--
“Maybe your country is only a
place you make up in your own mind. Something you dream about and sing about.
Maybe it's not a place on the map at all, but just a story full of people you
meet and places you visit, full of books and films you've been to. I'm not
afraid of being homesick and having no language to live in. I don't have to be
like anyone else. I'm walking on the wall and nobody can stop me.”
―
“The greatest fine art of the
future will be the making of a comfortable living from a small piece of land.”
―
"Had we not abandoned Swadeshi, we need not have been in the present fallen state. If we would get rid of the economic slavery, we must manufacture our own cloth and, at the present moment, only by hand-spinning and hand-weaving." – Mahatma Gandhi.
Hugo P. Hamilton is an Irish writer, was born and raised in Dublin & no wonder his Irish genes can be seen in the way he put forward his thoughts about independence. And the other two names are like Father of the two countries which is the subject (object) of my sharing & reason is the way things have been happening on the world map recently! Well, I am not an expert on world politics or policies or economics or war but reason of this sharing is an appeal by our Hon PM about Buying Swadeshi goods & obvious the tunes which Hon PM is humming is being chorused by all his disciples i.e. party workers along with State govts which we are witnessing! Joke is, the quotes I used of the rest two greats, Mr Lincoln & Mahatma Gandhi, they both did the same nearly hundred years back for their respective countries & today leaders of both these respective countries are again playing the same song, Deja Wu, is it? While Mr Trump is all guns behind MAGA (Make America Great Again or something, what difference it makes anyway, lol) while our Hon PM has appealed repeatedly to “Use Swadeshi” goods. The only difference is only God knows (which I doubt) what has made Mr Trump suddenly reverse the gears of American philosophy of Openness & Quality in business to Only USA while our PM’s Swadeshi nara (Announcement) is the outcome of Trump's tariff war against our country!
On all such backgrounds, we have Diwali which is a festival of lights & happiness but more than that for the entire country, its Festival of Shopping, benefitting millions of families across the society, making riches richer & poor a shade better! Reason is, for ages Diwali is one festival in this 150 plus crore population country which is celebrated in all regions & States merging the boundaries of castes & religions which otherwise are impenetrable or bulletproof against any force, well one exception is team India’s win in the Cricket tournament! During this period everybody shops something as per his or her budget & the list covers home utensils like Broom (zadu) to IPhone 17 Pro as per the need & budget of respective person. And this shopping is for rituals, to make your loved ones happy & for commercial gains too (gifting) thus making Diwali a biggest turnover time for the markets of every commodity. And this is where our PM’s appeal for Swadeshi matters most as on the background of the tariff bomb which Trump tatya has ignited on us damaging our exports to USA, our Desi goods need buyers or will need buyers, is my understanding! And this appeal of our Hon PM, made me think about this sharing as Buy Swadeshi or Promote Swadeshi is definitely a good thing for the country but a lot is needed to make it reality, is what I wanted to share.
First & foremost, why people (those who can afford) buy a product which is made in the USA (or out of India) is the key question which our rulers (not just present PM) must have asked themselves decades back! The simple answer is, quality & value for money! This doesn’t mean Indian products are bad; rather where ever handmade things are the subject we beat any country in the workmanship but this is age of machines & technology & that means mass production, where we lack against the outside world! And this is not today when markets are open, our love for foreign stuff is there right from our independence, as check earlier Bollywood movies, the villains are usually involved in smuggling of foreign goods, gold to watches to liquor, we were always fascinated by foreign made things! Today also smuggling is there but when you can openly get Black Label whisky in the shop why to worry about smuggled stuff, right? Problem is in our policies towards the business or production at large & failure of “Ease of Doing Business” named joke! I am sorry but today ask any businessman in any commodity, what is his biggest problem & the answer will be govt policies or dealing with govt named system! I am not blaming any particular govt’s dept but the entire system which wants fruits of an Industry but does nothing to ensure the atmosphere or surroundings necessary for right growth of that fruit, something which we call infrastructure! May it be Auto Industry or IT industry or Agriculture & even real estate (how can I miss it), show me One Window permission or inaugurated supply of the necessary things like water, roads, electricity & yes, law-enforcement, which plays a vital role in mental peace of personnel working in any production system & you yourself will get the answer!
