I dont sing "Maa Tujhe Salaam", I sing "Roobarooooooooooo"

A lot of things are being said these days about being the change. I get to read lot of blogger's take on "Be the change". To name a few I read Sudhish Kamath's post on the same Sudhish's Post, couple of Rediff's blogs etc. I was very happy to know that lot of us feel the same way about couple of things happening in society, city and the country. Some of the lot seem to think/say that its all the aftermath of Rang De Basanti. Yes definitely, the movie was a fresh breath of air amidst mighty king kong, kiddy stuff like Narnia but its not that thousands of us got INSPIRATION and pulled our socks only because of RDB. Come on guys. We dont need a movie to enlighten us on the state of affairs of the country. We are very well aware of the same thanks to newspapers, television etc etc.

There have been movie makers who have tried to inspire us from time to time. To quote recent ones (I am mentioning just the hindi and tamil flicks since 1990's here)Gentleman, Indian, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, Lagaan, Mudhalvan, Anniyan and the latest RDB. Each of them tackled a specific issue. Gentleman clearly portrayed the plight of students trying to get professional admissions. Indian spoke about corruption at length. Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani was about how 2 reporters turn into a new leaf as an aftermath of an incident (Oh how I wish the Times of India, the Hindu, Nakkeeran guys turn into new leaf and publish only FACTS). Anniyan spoke about the innumerable misgivings in society right from jumping lanes to under value registration of land to avoid tax. Hmm...Watching these flicks makes you think...Yes, we give it a thought for a day or two...What happens after then?

I was discussing this with a friend of mine. This friend always has an opinion about things ie a highly opiniated person. We were talking about RDB and I was telling him that couple of us are discussing about "Be the change" thing in our blogs etc. He commented that there's something fundamentally wrong with the people's mindset back in India and it was a waste of time spending our energy discussing about all this. I got slightly irritated with his comment but did not say anything further about it. I quickly changed topics and the conversation ended. Hmm...I realised whose mindset had actually taken a beating.

As Sudhish's posts says, all of us can contribute in our own way to make this dream possible. For starters, we can start talking good about our country and feel proud about the fact that he/she is an Indian. (This might sound funny or touchy to couple of nincompoops out there but I dont care!) I had posted my comments on RDB's movie review in Suman's blog Suman's Postwhen one so called Anonymous asks me whether I sing Maa Tujhe Salaam even in my sleep? I replied to him that I sing "Roobaroo...". Another Idiot accused me of being touchy. If we dont feel touchy about our country, who will be? An American or a Brit?

Few Do's and Dont's:

Let us cast our votes. Let us not give up our voting rights.

Let us follow traffic rules. Let us not jump lanes.

Let us keep the street clean and green. Let's plant trees and pave way for another Green Revolution.

Let us stop aping the WEST and cherish and nourish our culture. That does not mean, start wearing dhoti, kurta, khakhi etc. You could still wear a Denim and a t-shirt and listen to heavy metal but at the same time let's not dismiss our traditonal music as just a HYMN !

Let us stop buying leather products. Let's save the fauna.

Let us not PAY BRIBE or ACCEPT BRIBE. Let us be systematic (strive to be a conformist) and plan our activities so that we dont have the oppurunity to engage in BRIBERY.

Let us respect our National Flag and sing our National Anthem with pride.

Let us respect each other. Let us co-exist in harmony. Let there be no fight or even brawl among us.

Let's contribute towards the CHANGE. Let's BE THE CHANGE !!!