705. The Period of Transition

The French Revolution brought a Corsican soldier to the throne of the Emperor of France. In normal times, this would be unimaginable. Transition is a period when talents rise from the very bottom to the very top. In India, a poor Brahmin boy, one from a cobbler's family, a trade union leader, a small farmer, and the son of a village munsif, rose to the Presidency. A rural youth became the Prime Minister. Before 1947, this was not on the agenda. The Industrial Revolution made a shepherd the Chief Engineer of the Railways. In India, it was a political revolution. In France, it was a great Revolution that changed the course of history. In England, it was an industrial revolution. America underwent a social revolution. An errand boy of Edison by dint of merit patented one thousand inventions. Lincoln rose from the log cabin to the White House. The personal computer ushered in a technological revolution. Bill Gates became a phenomenon. India is in a period of more than one transition.

The greatest of revolutions today is urban migration.  Original, native talents of rural life move to the towns. A rice merchant moving to the city founds the biggest medical college in the State. A nobody starts a chain of successful hotels and opens its branches abroad. Software not only gives fabulous salaries but raises enterprising entrepreneurs beyond billions. The revolution in education is almost wild. Every auto-driver puts his children in the best schools. While USA produces 60,000 engineers a year, half of whom are from Asia, India produces 100,000 engineers annually. Education is undergoing a revolutionary change. The look of the market is constantly changing. "There is nothing we cannot get here in India which we could only get before in USA," said several Americans. Products made in India do have a better quality now which means a technological revolution of sorts is underway.

Behind the Green Revolution, the White Revolution, the revolutions in education and technology and urban living lies a great invisible fact. MAN is awake. He is no longer a slave, an untouchable, the oppressed, the backward. He wants to live a full life, enjoy his rights, give good education to his children, greater freedom to women, live comfortably, and assert his individuality. What we witness is a social revolution in India. It is called the Revolution of Rising Expectations. It is no single period of transition; it is several transitions rising and merging together. It means ALL TALENTS can aspire for the top and instantaneously. The field beckons to them, the Force is ready to fulfil their aspirations. The time is ripe for progress because the Time has come. Awake, Arise, Organise said the great Swami. Accomplish mentally the aims of a bloody Revolution.