Here, our farmer’s crops get ruined due to dry drought & due to flooding also, & once in a decade I can understand this happening, but every alternate year crops are getting damaged & yet if we blame nature, then we only are at fault & not nature! And, if this is the case of the farmers then the so-called riches of the society (Industrialist) are also not escaped from the wrath of the system if not nature. Right from not having proper roads for their employees to reach at work places to inadequate basic needs like water supply, every front related to businesses is in problem, is a fact which nobody accepts openly (barring few blue-eyed business houses or people who knows how to mend the system). And if business class has some respect, then the people who are involved in making homes (read as builders) don't even have that respect too, & this is the reason why we are failing to provide affordable homes like the basic thing which is hundred percent Swadeshi! Thank God, the Chinese can’t export land or homes here or else even real estate would have been running for life (which is any way doing for a while)! And the on the top of it our laws & tax systems which includes GST, Income tax & hundred types of local taxes & charges & premiums (visit PMC some-day) & their refund system, well then you will realise may it be making a Wada-Paw or a Car, its equally difficult & to sale it in the local market!
And, last but not the least, aspect of Skill-Development as well attitude of the man-power available for any production as this doesn’t happen overnight. Right from the education system to quality of education to its affordability for the masses, so many factors are involved in developing a skilled workforce, & where are we on this front? This is the reason every boy & girl, whoever can afford talentwise or moneywise is running towards USA, Europe or Singapore as the world doesn’t believe in our education system or what? Agreed in any system employee & employer will always have their grudges against each other but scene in the most businesses/ productions is, if on one side industries are not getting right work force then on other side millions of youngsters are jobless, “Daya, Kuch to Gadbad Hai” (plz google for meaning of the phrase)! At the same time attitude (read as awareness) of our countrymen & women towards this aspect of economy is equally important as when our country is being charged heavily on our exports to USA, masses in our country were queuing in front of Apple stores to book new model of IPhone at its launch, what a contrast! What to buy is very individual subject & I don’t want to enter in it but somewhere please do mind, USA or any western country didn’t become great or developed overnight, it's not just govt’s policies also which made it possible for them, but it's everybody’s efforts to make their respective country great has made it possible! And for that each of us must adopt some discipline & ownership of our work at hand, is my point of sharing!
Well, sorry to darken your mood on the occasion of Diwali but Hon PM sir, please look into all such aspects of the society (I am not saying, just businesses) also, while you appeal our countrymen to buy Swadeshi! Sir, we all want to be independent, we all want our country to be strong & fearless against any trade war of any so-called Super Power Country & most of us are ready to stand & fight & deliver just the way our Army does on the border! And just like the Army, we too need our weapons to fight this war of Swadeshi vs USA, & our weapons are, Infrastructure, Right & Clear Policies, Transparency in Working, Speed of Clearances & a Govt with Attitude to Make/ Build something great! Long back, during China War, our then PM has given us a slogan (nara) “Jay Jwan, jay Kisan;” today, it’s time for a new slogan in continuation of the earlier one i.e. “Jay Kamgar, Jay Karkhandar”! Hon PM Sir, that’s the way by which every working hand will have work & every product made here will have a buyer, as that’s the way to be strong & united country & thanks for your appeal as that’s first step & what better Diwali Gift it can be for the entire country where we share what we make, by virtue of gifting or buying, “Happy Diwali Swadeshiwali”!
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Sanjay Deshpande
Sanjeevani Dev.
Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...
https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345
Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying!
https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2024/12/right-home-buying-in-2025.html
https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html
Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345
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