Reforming The Indians

Traveling on roads today is not a safe affair. Every second, your life is in extreme danger. Danger of being knocked by a speeding vehicle, danger of being crushed by a rash driver, and what not. The risk increases manifold when you are traveling in a public transport vehicles. The rash driving of the drivers of these vehicles make you pray for life during the entire journey. But should things really be like this?

The condition is the worst in state road transporters, where it should ideally be the safest. If there is someone who can do anything about this, it is YOU.
Yes. You can help make roads safer. We know it is the prerogative of the government to provide safe commute in public transport. But since the government has already failed in this, YOU can force them to take some action.

There is a petition on change.org which if signed in huge numbers, can result in huge steps being taken for road safety. Sign and Share the petition by going to :

https://www.change.org/p/sh-narendra-modi-prime-minister-of-india-sh-nitin-gadkari-minister-for-road-transport-highways-and-shippping-ensure-safety-of-passengers-in-public-transport-vehicles

You can read the entire text of the petition here:

Prime Minister of India Sh. Narendra Modi

Minister for Road Transport Highways and Shipping Sh. Nitin Gadkari

Ensure Safety of Passengers in Public Transport Vehicles

Sir,

The condition of the road transport system in India is in a terrible state. While an alarming number of road travelers die everyday in road accidents, a lot others are left with serious injuries, affecting them for their entire life in many cases.

A major part of these accidents is due to the rash and uncontrolled driving of the State Roadways' and private operators' bus drivers. Many of these drivers drive in a completely irresponsible manner, without caring for the lives of the passengers.

We have gone through the Draft Road Transport and Safety Bill 2015. We also learn from news reports that the Bill is set to be tabled in the ongoing session of the Parliament.

We put forth the following primary requirements to ensure road safety in India:

1. Push the Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2015 and get it passed by consensus in the ongoing session of the parliament ending on 8th May, 2015. If any changes are proposed, they must be expedited by a standing committee and the bill must be passed in the next session.

2. The formation of the National Road Safety Authority of India, as proposed by the bill, will take a long time. Some immediate measures need to be taken.

3. Speed limiters be made mandatory in all the public transport vehicles.

4. The working shifts of drivers be limited to a specific time duration. If the journey is a long one, arrangements should be made to change the driver mid-journey, on lines of the Railways.

5. The relieving of vehicles be made well in time.

6. Accountability of erring drivers be fixed. The lives of the passengers is more costly than any of your political gains. Strong action must be taken.

7. A 24-hour working helpline be set up where passengers can complain about rash driving, even while on-board.

8. Departure and Arrival times of public transport vehicles on various stops be tracked and used to estimate the speed of the vehicles. This could be a short-time replacement of GPS tracking of vehicles, which should be implemented, but will take time. Over-speeding drivers should be suspended after due warnings.

9. A complaint resolution tribunal be set up specifically for such complaints.

A lot of other steps might be needed, but these will also go a long way in ensuring road safety in India.

When an autocratic bill like the Land Acquisition Bill can be pushed through ordinance, we are sure that such an important bill will also be pushed forward. We also expect that the interim steps as proposed above will also be implemented even before the bill is passed and made a law, which we know will take a lot of time.

Sincerely,
Citizens of India

There are times when you underestimate yourself. It is important for you to not let such times hinder your dreams.. It is important for you to stop that creepy habit of underestimating yourself.


How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?
Which is worse, failing or never trying?
If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?
When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?
What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?
If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?
Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?
If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?
To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?
Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?
You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire. They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend. The criticism is distasteful and unjustified. What do you do?
If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be?
Would you break the law to save a loved one?
Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?
What’s something you know you do differently than most people?
How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?
What one thing have you not done that you really want to do? What’s holding you back?
Are you holding onto something you need to let go of?
If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why?
Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?
Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?
Why are you, you?
Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend?
Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you?
What are you most grateful for?
Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?
Is is possible to know the truth without challenging it first?
Has your greatest fear ever come true?
Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset? Does it really matter now?
What is your happiest childhood memory? What makes it so special?
At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?
If not now, then when?
If you haven’t achieved it yet, what do you have to lose?
Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?
Why do religions that support love cause so many wars?
Is it possible to know, without a doubt, what is good and what is evil?
If you just won a million dollars, would you quit your job?
Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing?
Do you feel like you’ve lived this day a hundred times before?
When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in?
If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today?
Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?
What is the difference between being alive and truly living?
When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?
If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?
What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?
When was the last time you noticed the sound of your own breathing?
What do you love? Have any of your recent actions openly expressed this love?
In 5 years from now, will you remember what you did yesterday? What about the day before that? Or the day before that?
Decisions are being made right now. The question is: Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you?

