Today I will write a little tribute to one great generation, the generation of my mom and dad. Its the generation of people who are in their sixties to early seventies now.
This generation was born right around independence. They may not remember the partition. But they remember the pain and the uncertainty, because it was carried on for a while by the nation. Then were born in a young nation, but an old civilization and culture. They had to keep up with time while still respect the culture.
They saw the tide of 60s craziness coming from the West. But more or less they did not subscribe to it. (Or if they did, they did not tell us because they are our dads and moms.)
They liberated Goa fromPortuguese. They fought their best, but they lost in 1962 to China. Many of them perished in harsh cold Himalayan mountainsdue to the blunders of delusional Nehru government. But when they got Shastri, they stopped Pakistani aggression in 1965 and scored the massive victory of 1971. Still I remember the stories I hear from members of this generation. Still I remember how they get excited.
They may not have participated in freedom struggle. But their life was not without political struggles. When Indira Gandhi tried to choke democracy in India, they were on road and they got the democracy back.
Some of these men and women went into aerospace founded ISRO. With the limited resources they had, they launched satellites after satellite.Some of them became teachers and within their career span, the rate of literacy in India tripled. Some of them became doctors and nurses and took immunization to all corners of India. In doing so, they drastically reduced rate of death of young children anderadicatedpolio from Indian borders. Some of them became businessmen and increased the GDP by over 30 times during three decades they were at helm. Some of them became farmers and made our country self sufficient in food production.
They were the first generation that dealt with family planning. They were the first generation who had to take care of their old parents for long time because life expectancy in India increased.
Women of this generation joined the workforce in large numbers. They had to face the difficult task of balancing family and work. They passed that exam with shining colors.
This generation took Bollywood beyond Indias boundaries and made it what it is today. This generation gave birth to some of the greatest singers and musicians and artists.
While doing all these great things, they fought inflation, took care of their parents in old age and raised kids. Their story is the story of contribution and sacrifices.
With this blog post, I honor this generation for all the great things they have done for my generation. They gave us a very stable foundation, stable home, stable country, to rely on. They empowered us to soar into the blue sky, yet assured us that there will always be a home if our wings are tired.
If you know a member of this generation, show them this article.
And tell them that they did a great job.
