The India of my dreams...

I travelled to a country where I stayed for one and a half months and did not hear 1 single car horn. I wish India was like that...(yes, there were cars on the road, and more than you would imagine).

I have been to a place where all the passing vehicles will stop if you are standing at the edge of the road, thinking that you will cross the road... I wish India was like that...

I have been to a place where all the traffic cops are honest... I wish India was like that...

I have been to a place where if two people join a queue together, they offer the place to each other... I wish India was like that...

I have been to a place where the empty chocolate wrappers go into the pocket if there is no trash bin nearby. I wish India was like that...

I have been to a place where traffic stops at red light, no matter what time of the day it is... where yellow means slow down and not speed up... I wish India was like that...

I have been to a place where you can smile at a complete stranger and receive a smile in return... I wish India was like that...

I have been to a place where girls can be out late without being worried about their safety... I wish India was like that...

I have been to a place where someone would do anything to spend time with family over a weekend... not be out boozing with friends... I wish India was like that...

I have been to a place where television entertainment is still entertainment and not just women treated treated as objects... I wish India was like that...

I have been to a place where the first page of the newspaper talks about the good things happening in the society... I wish India was like that...

Everytime I think things like this, the sheer weight of the change required scares me... Just imagine changing 1,230,000,000 strangers... It's just too huge for me right now...

So, I've got a plan... It's a simple one and may take a couple of hundred years to work, but atleast its a plan...

I start creating the India that I wish for. I start by changing myself first.
I don't honk in traffic, I give way to walkers, I don't pay bribes to get out of a traffic situation, I throw trash in the trash bin, I'm courteous in queues, I slow down at yellow light, I return smiles, I value my family time, I watch clean entertainment...

I've changed myself, and I'm hoping that seeing me changed, a few more will change... and one day... hopefully in my lifetime I'll see the India of my dreams...