Rajiv Gandhi is the President of India

A 'model' comes for the audition for 'MTV Rodies'. He is exuding ignorance. He says Ayodhya is the place where the Mahabharata war took place, and Rajiv Gandhi is the President of India. (No kidding. Check for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8BFzoR5b2w)

Probably everyone is laughing at him. But who is really responsible for this sorry state ? I wouldn't blame him alone (And he is not a lone example, mind you. He represents a small but influential set of the society).

I, for a moment, can understand if someone with little or no education is unaware of these things (I actually mean opportunity of education). But the fact that an English speaking, well-off youngster is so ignorant clearly speaks of some serious lacunae in our socio-educational system. He was provided with the right background and opportunity to learn these things, but their importance was not impressed upon him. He could get away with not knowing them while in school, and the smugness on his face showed that he hardly cares about them even today.

It is the collective responsibility of us - those who know, and know that they know, and care about what they know - to create an environment where the others would also at least care to know.

...

Just a night before I came across this video, I got to spend some quality time with a group of youngsters, who probably lie at the other end of the youth spectrum with respect to awareness and the desire for awareness.

We had an intense group discussion session, and like any discussion amongst peers, it often digressed from the main thread, touching the skies of hypothetical situations here and delving into the oceans of philosophy there, but mainly centered around this theme:

- one of the major problems of our country is mindlessly mimicking the west
- this mainly emerges out of enormous ignorance of our own culture
- no 'saviour' will come and change this situation for us: we have to do it
ourselves.

...

When I said, 'It is the collective responsibility of us to create a good environment', by 'us' I essentially meant these and countless such youth across the nation, who, well, can !

Slogans

Conservation of the eco-system is turning out to be more challenging than ever. In time-management lingo, it is both important and urgent.

Many NGOs, government departments etc are using catchy slogans to emphasize the importance of saving water, electricity and other resources.

A sure way of attracting people towards any movement is to use catchy one-liners, phrases or slogans that carry the essence of the problem and appeal the audience on a very personal level.

Recently heard a couple of such slogans which are bound to bind the youth to the movement (source unknown):
1. "ped ke upar prem karo, ped ke neeche nahi"
2. "How would you feel if someone just turned you on and left? ... Save Electricity!"

I am sure you will definitely think twice before leaving a fan/light/tap on after reading this...