Preamble

I have always been quite proud of our constitution. In fact I knew the preamble by heart for the very sentiments it professes. The preamble says

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;
and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;
IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBYADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.

Below are some examples of our adherance to the Constitution.

1. Valentine's day and activists have been going around with a mangal sutra and rakhi to catch up couples and force them into marriage or to tie rakhi. News paper reports say that even a brother-sister walking down the road were not spared. Pub culture is banned because a few people feel it is against the culture. People are assaulted and the government is not willing to do anything other than throw blame on each other. (Nobody had even heard of Muthalik and his Ram sena before this incident and the man was thoroughly enjoying his time of fame, even if it meant getting arrested. I have never seen a happier, more smiling face on a man being arrested)

2. A stonemason's wife delivered a healthy baby five days back. They had scrimped and scraped and saved money so that they could go to a private hospital in the futile hope of better service. Yesterday the three day old baby was taken in for a vaccination and returned dead to the parents. He is a broken man today and has no means to get justice, he is after all poor, while the doctors are rich and life must go on. (Reminds me of George Orwell's Animal Farm "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal")

3. while Tamil people in Tamil nadu are suffering, this is one government that only cares about tamils out of India, right now the ones in SriLanka. Whether the Srilankan tamils really want their help or not, they are forced with more help than they can handle.

sigh! Despite all this, I cannot think of one other country in the world I would rather be in.