Food for Thought

Hi all,

This is an offshoot of the awesome experience I had @ IIT-Kgp this weekend while participating in the finals of an NGO based competition. For getting to know some of the facts and background of my views kindly visit this link first.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d49u9hM9vcg

Sharing some lines of my speech and views about “Infant Mortality and US”:

Just a few minutes ago while I was thinking of how to share my feelings with you, I happened to get a call from one of my cousins. I just asked for usual family updates and was told that it has been a perfect afternoon for Mehta family. A healthy breakfast followed by a sumptuous lunch and then a record breaking performance in the super shooter video game by Chintu- my four years old nephew. Apparently Chintu cleared four rounds in 1 minute and everybody in the family feels that India has a bright future in store. For a moment it was just another conversation on phone before something hit my mind and hit my heart even more hard afterwards. I realized that while Chintu cleared four rounds of the game, the world lost four small innocent lives rather hopes and I was smacked by an array of questions.

Is the future really so bright? Do we ever consider that a child arriving and growing in a poor and suffering family is as loved as a child in our family?

There is no doubt that we are one of the fastest growing economies in South-Asia. With a projected GDP growth rate of 8% and huge FDI inflow, we might be on our way to achieve “Vision 2020”. But is the picture so colourful? Looks can be deceptive as they say and unfortunately that is the case with our development as well.

“Save the Children” works for the cause of saving thousands of innocent lives leading to an abrupt end of what can be a promising story. Around 2 million children in India die every year before the age of five and 20% of them don’t even breathe for more than 24 hours. It has been a high time we work in this direction and hence head towards an inclusive growth in true sense. The blame game has never ever produced a winner and that’s why let’s all take responsibility. It’s not just the government or an NGO that has to take action, it’s all of us; everyone who will make a difference.

In this era of technology and mass media I don’t see any hurdles in engaging ourselves to fight Infant mortality in India. A community worker can help by identifying the nerves of the issue. A housewife can train a ‘Dai’ in nearby Aanganwadi to empower her for the safety of the mother. A doctor can volunteer for free health check up camps. A lawyer can contribute to restructuring of governmental health policy. An engineer can design a robust framework for supply chain management. An MBA grad like me can devise a marketing campaign to spread the awareness and the youth of India can raise the voice breaking all barriers via social media like Facebook, blogs, Youtube etc.

I think we are mature enough deal with issues of literacy and awareness along with Infrastructure so as to meet the motto. I will convey my feelings by these four lines of mine.

Mamata ki pyas hai, Zindagi ki Talash Hai;

Mithi si Muskan liye, Aai Nanhi si jan Hai.

Na waqt na darker Mile, arey ye Kaisa Vyavahar Hai?

Har pal me ho rahi Dafan, Unnati ki ek aash Hai!

I am here supporting Save the Children to ensure the bright future of “Bunty” (The child character depicted by us) and I request for your support. Let us unleash the ray of the Sun, for that little one.

P.S. We can actually do something about many such issues (visit: http://everyone.org/)