The Indian subcontinent has a special place for women, and the role and function of devis in the Indian religiosity is no less important than devas. Thus artists down the years have always portrayed the subcontinent as a dame, decked with precious jewels and stones, with a crown and sparkling silk saree, displaying the tricolour in her hands. 

What has happened to the country over the 74 years, ever since the British walked out of the country, handing over the reins of the nation into the hands of our own men and women? Has the country been able to project an image of the nation which had been always the object of our imagination? We had always visualised a nation that is self-reliant, caring for all her citizens, providing the best opportunities to feel proud to be an Indian, instilling in them a sense of pride for our rich linguistic, cultural, culinary and religious heritage.

It is important that we take a good look at where our nation is marching towards, so that as critical and conscientious citizens, we may do our part to do corrective measures, in order bring the nation on tracks, and give the momentum to forge ahead towards the greater good of all. It is not hard to trace the path that the nation had traversed over the seven decades, and predict where it is heading towards, if we take into consideration some of the pointers which would tell us our present predicament.

Plummeting Economy

Let us admit it -- Indian economy has not done well at any time after Independence, and it is anyone's guess if it would in the near future. Some may think that I am not patriotic enough because I feel our economy is in a deplorable situation. We do not require the well-learned and articulated opinions of Amartya Sen or Abhijit Banerjee to tell us that the economy of the nation may take several years, if not decades, to recover from the fatal wounds she is suffering from and the lack of alternative mechanism to soothe her seething pain.

It really does not matter if one is well-versed in the technical jargons of economics or one is just used to plain language; the heart of the matter is that we are going through harrowing times and starting from those with white-collared jobs to janitors, rickshaw-pullers of Kolkata to Dubbawalas of Mumbai, the slum-dwellers of Janata Vasahat in Pune or the vegetable-vendors at Koyambedu in Chennai, it is a known secret that bad times are ahead. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had conveniently forgotten the promise he had made to the nation, Ache din aayega, during the 2014 elections. We are still waiting for the day to come, and if the economy is plummeting day after day, then it is clear that the ache din is merely a mirage we are chasing after.

Sky-rocketing Inflation

The two terms of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) wielding power in the Centre had seen some of the worst times the country has ever witnessed, not only natural calamities, but also human-made disasters, leading to the untimely death of hundreds of people.

Inflation seems to be marching ahead unhindered, and no one seems to be bothered about pulling the reins, so that the worst-affected are able to breathe easy; there were several lives chocked to death due to shortage of Oxygen some months ago, and there are thousands who are silently bidding goodbye to life due to the throttling increase of prices, starting with petro-products and all other essential commodities.

Does the government serious about halting the ever-growing price-rice to such an extent that a person who receives less than Rs. 250 as daily wage cannot make both ends meet? With the sudden rise of petro-prices, the prices of essential commodities too have sky-rocketed, so are the bus and train travel. With the pandemic and the lockdown, more and more people have been deprived of their jobs and works, and with a cut in salary and wages it is a herculean task to manage feeding families.
It is easy to blame all to the global meltdown and the pandemic, but we can ask if things were better before the pandemic came knocking at our doors.

Power-mongering Politicians

We cannot deny the fact that a large proportion of the elected Members of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies are educationally not learned. Most of the Bills passed are beyond their understanding and grasp, and yet they vote in favour of the Bills, least knowing what they are doing, and thus the fate of our nation is decided by these blind people leading others.

For many who are in politics, it is not a sacred duty, but a money-minting mechanism; they have the added privilege of being above the law by virtue of their office, and can twist things according to their convenience, because they know that their bosses would always support them. Money and muscle power play a major role in our politics, and there is no scope for the values of honesty, transparency, truthfulness; the very people who would do anything to throttle truth would not mind lecturing on satyameva jayate.

Corporate charlatans

It would not be wrong to say that the nation is controlled by corporate tycoons; even the high and mighty politicians look up to the corporate heads who wield power -- both money and muscle -- on par with the greatest politicians. Thus it is no wonder that some of the most important policy decisions in the country are made to favour the corporates whose sole aim is to double or triple their investments, surreptitiously calling it service to the nation. 

The corporates dictate what the nature of the nation should be, what policies should be tabled in Parliament, what sort of development is good for the people and who the people should vote for. If we do not check the role of corporates in "nation-building", then one day we may have to regret selling the nation to the biggest bidder. It may take just a few years for our nation being sold to the corporates, and the nation will go through neo-slavery, this time under the corporates.

Mangled Youth Power

There is unfortunately a great reservoir of power that is unutilised and untapped; if only the power and energy of our youth are properly channelized, their creativity put to greater common good, their vision given a chance to flower forth, the nation would not have to worry about the future that is looming large before our eyes. But unfortunately, even the muted mann-ki-baat cannot fathom the depth and width of the heart of our youth who need a sympathetic hearing, an understanding heart, rather than a pep-talk on what they should do, and how they should behave.

One of the ways how the youth could be motivated to become agents of social change is through helping them organize themselves. In Bengal, Mamata Banerjee had been supporting the numerous 'clubs' by giving them occasional government aid. These are the grounds from where we can expect great sportspersons, social and political leaders to emerge, who are conscientious of their duty towards the society.
If the government can tap the unutilized energy and power of the youth, they can sustain the nation not only today, but also tomorrow.

Spoilage of Spirituality

Needless to say, Indian spirituality is at stake; all those who shout loud improvising and imparting Indian spirituality rush too fast to the West to 'sell' what is Indian; thus the long cherished Indian spirituality is a commodity not easily accessible to the simple and the ordinary, but only to those who can afford. There is yet another lacuna in branding the Indian spirituality; whatever Indian spirituality is seen as synonymous with Hindu spirituality, and that includes the centuries-old tribal spirituality, and thus the ‘majority’ managed to co-opt the tribals as Hindus in the census, depriving the tribals their own cultural and religious identity.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), together with its ideological partners, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, had done enough spadework to impose their ideology on the Bharatiya Janata Party to work towards a monolithic culture, religion and language. Islam and Christianity, which have played a major role in shaping of the nation’s destiny, have been branded alien to the land.

One thing is for sure, the narrower the mind-set of the nation regarding its religious identity, greater would be the havoc caused to the rich heritage, and the national leaders would be responsible for causing this havoc and catastrophe on this ancient civilization.

Unfortunately the Indian Constitution, which had been considered one of the finest Constitutions in the world, is more and more being relegated to cold-storage, and the custodians of the law of the land are busy creating more and more laws, which would only militate against the long-cherished values enshrined in the Constitution.

Until the Constitution becomes the law of the land, which would be beyond the reach of the politicians to change even an iota, we are going to have chaos in the country. Majority cannot be the criteria to push things through in different walks of life; the minority should also have the freedom to choose what would benefit them. If the Constitution of the land is respected and if it is taught from the primary school, then it would become our second nature and that would be enough for us to take the nation forward, even through rough weather.

It is not enough to hoist the Tricolour on Independence Day, and give long speeches recalling the sacrifices and blood-shed of the leaders of yester-years, but it is time to ask ourselves what we can do to make the nation proud; how can I light my little lamp so that people who walk in darkness may see light.