And Shahid passed away

It was Diwali evening and Delhi's sky was lit with lights and firecrackers. Around 7 pm, I received a call from a friend that Shahid, one of my close friends, had passed away. The news was a bolt from the blue for me. It took me 25 years back when Shahid and I were good friends and used to spend most of the time together - either playing football or having dinner with friends in the evening. Shahid was handsome, strongly-built and was popular among the opposite sex. Bilqees, now his wife, was on cloud nine when she heard that her family has found a suitable match in Shahid. He was smart and caring and had a government job, which only few had in our group.

At the burial ground, everyone was found saying, “Had Shahid changed his habits, his family would not have seen this day.” He was hospitalized several times in the past and every time after getting discharged from the hospital, he would promise to give up his bad habits and not to touch liquor again. But it used to be same again. Gradually he left his old friends and built a 'gang of new friends'. In fact, the change in Shahid's behaviour was not sudden and not without reason.

Shahid had big dreams and wanted to earn a lot of money. He wanted to have a luxury car, a big house and everything under the sun. With these ambitions he started exploring means to achieve his targets. Whether inside or outside the office, he only used to discuss how he could become a millionaire. In his quest to become a millionaire, he came in contact with some junk dealers and started investing in their business. And in the process he started drinking - to be a part of that lot. He was seen less in the office and at the football ground and more with his new friends who were selling big dreams. To sell dreams to Shahid they used liquor as a tool. In no time Shahid became an addict. His priorities changed and liquor became his sole and only priority. With the passage of time, Shahid - a young, talented and charming youth turned into an old, ugly looking, penniless person. In the burial procession everyone was found saying, “What happened to such a nice person, why didn't he give up his habits when God had given him everything. Oh! He left at the time of his blossom...”

Now, the same stands true for India which is strong, vibrant and has dreams to become a Super power. It is already marching rapidly towards growth and material prosperity. But it has to keep its eyes open and need to distinguish between a good and a bad friend. It has to watch its interest and respect its culture and tradition which have helped it reach where it's today. The West has its own interest and cannot be India's true friend. They will never like to see India becoming a Super power. To defeat her ambition, they will attack its culture, which is her strength. In fact, the West has already started a cultural invasion. We have to be very cautious and see we don't follow the West blindly like Shahid did his 'gang of new friends'.

Today, every sphere of our life is an imitation of Western culture and our youth is so much addicted to it that they do not fear if their dreams are shattered midway like Shahid's. India should keep its eyes on its target and should follow its own culture, which is its strength. In this endeavour everyone including our political leaders has to see that our forward movement is not restricted. That, we don't fall into the trap of the West. If the West is giving to us what 'gang of new friends' gave to Shahid, then we should understand what's in store for us.