India to Los Angeles

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India will be in my heart forever. This is a land of hope, struggle, chaos and adventure. It's hard for me to write closing remarks in this blog, with such limited time for reflection (and the cafe is closing). We leave tommorow morning and I can't wait to share my stories with all of you, face to face.

all the best and thanks for reading our blog,
michael

Today in the paper (The Times of India) a full-page ad was taken out by a new campaign for "India Poised". It is a letter to the people regaurding thier 60years of being an independent country and looking to the future:

India vs India

There are two Indias in this country.

One India is straining at the leash, eager to spring forth and live up to all the adjectives that the world has been showering recently upon us.

The other India is the leash.

One India says, give me a chance and I'll prove myself. The other India says, prove yourself and then maybe you'll have a chance.

One India live in the optimism of our hearts. The other lurks in the skepticism of our minds.

One India wants. The other India Hopes.

One India leads. The other India follows.

But conversations are on the rise.With each passing day more and more people from the other India have been coming over to this side.

And quietly, while the world is not looking, a pulsating, dynamic, new India is emerging.

An India whose faith in success is far greater than its fear of failure. An India that no longer boycotts foreign-made goods but buys out of the companies that make them instead.

History, they say, is a bad motorist. It rarely ever signals its intentions when it is taking a turn.

This is that rarely-ever moment. History is turning a page.

For more then half a century, our nation has sprung, stumbled, run, fallen, rolled over, got up, dusted herself off and cantered, sometimes lurched on. But today we begin our 60th year as a free nation, the ride has brought us to the edge of time's great precipice.

And one India - a tiny little voice at the back of the head -is looking down at the bottom of the ravine and hesitating.

The other India is loooking up at the sky and saying, it's time to fly.

(at the bottom of the page was written....)

India poised is an idea that lives within each of us. The Times of India commits through this editorial initiative to bring out the best that India can be. Each and every Indian is invited.

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