Failures Galore

TCA SrinivasaRaghavan (August 22) has aptly stated that deep down we all know that there is not a great deal to celebrate. Virendra Kapoor (August 23) is correct in noting that it is a sad tale of lost opportunities and achievements squandered.

Achievements, if any, during 50 years of Indias Independence are the scams involving hundred of crores taking place. The celebrations, if any, are of our failures. Everybody is waxing eloquent about the need to remove rampant corruption. Since it starts from the top, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to get rid of it.

The root cause of failure on all fronts is the conspicuous absence of national character. Nobody these days talks about character which was the bedrock of the freedom movement and which made the British quit India. Today, there is not a single leader who passes the test of national character. It is Swami Vivekananda, who exactly 100 years ago, gave the rousing call to the nation to, arise awake and stop not till the goal is reached".

The three stalwarts of the freedom movement, Gandhi, Nehru and Subhash Bose held Swami Vivekananda in great esteem. Nehru described him as a true forerunner of Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi himself wrote: I have gone through his works very thoroughly, and after having gone through them, the love that I had for my country became thousand fold.

Subhash Chandra Bose also paid glowing tributes to Swamiji when he said: If he had been alive, I would have been at his feet. Modern India is his creation.