Note:  This might not be original content from anyone in our team. But we thought it is important to share so that you do not lose your morale, ever!

(Here is a great article by Vaibhav Dangwal)
 
Well, to start with, I would like to tell you a story my father told me when I was a child. He was a lecturer in a government school. At that time I loved to explore the labs of the school. One day he took me to the physics lab, where I saw several cardboard tubes stockpiled in one corner, covered with dust. They seemed useless to me. Later the attendant came, and told me how to use those tubes. They were telescopes which were made by students as their summer projects. I found them fun, and the rest of my day was spent playing with a telescope, spotting distant objects such as street lights and birds, and zooming in and out using a sliding mechanism in it. 
In the evening, when my father came back to take me to home, I asked him if I could take that telescope with me. After all, the school had no use of it. My father smiled, pulled a chair and sat on it. I also smiled and sat in front of him as I knew it was time for a lecture. So he told me a story, which I am writing in very brief, below. 

Chanakya was a king maker. He was a teacher, a philosopher, and a royal adviser. I don't think he needs any introduction. Seleucus was a Greek emperor, successor of Alexander the great. He fought a battle with Chandragupta Maurya, but was defeated. At that time, Seleucus had the mightiest army in the whole world. After being defeated, he learnt that, the chief adviser to Mauryan Kingdom, Chanakya, was the main planner and strategist of the war. He thought he might learn something good from Chanakya. So he sent him a letter, asking if he could do a private talk with Chanakya. Chanakya agreed, and sent him an invitation. 
We all know Chanakya lived in tattered hut, away from King's Fort. He used to do meditation, chintan and all the studying there only, and for light, all he had was an oil fed 'diya' (earthen lamp). 

So when Seleucus arrived, he greeted him, and just before starting their 'private' talk, he put off the flame of diya. 

They talked and discussed in complete darkness. Chanakya gave him some valuable lessons, and soon the talk was over. When Seleucus was about leave, he asked Chanakya, - "Mahamatya (mahamantri, prime minister), why did you put off the light before this discussion ?" Chanakya replied:

"Because the oil in the lamp is property of state. And I didn't wanted to use the state's resources for a private conversation." 

The lesson was simple. But it took me a decade to get to the point to fully understand what he was trying to say. I grew up watching people use the allowances granted by the government to them being put into personal use. 
Who takes a government vehicle to shopping ? Or to send their children to tuitions ? Or on a private tour ? Yes. Us. Apart from it, think of several thousand ways in which we misuse government resources. Almost everyone is dipped neck deep in corruption. Fake audits, fake bills, illegal hoardings, nepotism, we have it all. But it's not time to raise these issues. It's time to get together. I'll tell you how. Stay tuned and keep sharing your valuable views and feedback with us.

Its a very disturbing fact that our India has a very depressing and upsetting part in it , that part is poverty . I don't need to explain that term I guess . Without elaborating further I would like to tell you an incident that was experienced by a classmate of mine during his IIT exam journey.

A friend of mine travelled to some southern backward region/state of India (from backward I mean a part of the state or country which is being ignored by the government)  I don't remember exactly the name of that place where he gave his exam , after his exam , He came to the Railway station to catch his train for his journey back to home .


An Incident at the railway platform-
His train was late due to some reasons and so he had to wait at the platform . While he was sitting there he noticed some children half bare /naked playing around in torn clothes. They were small children . There were flies flying around ,the place was dirty , dirty as in it had garbage over there which could cause disease to the children but still they were playing over there.


There were very few people on the station and at a little distance was a tea stall . He asked that man , "Why these children are here?" , "What are they doing"?, "Where are their parents ?" To this the tea vendor smiled and said I will tell you the answer only if you buy a cup of tea from me .

