream:

After 65 years of independence, we can't really say that the dreams our founding fathers saw, came true. Under the UPA 2 government, there have been too many scams. Not just scams but freedom of speech, freedom of expression have come into question. Recently Mr. Trivedi a cartoonist, was arrested for drawing a cartoon mocking the UPA 2 government. Just after the sad demise of Mr. Balasaheb thackrey, 2 girls from mumbai were arrested. What for? For updating a facebook status which merely in polite words said -- when was the last time we paid homage to our freedom fighters like this? Is this the kind of government our founding fathers wanted?
Now what's the purpose behind writing all this. 2014 elections are coming & we can probably see BJP candidate Mr. Modi vs congress candidate Mr. Rahul gandhi faceoff. This is high time that we vote. And while voting, vote for the ideology of a candidate & not that of a person or a party.


Ideology of Mr. Gandhi led to freedom from the british empire. So if we again vote or support the ideology of a person, we might get freedom from corruption, scams etc. We might as well get our freedom back. For all this to happen, casting a vote is important. Not voting is definitely not the solution to the problem. Voting for a person's ideology might change the situation in india. Many people ask -- why vote? Nothing's gonna change. Well solution for that is again not abstaining from voting but voting for change.

Vote so that the dream our founding fathers had would come true. Vote so that you can see the change.

Mr. Gandhi once said -

"Be the Change you wish to see in the World."

Vote for change. Vote to bring back freedom.
Written By Rishikesh Pande


Edited By Manjushree Iyer

Originally written on 13 May 2013