25 January 2014 - QA 9

Gurudev, the UN recognizes happiness as the basic birthright of every human being. How do we move forward to be a happier country on the occasion of 26th January (Republic day of India)?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: This question first has to come in every citizen of this country: How can we find happiness in our self, and how we can see that happiness increases in our society. So, first that thought should germinate in every mind, and then action will follow soon.

We live as though we are on a conveyor belt. Things are moving, things are going, we don't even think about it. Almost a directionless, aimless life. Maybe the only aim is to make more money, by hook or by crook, that's all.
The corruption in this country should first end, it has reached its peak. I think it cannot go any higher. From top to bottom it is corrupt.

Today, I had a meeting with some of the industrialists and business people. Do you know what they told me? India has the highest deposit of coal, still we are importing coal. We have oil and natural gas here, still we are getting it from outside. And we have so much iron ore, still we are importing steel here. Also, Bauxite, we have plenty of it in our country, we are sitting on a mine of bauxite, but we are importing bauxite.
See, there is gas and oil in the middle east, and in Malaysia and Indonesia as well. We are on the belt, right in the center, but these corrupt politicians have made it so hard for people to move anything. For their personal gains, they have stalled the growth of the country, and the common man is in trouble.

When food prices around the world has dropped, it is so strange the food prices in India have gone up. All over the world the prices have come down, only in India the price of grain has increased. One day suddenly the onion prices go up, and then couple of days later it falls like the Niagara falls. And the farmer is caught in between. It is not tears he is shedding, it is blood in his eyes! And in this situation, how can we keep quiet without talking?

People say, 'Gurudev, your job is only to talk on spirituality, and to give comfort to people; don't talk about corruption and all these social issues. This will affect somebody, so don't say anything about it'.
I say, 'No, I don't think about what anybody thinks or does not think, a fact is a fact. We have to make people aware that this is injustice being done to people'.

Corruption begins where the sense of belongingness ends.
Unfortunately, in a country where Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Rajaji had set up such good precedence, some of the current politicians in power today have misused the trust of people and mismanaged the whole country of 1.2 billion people; made a fool of them. So we must stand up against such injustice. Don't you think so? And this is the time.
Now when the voting time has come, you should say, 'I will not vote for these corrupt people again'.

Our only fight is that nearly one-third of the parliament is occupied by the corrupt and criminal elements. In this coming Lok Sabha (Lower house of Indian Parliament) elections we should flush them out; all the corrupt and criminal elements. No more apathy. See, all that we can do is only during election, that is when we have the power to vote. Don't think that this is because of this particular caste or community. If they are corrupt and have a criminal record, we should keep them away from politics.

In the country, they have removed all ethics and moral lessons from the public sphere in the name of secularism, which is against what Mahatma Gandhi stood for.
Mahatma Gandhi did satsang every day. He preached moral and ethical values every day. But now, alcohol consumption has gone up three times in the country in the last few years. And that is why women are not safe.
You read in the paper everyday about assault on women, it was never the case in this country before. 5-10 years ago, have you heard about so much crime against women? And the main cause of this is alcohol.
I think it is time the country wakes up.