Bhopal continues...and reminds us of duties...

Read this article first. Reporters from Tehelka write some of the most powerful articles in India and on all the issues that affect our countrymen. This article is another shining example of it. It makes me wonder just how much work is left in the country, how many tasks we have to perform, revolutions we have to start, to clean up the mess that is India right now!

And how little time we have to do it. There are people who have dedicated their entire lives for social causes, but still there is a dearth of progress in many areas - Education, Poverty alleviation, cocrruption reduction and many more. So much work is left to be done and the hands that are toiling away are too few in number.

Year after year hundreds of people, both young and old, make an arduous journey to the corridors of power in New Delhi seeking justice very basic, in the Bhopal massacre (I prefer to call it that). These tired feet are not alone though. There are hundreds of yatras like this across India day after day, common people wanting what is rightfully theirs, but put in abeyance or denied because of the greed of people above them either in economic or political status, or at times, plainly by virtue of stronger muscles.

There are scores of Indians who are desperate to make a change but are thousands of miles away from their homeland, either working or studying. Dr Kalam, our reverend ex-President, recently commented in a speech on how versatile Indians are in adjusting to new cultures, and more importantly, stressed the need to give back to the community where we live in while at the same time not forget our countrymen back home and keep contributing in whatever way we can to our motherland. It is true that field work is impossible if one is not in the nation, but at the same time, one has to understand that it is not the driver in the F1 car alone, that is responsible for a team's victory. Right from the person who designs the vehicle, to the people who build the car arduously, to the mechanics who change the tyres and fill in fuel paving the way for a quick pit stop, everyone contributes their own unique talents towards victory.

Likewise everyone has to sense that people living away from India have a great role to play in this scheme of events. We wont be drivers of the car, but we will definitely keep the car in good shape to reach the chequered flag. As far as DreamIndia is concerned, we are proud to have strong teams in India where volunteers work for the betterment of the society in their free time. To make sure that we stand by them, there is a long list of tasks that people living in foreign nations can do to support the heroes on the field. Let me list down a few:

• One basic activity can be to spread the word about DreamIndia and find out from people if their friends or relatives back in India would be willing to take part in our activities





• On a technical level, people could help maintain the website





• People interested in writing can write articles for the newsletter or even offer to write articles for the various sections present in the website. After all, it was some reporter who wrote the stoty for Tehelka. If we also can contribute our bit by writing on issues that we think are to be attended to, someone or the other back in India would be incensed enough to do something about it. Help might come from anywhere.





• In case of a funds intensive project, one can try and collect funds from friends and relatives

And much more options like this.

There might be many of us who, after leaving the shores of the nation, feel that what we do sitting in foreign lands will not be effective, but we should understand that that is false. And that we definitely can play our bit from our positions, and that that will indeed create a coinsiderable impact to the parts that our friends are playing back home.

Let us show our solidarity to our modern day freedom fighters, let us unite, let us work hard! From where ever we are! To build a stronger, richer, and a more confident India!

Jai Bharat!