Skip to main content

Mere Desh ki Dharti (The Soil Of My Land)

Mere Desh ki dharti sona ughle,
Ughle hirae-moti,
Mere Desh ki Dharti...

So goes the famous patriotic song of India.

Just imagine if the soil of my land did overflow with gold and jewels, how would life be back in India?


THE NEW YORK TIMES
India, 2012:
Reports suggest that India's stock exchange will soon shut shop. This news came as a shock not only to United States but also to the rest of the world.
However, sources in India suggest that this is in the best interest of the Indian industrialists, as they now wish to employ their capital assets in purchase and sale of gem stones and gold, reportedly found unclaimed in many parts of rural India.



Within months after the surprising discovery of precious gems and jewels on Indian soil, graphs showing rural development would appear like steep mountains from its valley.

People would be paid with gold coins, pearls in oysters and diamonds embedded in platinum rings.

Our parliament house in Delhi would become our new Taj Mahal with fine jewels glittering in the Summer's sunshine. The Taj Mahal hotel of Mumbai would continue being the Taj; however it's guests would be greeted with jewellery sets.

All metropolitan cities, of this day, would become abodes of international trade. But what would we trade the jewels for? Oil? Technology? We wouldn't need that anymore.

In such a scenario, we would have to trade jewels for clothes, spices, food grains and building material. What an unfair deal that would be!

However we would resort to this option; to feed hungry stomachs, to shelter roofless heads and to cover bare bodies.



If the soil of my land would overflow with precious jewels, we all would have sacks full of money, but no means, good enough, to spend it.

If the soil of my land would overflow with gold and diamonds, the face of my nation would definitely change, not for the better but for the worse.

If the soil of my nation would overflow with pearls, I would lose the nation I'd always known.
Labels:

Comments

  1. Beyond HorizonDecember 1, 2010 at 5:40 PM

    Thoughtful post...
    if d song wud b true in dis era then poverty ratio wud b really low...unlike now wer only few pockets r overflowing...

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A hometown wedding!

A hometown wedding. This is a magical statement which raises the adrenaline levels in most Indians by a hundred folds or so. For me, it surely was exciting to prepare for and attend a relative’s wedding- shopping, dressing, socializing, making merry and the like. But the excitement to visit my hometown Surat wasn’t as much as it should have been. Reasons could be as under- 1. Surat is geographically so close to Mumbai that I consider it less of a hometown and more of a backyard 2. Despite this clear advantage, I have visited Surat less than 5 times for durations less than 10 days (very unlike a typical Indian hometown vacation)  3. Being a Mumbaikar, I carried the false perception that if you’re a Mumbai loyalist, you cannot like or appreciate any other city. So now, when I did backpack and set out for this “hometown” wedding, I didn’t quite anticipate just how much was in store.  Gujarat in a train All aboard the Gujju Mail ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Exercise!

Photo Credit: Flickr Think of the word exercise for a moment. What other words would you associate with it? Sweat, gym, workout, burnout, and what not. Do you notice how, by and large, we associate a negative sentiment to it? Why don’t we most of us associate more positive words such as flexibility, strength, rejuvenation, me-time, etc. to exercising? Culturally, we have had very limited exposure and encouragement to exercise and even play sports. These are considered as “extra-curricular” and therefore, by consequence, less important and optional activities. Earlier, I too had a negative and dispassionate approach towards exercising. It was my health-conscious sister, who initiated me to the gym, then to yoga and other forms of exercises. Prior to this, my mom had initiated both her daughters to swimming, which is a great full-body workout, apart from being a fun-filled leisure activity. These were my early experiences with exercising, and frankly, they weren’t even ...
1 comment
Read more

Make Me A Man (for a week)

Make me a man for a week , Let me feel what Freedom feels. Let me have guilt-free rough hands and hairy legs, Let my grooming tools be scissors and blades. Make me a man for a week, For there is only one life and here I am - a woman.  Not ever knowing what dominance feels like, Nor having a natural right to call the shots.  And if it can't be done on this earth, Then make a man in Heaven. And bestow upon me wisdom, Like you did on the first man Adam.  Don't get me wrong, I'm all for women.  But haven't we seen and been through so much agony! If only I got to be a man for a change, I'd know how carefree life can be!
Post a Comment
Read more