Republic Day Speech - 2017
10 Things India and thus The World Needs From You.
Special message on our Republic Day
In a world that is constantly berating to live up to impossible ideals, it becomes all too easy to forget that we have anything to offer those around us. And that is completely absurd. Yes, you.
It also becomes easy to provide a tokenistic self of ours when the situation demands – be it a candle vigil after every violent incident , rape , murder ; or protest for issues that are subverted as identity politics as in the recent case of Jallikattu.
What we need to offer to this country is ourselves – You , a renewed you , polished you. Hence this list .
1. Your passion
The world needs a little bit more of whatever makes your pulse race and your eyes glow and your thoughts speed up to a thousand miles an hour. We need more people who are fully, intensely alive because they fight the hardest and love the strongest and accomplish the absolute most. Whatever it is that makes you feel like you are close to bursting out of your skin, the world needs you to do more.2.
2. Your nerve
The world is sourly lacking in risk takers. We need more people who go out on limbs, who aim for their dreams, who fight for what they believe in with a sense of unabashed recklessness; people who stand up for the changes they want to see happen without fear of getting shot down or rejected. The world needs a bit more of your nerve because nothing extraordinary has ever been achieved by anyone playing it safe.
3. Your humor
The world needs more of whatever it is about you that dwells in the absurd. It needs more of your quirks, more of your quandaries, more of your absolutely illogical ponderings. We need to be reminded that it’s okay to tread lightly through the deep end.
It is important that you have found a way to lighten the darkness and that it’s okay if we do, too.
4. Your vulnerability
The world needs more people who will share their experiences honestly and candidly, regardless of how they are perceived; more people who show up, open up and admit to the realities of the lives that they’re living so that others can learn to do the same. We need a greater sense of connection on this planet and we need your vulnerability to do it.
5. Your decisiveness
The world doesn’t need another person who cannot decide who they are or what they want or whether or not they deserve the life they’re living. The world needs more people who are unafraid to say, “I’m here. This is who I am. And this is how I’m going to live my life.” We need more of your bold, unapologetic nature when it comes to the big choices you’re making.
6. Your compassion
The world needs more of your understanding. In a world that sometimes seems to be falling apart at the seams, we need more people who are kind. And honest.And caring. People who love rather than hate, give rather than scorn, and listen rather than preach.
7. Your intensity
The world needs more of your focus, your depth and your unwavering concentration on what matters. Nobody is going to benefit from a watered-down half-version of you – we need you at your strongest, at your fullest, at your absolute most intense, even if you’re not completely understood in that state.
8. Your exploration
The world needs more of your wonder. It is such a rare thing to reach adulthood and retain a sense of curiosity – a desire to keep exploring and growing beyond the person you are. We need more of your unstoppable desire to see more, do more, experience more than everyone else tells you is possible.
9. Your participation
The world needs more people who show up to their everyday lives and live hard, love hard, try hard, and fail hard. More people who refuse to let their lives happen to them; that are a driving force in creating their own success.
10. Your spirit
The world needs more of whatever it is that makes you – whether that is your bravery, your understanding, your intelligence or your unending ache for adventure. We need more of whatever it is that makes you come the most alive, because that will make you the type of person the world needs most.
Our country need people who are wildly, unapologetically alive.
People like you!
Lakshmi Di.