A Billion Dreams An Introduction to our blog
Why a new blog to discuss the problems plaguing the nation? How are we different from the other blogs out there that try to dissect and analyze every single step made by our politicians and so called 'netas'? Well, for one, we will be trying to focus on ourselves, the people of the country as opposed to what the netas do and don't do.
One must look inward before dishing out criticism about what needs to change in politics among politicians. After all, it is we who elect them either by action or worse, by inaction.
The idea for the blog germinated from an incident post 26/11. After the attacks in Mumbai, discussions were actively debating the causes behind the horrific tragedy and how it could have been averted. In this situation, one of our friends, a Muslim, tried to explain to his friends what Islam propounded and what it condemned. This attempt of his resulted sadly with some of the 'friends' asking him to go teach in madrasas. This shameful reaction shocked us all into silence particularly since these were students from one of India's finest educational institutions and would go on to lead the business houses of the country as well as the country itself.
If this was the outlook of students who have had an opportunity to interact with and learn from people belonging to different cultures, what about that of the numerous others who have no such opportunity? With this in mind, the group began to think of ways to reach out to the population at large to explain and sort out the misconceptions held about various communities - be it the misconceptions Hindus had about Muslims and Christians or vice versa. In our discussion with some activists and NGOs, we realised that with out 9 to 5 jobs, it would not be possible to sustain an offline movement for very long. We would be able to keep up the tempo for a couple of months, but what happens next? It was at this point that a professor suggested to us to go online and blog about the issue. He felt that given the current generation's presence online, if we built a good presence online trying to clear the air about various communities, then hopefully it would translate into an offline movement on its own.
So, as a result of this idea, here we are. We are a group of young people - 25 to 30 years old - who would like to see the country they live in, change. Not through a watchful eye kept on the politicians and leaders but through introspection. We believe that if we can all change ourselves into better human beings, the country would improve automatically into one that can fulfill the potential that it so clearly shows.
In this blog, we would be discussing issues relating to the different religions -
How a Muslim from Andhra has more in common to a Hindu from Andhra than a Muslim from (say) Delhi.
How Indian tradition has over the years so successfully imbibed the practices from various other cultures to formulate a unique Indian way of life that people all over the world have come to admire and respect.
The posts will be a mix of hard hitting, thought provoking ones laced with satire . Hope we are able to live up to our promise in the coming weeks.