The need of Development

Dear readers,
Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam, a real patriot has started a fortnightly e-paper called billion beats.This is in a real sense a positive newspaper aimed at encouraging people for development. A small girl of Class VIII, Lakshmi Sudhakaran perhaps shares the thought I want to convey you about the need for improvement and has written an article in this e-paper which is as follows:

Many a time we have heard our beloved country, India, being called a Third World country.
Most of us just ignore the statement, or even worse, join the critics in poking fun at our
Motherland.There are many jokes passed through the Internet, making fun of Indians and India. We take it in a light-hearted way: After all, what harm can a joke do? I agree with you, it is not worth picking a fight about a silly joke… but do we realize what in light our country is
portrayed to the world? Why don't we feel shame at being called a Third World country?
Because, being brought up in a country completely alien to Indian culture and heritage, we
don't realize the seriousness of the situation. Sure, we hear of poverty, droughts, floods, child-marriage and the rest in the news. We read about political problems.And we hear from quite a lot of people, that the strength of a
nation is its youth. But how many
of us 'youth' even imagine that we
can contribute to our country in a
meaningful way? How many of us
are even aware of the problems
persecuting our country?
Many of India's youth are either
living abroad, or are too 'small' to
make a difference, being from
low castes or having gone
through some kind of trauma in
their lives. But the worst kind is
those youngsters who don't even
care to think of the well-being of
our country, our Motherland,
which has given us an identity of
nationality.
The reason why we children are
called the health, wealth and
strength of our country, is because
we have the strength, will, capacity
and determination to dream. It
is universally known that
teenagers are stubborn and determined…
This is a call to all fellow
teens out there: channel this stubbornness
and determination into a
fire to help our country reach
great heights.
All the children of Mother India,
if you are listening: Dream! Dream
of India achieving a better,
stronger, stabler, more respectable
position in the world. Dream of
India prospering, not only economically,
but in every true aspect
of the word 'prosper'.
Dream of India as a country free
from the stigma of being 'Third
World'. And dream of India
becoming not a developing, but a
developed country. As Walt
Disney said, "If you can dream it,
you can do it!"
So dream each night of India's
eminent success in the near future,
and aspire each morn towards it.
A plea to every Indian in the
world: Stand up to the
world…say, 'Yes, I am an Indian,
and I am proud to be one!'
—Lakshmi Sudhakaran
Class VIII; Peepal Grove School,
Andhra Pradesh


Note:You can read this paper at http://www.abdulkalam.com/kalam/jsp/ViewPage.jsp?beatsid=4&req_date=4-11-2008&titlename=billionbeats%20Issue4