PARUL SHARMA

Respected judges and my dear opponents, I hereby speak against the motion, WE ARE INDIANS! ARE WE PROUD OF INDIA?

A very debatable topic I agree, and my opponents might have just great views about my country.

Truly said,

“Patriotism is a belief that my country is greater than yours because i was born here.”

And being born an Indian, I respect my country and will always do. I am proud of the Taj Mahal (a wonder of the world), Kashmir (heaven on earth) and most importantly my culture…. But don’t you agree, that all I am proud of, has been ruined my country mates in today’s generation. If we have such a great country why couldn’t we restore the monuments that stood pretty some 20 years back? And what have we done for our future generations to look up to us and be proud of their past. NOTHING!!! And why are we not capable of creating peace in the most beautiful place in the world. Still, many countrymen are afraid to go to Kashmir and enjoy its immense beauty because of the daily riots taking place. My culture, I know and I am proud to say, is the best and one of the oldest civilizations in the world and being the most FLEXIBLE of all is able to survive for so long.

BUT, what have we done with our culture after independence…

Yes I am proud our ancestors who fought for the country’s independence to their deaths.. But what have we done to the democracy we have acquired. All started with Gandhiji’s assault, murders of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi (the people who wanted to improve our country), the Babri Masjid case and most recently the Commonwealth Games. The media certainly has shown us the ugly faces of the CWG acts, and no one would disagree with me that ,although Delhi was improved, but still we have ashamed our country with such show of our Capital. This showed how corrupted our officials are…

And The Babri Masjid case showed how democratic our country is, but the countrymen don’t understand the meaning of democracy, by doing dharnas, riots and much more they don’t fulfill the meaning of being democratic…

When our leaders are not good enough to respect the beauty and culture of our nation, what do we expect out of the countrymen?

If we need to improve upon our country we must blend modernness with our own very culture. All that Rajiv Gandhi did to develop the country was laudable. The computerization of our country was because of him. But what did he get for making the country proud was his assault. And people who shame us with all these assaults and riots, these few and reckless elements will not let the country develop. Although these elements might be present in other parts of the worlds like USA, Japan etc. but still these country’s are develoing...How?? Japan which was shattered in the World War II has emerged as a technological hub of the world, still retaining their culture.

And what else should I say of my country, the following facts will do…

There are 3.22 Million Indians in America. .

38% of Doctors in America are Indians.

12% of Scientists in America are Indians.
 36% of NASA employees are Indians.

My fellow opponents would be proud of reading these facts. But certainly I am not. It’s a simple case of BRAIN DRAIN.

Former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam had said that reverse brain drain will have to begin if India is to become a developed nation in the future. But the percentage of students coming back after studying overseas is not very high.

People like APJ Kalam are rare and not given the chance to lead the nation, that’s where we lag behind…

And like every other youngster who adores the beauty, the lifestyle, the infrastructure, the technology and off course the cleanliness of foreign nations, I too would want to go and live a life like that.

Because my nation does make me proud of its history and culture but its PRESENT ruins all done in the past.