The Rediscovery of India
Voice of The Reader

The Rediscovery of India

April 2, 2020

Sir,

Mahatma Gandhi said that the Future of India lies in its villages. Today when we see heart-wrenching visuals of lakhs of poor desperately trying to leave the cities and return to their homes, we are reminded of his words.

Decades after Gandhiji, a messiah named Anna Hazare championed the cause in a village named Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar. With watershed management as the main area of focus, he strengthened village communities, fought corruption, brought prosperity to villagers and reversed migration to cities. He also brought about social change by improving the status of women and the Dalits.

The present exodus from the cities back to villages has brought out the glaring fact that the rural poor have been exploited to enable the growth of metropolises that are imploding under their own weight.

It is also time to pause and reconsider the very paradigm of ‘Development’ and the mad rush towards improving the ‘GDP’. When we talk about GDP, there is a need to look at the Bhutanese philosophy of ‘The Nine Domains of Gross National Happiness’ as enumerated below:

  1. Psychological Well-being; 2. Standard of Living; 3. Good Governance; 4. Health; 5. Education; 6. Community Vitality; 7. Cultural Diversity and Resilience; 8. Time Use; 9. Ecological Diversity and Resilience

Surely, these domains cannot have meaning if village communities across the country are compelled to leave their homes and made to live in crowded, unclean slums in faraway cities!

While it is fine to plan for ‘Smart Cities’, perhaps the time has come to think about the need for ‘Flourishing Villages’! Anna Hazare’s vision, coupled with the Bhutanese philosophy of the ‘Nine Domains of Gross National Happiness’ could be the mantra for the Rediscovery of India!

READ ALSO  Problems galore in Bankers, Railway and Bapuji Layouts

– Col. C.P. Muthanna (retd.) Former President, Coorg Wildlife Society and Vice-Chair, Kodagu Model Forest Trust, Gonikoppa , 31.3.2020

You can also mail us your views, opinions, and stories to [email protected]

ABOUT

Mysuru’s favorite and largest circulated English evening daily has kept the citizens of Mysuru informed and entertained since 1978. Over the past 45 years, Star of Mysore has been the newspaper that Mysureans reach for every evening to know about the happenings in Mysuru city. The newspaper has feature rich articles and dedicated pages targeted at readers across the demographic spectrum of Mysuru city. With a readership of over 2,50,000 Star of Mysore has been the best connection between it’s readers and their leaders; between advertisers and customers; between Mysuru and Mysureans.

CONTACT

Academy News Papers Private Limited, Publishers, Star of Mysore & Mysuru Mithra, 15-C, Industrial ‘A’ Layout, Bannimantap, Mysuru-570015. Phone no. – 0821 249 6520

To advertise on Star of Mysore, email us at

Online Edition: [email protected]
Print Editon: [email protected]
For News/Press Release: [email protected]