Clean India and Girl Power

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

August 7, 2016

The Honorable Prime Minister of India

Mr. Narendra Modi
New Delhi, India

My Dear Sir;

“Namaskaram”

It has been 35 years since I went to study in USA, and after completion of my education I have made a life of hope and promise.  Everyday my wife, my children and myself speak, talk, behave and feel Indian, although we are 10,000 miles away.  We are proud of our Indian heritage and we try and represent the hard work of our nation.  Our classification as NRI’s doesn’t really make any difference in our life away from our India as the nation will always remain “MOTHER INDIA”.

Prior to and after your election, and your term as PM for the past two years, to me provide the promise of what our India should be on read in our history books and listening to the fables from our elders.  Although we no longer participate in daily routine in India, we do follow your every word and have high regard for your every speech and look forward to actions as follow-up to your pronouncements.  In the recent times there is no political parallel to your oratory and none in the world who present their nation to the world in the great light you do.

Your initiatives on Girl Child and Clean India are 100% close to my heart and I am sure to every person who listens to you.  Every opportunity I get I proudly speak of these initiatives that you constantly speak of.

Sir; we are simple people and live a simple life.  Our families in India and the USA represent the middle class of both of our nations.  We are what you and President Obama address as common man.  Our aspirations are for the well being of our children, our love for our families and friends, concern for our parents and our nations.

During the initial time of our current trip (end of July 2016) to our native state of AP, each of the four of us were in the greatest of spirit walking out of the Airport in Hyderabad.  Our children with their widest smile seeing their grand father, my wife and myself happy to see her father and also one of my best friend’s waiting outside the gate to bring us home.  Every time we travel to India, our people embrace us with affection with is certainly native.  It is after all our India.

Sir; if we listen to your Clean India and constant media and internet coverage, the clean part is confined to the international airport.  I must admit that the efficiencies in handling incoming passengers as one of the best in the world.  This is our first trip to India since your stewardship.  Since the time we stepped out of the airport and for about a week, there is absolutely not a single place I can find for the common man to feel clean.  The only place that has remained without trash is far from human habitation.  My overnight journey in pouring rain from Hyderabad to my home town was only comfortable inside the bus.  The call of nature was absolute in the middle of the trip, and along with other men I had no choice but to relive myself in the middle of nowhere in the rain, and pitch dark.  The women and the little girls on the bus, none of them were able to do what men could do.  Sir; this is the most cruel and most primitive way of life bestowed upon the people we love and cherish.  During the course of the week in India my nine year old girl and my wife had to endure the same discomfort again and again.  There is no choice of words that will comfort them from the indignity.  A simple call of nature in private is not possible and India is shining?

This was the same in 1981 and perhaps much more crude and uncomfortable in 2016.  You sir have chosen a life to be single, and perhaps with your stature will never experience this demeaning and unfathomable life experience of a husband and father.  You are very fortunate.

Irrespective of the experience, our love for family, friends and county will never be diminished, but your constant pronouncements on what you tell the world and the real India today don’t even come close to each other.  Although my experience has been limited to my small family, I am sure that except for people who travel in luxury, the humiliation endured by common man is for the vast majority of our nation.  Your words constantly reflect a positive approach to the most basic need in a human being, but there is nothing that shows that India has even taken a single step to allow our women the dignity with basic need.  Why do you want to promote GIRL CHILD, when the girl can’t attend a call of nature?

You should seriously stop lecturing, promoting and speaking of women’s empowerment.  You should start demanding every level of government to make sure no women must wait to go home to attend to the call of nature.  Forget your international diplomacy, forget your military spending, forget your infrastructure plans, and forget your politics, all of which have done nothing new with your administration.  Just focus on our women and dignity they deserve.  If you simply put our women’s dignity first in all your politics, you will become the best head of state to represent a democracy in this century.

Your clean India initiative and the enormous media coverage with fancy names posing with brooms has been just that.  The effort to clean has not reached anywhere, and the nation has become a huge garbage dump.

Your party has volunteers around the nation, and their primary mission at your direction can be to foster a Clean India that will translate to Girl Power.  You can do it.  Let this not be limited to inside the international terminal.

There is not one positive comment I have on your clean India drive.  Outside of your impeccable attire and your constant advertising there is no clean India.  Please direct every state and local politician and official, all BJP volunteers to deliver a clean India.  Make this your only mission for the rest of your time in power.  Allow my children, all children enjoy their neighborhood.  Let women travel without embarrassment and discomfort.

You will see that there will be no greater political power than that of the nation’s women supporting you for making sure of their basic need becoming priority of the nation.  After all these years of independence, its time to put our women first, and you Sir, work on it now and make sure everyone of our women the dignity.  I am 100% sure you will never be voted out of office, if women’s dignity is on the top of your politicking.  I urge you to make it your government’s only initiative, which will lead our great country into the greatest prosperity.  Just remember our women are our Lakshmi.  Jai Hind.