Independence Day reminds me to think Independently

Despite all the rhetoric thrown at us each day about our country's pride and our patriotism I think it is high time we questioned the idea of what Independence should mean to us today, given the pathetic performance of the state and all nature of self-interested leaders to uphold these very interests and our national pride. For years that I can recall, we have been fed the history of the Independence movement, the heroism of Gandhi, and other leaders as the epitome of ideal conduct and patriotism. I would call this manipulation of the masses with what can only be called idol worship.

After the CWG fiasco, it is clear, that the very existence of the Indian state demands that there be some privileged class vitally interested in maintaining its own existence. And it is precisely the group interests of this class that have been fed to us as "patriotism"- a blind faith in and adulation of inept leaders masquerading as saints and basking in the reflected glory of Gandhi and the freedom movement. Literalists like most of Indians are, are always mistaking the symbol for a reality, for the truth and this is a failure of our education to create independent thinkers. This is why political propaganda and mind games seem to appeal to the worst part of so many of us Indians.

As an Indian today who has had no direct experience of the struggle for independence, I seem to have much less of a sense of history than earlier generations, and it hurts me in the battle for a really potent current sense of patriotism that I can react and demand a better response from my country's leadership, suited to the needs of today's society and a political system that I can participate in. Clearly as a nation, we have become too blase to bother with any real change. As weary as we are of the clamour of complaints of ethnic division and religious self-assertion, we are an over tolerant people, tolerant of our corrupt political class, our broken roads and potholes, tobacco stained spit marks on the walls, garbage on the road and people urinating openly in public. It seems it is enough for us to imagine the romance of the idea that there is something more to think about in the idea of India. The all too simple idea, of a land where the colour of your skin doesnt matter, the sounds you make when you speak, the kind of food you eat, the God you choose to worship (or not)do not matter, so long as you want to play by the same rules as everybody else. (The idea of India from Shashi Tharoor's Speech)

Agreed that this idea of India, is well worth defending,but I would dare demand more than just the romance of so called independence and freedom of choice- I dream of an India, where tomorrow signifies the hope of a strong, confident civil society, free of corruption, where the youth is activated, politically participative, where not only will unity continue to prevail, but where the people will be educated, civil, equal, kind and generous in their conduct, and this sense of freedom will animate our choice of imagining our desired futures, allow us to innovate and take pride in achievements.I demand to see a country of accountable leaders who epitomise the capabilities of honesty, responsiblity and patriotism in which we have reposed our faith.We are in grave danger of losing the sense of who we are as a people – a people composed of many peoples, many tribes and ethnicities, many classes, many religions but who share the values of liberty and freedom and justice for all. If we lose that, we are India no longer.

Green buildings may cost more up front, but they deliver high returns over the long term.

Green buildings may cost more up front, but they deliver high returns over the long term. Consider indicative data: Energy savings in green buildings routinely exceed 20% and reach 50% on hot days.

Oxygen-rich air, injected into enclosed space, improves employees’ health, increasing productivity.

Raised floors cut air-conditioning costs by 70%. Dry toilets save millions of gallons of water. A short term view will discount or ignore those metrics; a long-term, life-cycle view will embrace them.