Sunday, August 31, 2014

Did Macaulay harm India in promoting English?


Many a time a person may have one thing in mind when taking a particular action but the action has many repercussions beyond the comprehension of the perpetrator of the action.
Lord Macaulay have had the subjugation of the Indians in mind when he planned the propagation of English in India.
However, it seems. Indians have taken to English as ducks take to water.
It seems the Indians have beaten the English at their own game and now more people speak English than in Britain and Indians are leading the world in whatever business activity that requires English.
As Cassius said the Brutus in Julius Caesar"The fault dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves, that we are underlings."
Why blame Lord Macaulay when its is our generations of leaders after independence that are responsible.
After Independence, Nehru had the chance to give a new direction to Indian politics, free of corruption and sleaze. His affair with Lady Mountbatten and his compromise with corruption started the rot.
There was a slight respite when Lal Bahadur Shastri was the Prime Minister but thereafter during the reign of Indira Gandhi corruption returned with a vengeance and thereafter with each successive government at the centre and state, it has increased by leaps and bounds.
When the four new states of Uttarkhand, Jharkhand and  Chattisgarh were born, the new states had a golden opportunity to breakaway from the rot. But the states were made so that there were more loaves to distribute, hence they went the same way.
Now, the newest state, Telengana has been born. 
K Chandrasekhar Rao has a golden opportunity to break away from the mold and give his state a corruption free government.
Will he or will it also go the same way? 
Time will tell.
At the centre, Modi too has a golden opportunity to give India a corruption free government.
Will he?
The way he has chosen corrupt people like Yeyurappa, Nitin Gadkari, Nihal Chand shows that he too has lost the opportunity to give India a new direction.
He will continue with large spending, in the name of development, to give his party men and crony capitalist opportunity to mint money.
Another five years wasted.

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