By Vijay Darda | 31-12-2018
Today is the last day of 2018. Tomorrow will be the day of new expectations. Let’s resolve to build a better society
According to our Indian culture and tradition, we should not complain against the person who is not present amidst us. Therefore, it is pertinent that we should not complain about the outgoing year 2018. Now what is the use of saying on the last day that we had witnessed many bad days of social and ideological disintegration in the 2018! Actually, we should say that it is in this passing year that vociferous voices were raised against this very social and ideological disintegration. Of course, I am crediting the outgoing year 2018 with these vibrant voices. I hope that the strong voices which began in the outgoing year will become stronger in 2019 and will take us towards better tomorrow.
Yes, in the context of 2018 it must be mentioned that the expectations remained unfulfilled. It was hoped that every unemployed would get a job, farmers would get better remunerative prices, and our land would become prosperous. Youths continued to wait for new inventions, harassed farmers and troubled workers kept hoping that somebody will take notice of their problems and solve them and small businessmen wanted freedom from the bureaucracy. The industrialists who drove the wheels of Indian economy were in troubled waters while those industrialists who were pushing the Indian economy into the abyss of insolvency enjoyed themselves. People continued to suffer. The soldiers kept getting martyred to protect the country and politics was played on the issue of military martyrdom. The country is in the grip of terrorism. There is no harm in saying that people were sadly disappointed. The angry people vented their ire in the recent elections in three states. Let’s hope that 2019 will be the year to fulfil our expectations.
I hope that in the New Year we will return to the path of social harmony with the same agility with which we are taking strides in the field of technology. I am using the word ‘return’ as social harmony is our cultural identity. Thanks to this cultural value, our civilisation is alive since thousands of years. We do not know how many assaults our culture has suffered and sustained but it has shown a rare resilience and that is why our culture has not faded away! The reason for our sustenance is hidden in the fabric of our society that keeps assimilating everyone. Some evil-minded elements have tried to break up the closely knit society from time to time but badly failed to do so. Our society keeps repairing its web and waft every time it suffers a tear. Resilience is our strength. Even when we got freedom, the society was badly splintered but we came to the right path again! We came to the right path after independence because we chose the path of secularism. It is my firm belief that attempts to destroy social harmony and communal amity can never be successful in India.
I would like to thank the passing year because we have got many tech gifts this year. We have got a 4.9 km long rail and road bridge in Bogibeel in Assam and 14 km long tunnel near Zoji La in Kashmir. ISRO has set a record of launching maximum number of satellites, and in the last week of 2018, the Gaganyaan project was also approved, in which three Indians will be sent to space in an ultra-modern spacecraft. Why should anybody nurse grievances against such a year?
Now let’s talk about tomorrow, talk about New Year. Talk about new resolutions. If a better person builds a society then the country will naturally become better. To compose this new song of creation, we all will have to try at the personal level. If we only keep thinking what difference can a single person make, then social harmony would never emerge.
There are some small things that we can use as tools to create a better society. It seems that the first need is to keep yourself healthy and safe. Our young generation is highly enthusiastic and intelligent but they seem to lack better health. The biggest reason for this is lack of exercise. The result is that our young generation is getting afflicted with diseases like diabetes and heart ailments. When we are past our prime, we regret why we did not exercise? So our younger generation should make a resolution to find some time for physical exercise. Healthy young people are the real capital of the nation.
Just as health is essential for better personality, so is discipline in life. In our society it is being given short shrift. Breaking discipline begins with time. There are few people in India who observe punctuality. When you are disciplined then there will not be any uneasiness and restlessness inside you. If you leave for work in time, you will not make haste. You will not speed along the road and thus be saved from mishaps. Do you know that in India 16 people are killed every hour in road accidents and most of them are young? In the New Year, take a pledge that you will wear helmets before starting the bike and will not sit in a car without seat-belt!
Take another resolution in the New Year, no matter what your age, keep reading something. Reading for mental health is very important.
I mean to say that you need to create love within yourself. If we all bond in love and affection, then we will compose a new song for the creation of a better society. May the media also continue to work as watchdog of democracy. Happy New Year to all of you.
INTRO
Whatever 2018 may have been, it’s been a good year! We will begin New Year with great expectations and we will also make new resolutions. So let’s resolve to build a better society.
Relevant Articles
Neither victory nor defeat, let communal harmony prevail
Telangana: The crisis after solution
Now, Vidarbha can’t be put off
Union Budget: Jaitley’s burden of expectations