Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
As a proud Indian, there are many dreams that I see. I call them ambitious dreams. I dream of India as an economic superpower. I dream of prosperous villages and dazzling cities. I dream of visionary leadership taking India to the crescendo of diplomacy. I dream of Indian culture and way of life being recognized, appreciated and celebrated across the globe.
And then, suddenly, out of nowhere, there comes this wake up call. A lone girl molested in public. Social systems held at ransom by Maoists and Naxals. Another wave of farmer suicides.
Then, sometimes I think that we are not destined for the ambitious dreams. Maybe what we need are suitable dreams, that will be restricted to reducing the number of people who sleep hungry by a few hundred, or probably people feeling safe enough around their homes.
But I still dream. Sometimes it is an ambitious dreams. At other times, a suitable dream.
