106. Citizen Tinat, I am Responsible!

When my friend Ranjan Engticode designed these profoundly impressive hoardings for the city with "I AM RESPONSIBLE" splashed in huge letters, I only wished the message is taken in all its spirit by young and old alike. But I am especially wishing for the young people to become more responsible towards their city, their state, their country and the world. 

And this is exactly what I stressed on when I had an opportunity to speak to 1400 children coming from 14 different districts of Assam on the 4th of May at the Sarusajai Stadium. It was an educational tour organised under the aegis of the Chief Minister's Gyanjyoti program, which commenced in 2005. The children were proud to be a part of the program and spoke from their heart about how they couldn't even imagine in their dreams to see the things they got to see and how this is going to mould their thoughts for the future. However, I was gladdened by the fact that most of them when asked to speak about their experiences across the days in the city, missed their friends back home and wanted them to also join in this amazing program sponsored by the government and initiated by the District Administration, Kamrup (Metro). Such are the hearts of young people!

I have noticed n number of times that children coming from a fairly fine family background and studying in one of the impressive schools in the city fail to act responsibly. It saddens me when I have to chide them about throwing an empty tetra-pack in the proper place instead of throwing it out on the streets from their school buses or their cars. I mean, where are the parents? Is the responsibilty of getting an admission into a 'prestigious' school the end of their mission? Is it not the responsibility of each of us to teach our child to behave responsibly? Have we asked ourselves as to what sort of a citizen we wish to mould our child into? 

More than anything, a child notices every action of its parents.  It copies whatever it sees its mother or father doing. So, if we as parents become socially responsible, so will our child! We simply cannot afford to throw garbage in the wrong place, throw empty packets out of our moving cars, honk wildly, drive like a berserk and put others in jeopardy, to stop over a zebra crossing and almost run over pedestrians, disrespect others and then there is a lot more. We cannot expect our child to be an angel if we behave like a devil in disguise! Let the word 'responsibilty' itself be a wake up call for each and every one of us....'cause I am sure deep in our hearts, we harbour only one desire; to make our child a responsible citizen, who will be ready to rule the world when he or she grows up. 'Cause, the world is going to need a lot of good people to put it back on its tracks again!