India has progressed a lot in these 66 years....

After the flag hoisting,singing of national anthem and salute to our national flag,our boss gave a long discourse on how much have we progressed since our independence.Like rest of them,I was busy listening to the speech,when the face of the contract workmen standing in queue on my left caught my eye.They had a curious expression in their faces-mostly expressionless and disbelieving.Their grandfathers were poor and worked hard for village head to earn a living.Their fathers were poor and thought migrating to cities will help,but here too their expectations were belied.They had to work as menial workers in order to keep themselves and their children alive.The income was so low that they could hardly afford sending their children to school.Here they were breaking their bones to make a living,hoping that one day they won't remain as miserable.But with the kind of education they have,the kind of salary they get,the kind of environment they live in,the kind of apathy & scorn they get from policy makers of the nation government after government,I was not too sure that this discourse will have any meaning to them even after this century.Somewhere deep inside me,I felt very guilty and disillusioned.Some one rebelling from within me ,"No....No....India has not progressed.The country as a whole has not progresses.Its only few groups of individuals, that have progressed.At times at the cost of others.It's wrong to celebrate till the time we make a difference in the life of the last man too.Till we improve their lives,how can we rightly say that we have progressed?".Somehow,I struggled to keep myself silent.But by the time I caught up with the speech,it was over and everyone including the contract workmen,were clapping loudly.Perhaps,they were enthused at the idea of getting free laddu,samosa & tea free today as it was,as the speaker said,67th Independence Day of India.