Philosophy of Positivism

Samartha Bharat Parva is to understand the wonderful progress that the nation has done. It is the POSITIVISM that we need to pay attention to. Dr R A Mashelkar tells us :

Our gains in the post-Independent era are sizeable. We have functioned as a nation in spite of the cultural, social, political, economic and religious diversities. We have a vibrant democracy, an independent judiciary, and a diversified and widespread industry. We manufacture everything, from pins to missiles. Information Technology (IT) has shown the way as India's tomorrow. But the future of India does not lie in information technology but in another IT that stands for Indian talent. This talent is in demand all over the world. Products of our higher education systems, be they IITs or IIMs, lead the world. We may lack in economic or military clout, yet we Indians have contributed significantly to set up an equitable world order. There is much that we can be proud of in this field.

Sometimes we do not even realize the value of what we have achieved. Let us first see India's unity in diversity. We have 18 major languages, 1600 minor languages and dialects, 6400 castes and sub-castes, 52 major tribes, 6 main ethnic groups and 28 States and yet we have remained one country! We are the largest functioning democracy in the world. We had 619 million voters in the 1998 national elections, making India's election the largest in the world. And they were fair elections too. How many countries can boast of such a feat?

Look at our Constitution. It enshrines the fundamental rights of citizens in sovereign India irrespective of the caste, creed and religion of its people. Look at our free Press. We have over 5000 dailies, 16,000 weeklies and more than 6,000 fortnightlies in all Indian languages. How many countries can boast of a freedom of thought, freedom of expression and freedom of action in the way we have in India?

And many more that needs to be seen. But the most important thing is to cultivate Positivism. Self-denegration seems to be deeply entrenched in our psyche. We see a great deal of cynicism, negativism and pessimism around us. A feeling of diffidence, gloom and desperation seems to be engulfing us. When we see a glass that is half full, we are beginning to endlessly discuss the half empty part of it. When there is darkness, we endlessly discuss the curse of darkness. We do not go out in search of a candle to light the room and remove the darkness. But we must generate a new hope, a new sunshine in our great nation embracing the philosophy of positivism.