What i appreciate about PM Modi is, he has intended and mentioned that he wants to bring everyone together - opposition, bureaucracy, CMs - to the task of nation building. The other thing that is noticeable is staying away from religious / communal polarisation, by not commenting either way. The interesting thing in the last one month is, barring a few leader who insist on stoking secular/communal flames, the discussion has moved to development and governance with Modi 2.0 and everyone is hoping that is a good thing.
IMO, most political parties have understood the religious card, dividing us on communal lines, objectifying us as vote banks, is not working anymore. The next logical step should be to weed out the criminals, bring in more candidates of diverse backgrounds, include more women and make governance at grass-root level a mandatory for leaders to rise.
There is one thing that is troubling me though. How do we evaluate the core campaign promise of "achche din" in the next five years? It might mean many things to many people - employment, (sense of) security, inflation, rising stock market, larger part of the GDP on health and education, reduced corruption, transparency, tax reforms, police reforms, land reforms, sanitation, cleaning up rivers, FDI, foreign policy, affordable housing, retur of black money stashed away in tax havens - and many more. I'd say each Indian will have an unique wish list and set of expectations from PM Modi and his government.
However, that still doesn't answer the "achche din" definition and i will tell you why: On any day, in any city of the country - just observe the beheviour of our fellow country men at traffic signal for few minutes. There will be late lateef's who will speed thru a red light, there will be those who are inching ahead from the left, there will be the bold ones who will break away when it is not their turn. Now don't let me single out only those with vehicles... There are jaywalkers who will ignore red / green and just walk as if it is their god-given right, and those who prefer walking on the road instead of the footpath. There will be pedestrians who take their own sweet time to make up their mind where they want to go, while standing in the middle of the road...
For me, the "achche din" comes down to the small things in life. The unnecessary traffic jams at railway crossing, when impatient idiots go on the wrong side of the road, and choke oncoming traffic. The careless bus driver who stops the bus in middle of the road, instead of at the bus stop. The greedy rickshaw-wallah who refuses to take short distances. The asshole who honks while the signal is still red. The careless person who is talking on the mobile phone while driving / riding, or cradling the phone between shoulder and ear and speeding away.
These and many more people like this are constantly gnawing at my day-to-day peace. They are the ones who cause road-rage. They are the thorns as we hopefully land up in to the "achche din" democracy.
Now that the political discourse is changing, i think it is time for the auxiliary organisations of political parties to focus on other things too. These auxiliary bodies have long-guarded our culture and religions and languages, which are as old as time itself. They have used their better judgement to censor what we should read / watch / listen / do - instead of letting us choose for ourselves. They have used fear and intimidation and destruction to force us to see things their way, without trying to chat, reason and see the other side.
These auxiliary bodies will do the nation a great disservice and to the PM himself, if they continue to increase the nuisance value and not be a part of the "achche din" initiative.
They need to stop "creating news" and indulging in hooliganism / goondaism, and focus on being a part of the constructive system. Won't it be wonderful sight to see the volunteers of these organisations partnering with traffic police and manning understaffed signals? Just like they go door-to-door canvassing votes, why should they not go to houses and mohallas and hold camps to educate people on how to cross roads? Or how it is important to make way for an ambulance. Or not spit in public.
I think it is time for them to re-invent themselves, as their larger political masters are taking the direction of growth and governance.
Those who think that Civics is a school subject, and not to be followed on the street need to wake up! The long arm of the Law will catch up with the criminals. What about those who are super busy doing one little transgression at a time?
Well, i don't know how the turnabout is going to happen, but i hope it does. For me, the "achche din" initiative will be reality when we follow traffic signals on the day signals are not working. When people wont shamelessly declare - India mein gaadi chalyi, toh duniya mein kahi bhi chala sakte hai.
That, will be "achche din".
IMO, most political parties have understood the religious card, dividing us on communal lines, objectifying us as vote banks, is not working anymore. The next logical step should be to weed out the criminals, bring in more candidates of diverse backgrounds, include more women and make governance at grass-root level a mandatory for leaders to rise.
There is one thing that is troubling me though. How do we evaluate the core campaign promise of "achche din" in the next five years? It might mean many things to many people - employment, (sense of) security, inflation, rising stock market, larger part of the GDP on health and education, reduced corruption, transparency, tax reforms, police reforms, land reforms, sanitation, cleaning up rivers, FDI, foreign policy, affordable housing, retur of black money stashed away in tax havens - and many more. I'd say each Indian will have an unique wish list and set of expectations from PM Modi and his government.
However, that still doesn't answer the "achche din" definition and i will tell you why: On any day, in any city of the country - just observe the beheviour of our fellow country men at traffic signal for few minutes. There will be late lateef's who will speed thru a red light, there will be those who are inching ahead from the left, there will be the bold ones who will break away when it is not their turn. Now don't let me single out only those with vehicles... There are jaywalkers who will ignore red / green and just walk as if it is their god-given right, and those who prefer walking on the road instead of the footpath. There will be pedestrians who take their own sweet time to make up their mind where they want to go, while standing in the middle of the road...
For me, the "achche din" comes down to the small things in life. The unnecessary traffic jams at railway crossing, when impatient idiots go on the wrong side of the road, and choke oncoming traffic. The careless bus driver who stops the bus in middle of the road, instead of at the bus stop. The greedy rickshaw-wallah who refuses to take short distances. The asshole who honks while the signal is still red. The careless person who is talking on the mobile phone while driving / riding, or cradling the phone between shoulder and ear and speeding away.
These and many more people like this are constantly gnawing at my day-to-day peace. They are the ones who cause road-rage. They are the thorns as we hopefully land up in to the "achche din" democracy.
Now that the political discourse is changing, i think it is time for the auxiliary organisations of political parties to focus on other things too. These auxiliary bodies have long-guarded our culture and religions and languages, which are as old as time itself. They have used their better judgement to censor what we should read / watch / listen / do - instead of letting us choose for ourselves. They have used fear and intimidation and destruction to force us to see things their way, without trying to chat, reason and see the other side.
These auxiliary bodies will do the nation a great disservice and to the PM himself, if they continue to increase the nuisance value and not be a part of the "achche din" initiative.
They need to stop "creating news" and indulging in hooliganism / goondaism, and focus on being a part of the constructive system. Won't it be wonderful sight to see the volunteers of these organisations partnering with traffic police and manning understaffed signals? Just like they go door-to-door canvassing votes, why should they not go to houses and mohallas and hold camps to educate people on how to cross roads? Or how it is important to make way for an ambulance. Or not spit in public.
I think it is time for them to re-invent themselves, as their larger political masters are taking the direction of growth and governance.
Those who think that Civics is a school subject, and not to be followed on the street need to wake up! The long arm of the Law will catch up with the criminals. What about those who are super busy doing one little transgression at a time?
Well, i don't know how the turnabout is going to happen, but i hope it does. For me, the "achche din" initiative will be reality when we follow traffic signals on the day signals are not working. When people wont shamelessly declare - India mein gaadi chalyi, toh duniya mein kahi bhi chala sakte hai.
That, will be "achche din".
Modi government's recent unpopular decisions are bound to draw a lot of flak from desperate people however the ramshackled economy need such firm decisions which will ultimately bring the Achhe Din.
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