"The Book that inspired me most" - An old write !!!

While organizing my lappy over-used D: drive, I found some old writes. Interesting stuff. It's as refreshing to read your old writes when you expressed differently as refreshing it is to see your old pics when you were younger and looked different. I thought to put this "Memo" on my blog. It's an essay on "The Book that insipred me most" for a competition in TCS Essay writing competition in 2005.I notice a significant errors in this essay but I choose to put it here in the original form only. No wonder I did not win. After all experience matters :)

"The Book that inspired me most"

It is chiefly through books that we enjoy association with superior minds. In the best books, great men talk to us, give us their most precious thoughts, and pour their soul into ours. The books nurture novice minds and satiate the learning needs of many.

The book that has left a lasting impression on me is ‘The Great Indian Dream’ by Malay & Arindham Chaudhary. The book meticulously presents the decrepit condition of India in various fields like Food security, Infrastructure, Per capita Income, Human development. It also states the situations at present are more because of mismanagement of resources and fundamental mistakes in our approach for problem solving than being inherited by us.

The book presented lots of cold facts logically like Indian Forex Reserves as high as $82 billion (in 2000, $142 today) as a wastage of precious money at minuscule interest rate even though India would need a maximum of $15 billion in case of emergency. It states it would be better to use the same money for Infrastructure development or better be distributed to poor’s. The list of observations was unending. "India is a sleepy cow" being another one. The book introduced me to the huge pitfalls in strategic approach of India like although 26% of people live below poverty line and cannot afford a full meal everyday; India has enough food stock which if put sack by sack on one another a path till moon can be formed. The food has been left at the mercy of notorious rats and insects while thousands of Indians suffer.

The book also presented the principle ideas to be implemented which can transform India from a developing to a developed country. It put emphasis on raising the living standards of poor people (which would help India to increase its customer base and hence the whole economy) as being the top most priority. It also stated to eradicate unnecessary hierarchy in the system which provides hindrance to proper allocation of Subsidies / Benefits to poor and needy.

After going through the book I was bedazzled at the enormous potential of India. As a teenager I had attributed the poor state of India largely to resource deficiency and British Raj. However the book led me to leverage enough belief in potential of India to be a developed country.

As Thomas Carlyle has said “The best effect of any book is that it excites the reader for self activity”. The book led me to be emphatic for the poor people. I feel it my responsibility to contribute to their well being. I realize the importance of Higher and Middle class to contribute to uplift the poor class and try to be as honest as possible in my contribution for the endeavor.

If through this epitome of the book I am able to inspire any single soul to go through the book and engross the ideas and try to implement the fundamental principles of improvement presented in the book, I will feel being a part of journey for Great India started by Mr. Arindham Chaudhary.