The boy was very curious to know what was the reason the children were roaming around , so he bought the cup and drank the tea . The cup was disposable but it was made of the mud , (The same mud material of the earthen pots; KULHAD, as we call it). The tea cup is disposed or broken down on the floor (usually by the people). When the boy had finished his tea he asked the man "Now tell me the reason why are these children here? "

The tea vendor said saab "Ye chaye ka gilas fenk do" / ""Throw this empty glass of tea on the floor"

The guy did and what happened after that was shocking ...

The children over there started picking those pieces and began licking the slight moisture of the tea left on the broken pieces of the cup . They were literally licking it and the tea vendor said they do it every day.

They arrive every morning at the platform for drinking the left over tea .

This is sad but it is the reality of our nation.

Vo bache sirf us chaye k cup ki nami ko pine k liye waha sara din khelte rehte hai . (The children played there at the dirty place all day just to have the left over moisture of the tea)

I ask you is this the nation we all hope for??
NO!! Not at all.
This incident really broke the boy's heart and he literally cried after watching that scene.
Guys this is not a story , It is a real life incident .
And yes this is the reality . However development is being done by the government but still there are some poor sectors left behind in our country which are being completely ignored.

Now you might me thinking how you can change or help in this .
The message is simple here-
Every thing in a nation is connected, whatever happens whether its good or bad it is happening due to some dishonesty ,negligence , misuse of power or misuse of resources.
The poverty in our country is a serious disease to its development. And a direct cause of poverty is BLACK MONEY and CORRUPTION.
There might be other reasons too for the suffering of those children but these reasons are chief .
It is thus an APPEAL by me on the behalf of The RI (Reforming Indians team) , to just do your bit .

Take atleast some responsibilities for the betterment of your nation , be honest and stop blaming and accusing your leaders. Nothing will change unless we make efforts , unless our mindsets change .

"Apne lie , apne parents k lie to sab karte hai but apne desh k lie b kuch karo".

("Everyone does thinks for himself and his parents. Try doing something for your country")

These lines are from the same guy who experienced this .


A nation cannot develop unless the whole of it has developed.
Do your bit.
Stay tuned if you love your country ,There's a lot more.
God Bless!!
JAi Hind!

As an young Indian in his early 20's, I have always been been amazed by the fact that WE have the largest youth population in the world, WE are the world's largest democracy, We are the people who are never afraid of hard-work, no matter what time of the day (or night) it is, yet WE are still a backward, slowly developing country, a country that has enough matters to be ashamed of.
While many may revolt my statement of calling India a backward country, but then what do you call a country where a rape is reported every 22 minutes, and all that the people do is a candle march, and that too when a rape victim dies. What do you call a country where people call their politicians corrupt (I am not denying the fact), but stay mum when they are asked not to bribe someone, or, in other words, not to nurture corruption? Tell me, what do you call a country where one can be let off after doing a serious crime, just because he paid several hundred (or thousand) bucks to someone in the enforcement?

Questions like these keep haunting me, and I suppose they must be haunting you too, for they form the basis when we sit down to frame the answers on why we are still 'BACKWARD'.

I could have made you proud of our country in the same number of words, but what use it is to be proud of your country when it has a plenty of issues to be resolved, and mind you, these are not issues which can be sidelined.

Here, I am not raising any one issue. I will not just talk about women harassment, not just about corruption, but I will talk on a number of issues, issues which disturb the life of every common Indian in one way or the other.
I remember coming across a cartoon recently which certainly makes us introspect and ask ourselves whether we are the reasons of many of the problems we face today. In the cartoon, a person threw some garbage at a clean place. After he left, someone else came and threw some more garbage at the same place. Several others followed, and the place started to become a dirty mess. Later, the person who started littering at that place came back, and, disturbed by the stench, makes a remark, 'This city is SOO dirty.'.

If you understood what just happened in the cartoon I described, you are the one I am looking for in this journey to change the way we Indians think. With this, I take your leave to give you some time to introspect. Do let me know what your conscience tells you after reading this!

A Brief about us:-

We are not here to explain things to people, we are not here to teach you anything, neither we are going to make you do anything or something, We are here just to make you think .
We are here just to awaken the human in you .
We as a team believe in doing rather than saying.
We believe in the saying - "BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE".
We are no one but" A DREAM FOR A BETTER SOCIETY, A BETTER INDIA...
WE BELIEVE IN OURSELVES AND WE BELIEVE WE CAN MAKE A CHANGE!!!