An ideal speech

In the next few hours, India will have a new Government. Many parties in this election, seem to be claiming that they are the "change" that Indians want. If this is the case, then how would the leader of one such party speak, should he/she win the election? I have an idea of how this may be and I present it below. You may notice that the speech has been heavily borrowed from Barack Obama's victory speech, and I make no apologies for that because I wanted to reflect Obama's values of "change".

My Fellow Indians,

Today, if someone in our land still doubts that India is a place where anything is possible; or wonders if the spirit of the Father of our nation is still alive or questions the resilience of our democracy, today your doubts have been cleared.

This answer has been told not by me, or by my esteemed opponents, but through lines that stretched around schools, colleges, Mandal Offices, forests and jungles, by people who waited a long time. Many of these people voted for the first times in their lives, because they believed that an elected government must act differently and that they wanted their voice to be that difference.

This is an answer that has been spoken by rich and poor, the young and the old. It is an answer that has been spoken by Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and non-believers. An answer in unison by “Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, Maratha”. Today, Indians sent a message, that we are not just a collection of states, but we have been, are and always will be, “people of the Socialist Secular Democratic Republic of India”.

This is the answer that has led those who have been told for so long, by so many to be cynical, fearful and doubtful of what we as Indians, and as humans can achieve to put their hands on the pages of history, and turn it, towards building a better tomorrow.

It has been a long time, but today, because of what we did, in this election, change has come to India.

Over the past few hours, I have received gracious calls from Dr. Manmohan Singhji, and Shri LK Advaniji . All my opponents, have fought long and hard in this campaign, and these two have fought even longer and harder for the country that we all love. I congratulate Dr.Singh and Shri Advani for all they have achieved and I look forward to working with them, and all the other major poticial party, to renew the pledge of this nation in the moths ahead.

I would not be standing here today, without the support of my party, and my family and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. They have all sacrificed a lot and suffice to say, I would not have the courage to be on this pedestal if not for them.

Above all, I shall never forget who this belongs to. It belongs to you, the people of India.

I was never the most likely candidate for the responsibility the Office of the Prime Minister brings. We did not start with much money, or endorsements. This campaign was not hatched in the Lutyen’s Delhi, or the bungalows of the capital. This campaign began in the farms of Vidarbha, in the streets of Hyderabad and the gullies of Mumbai.

This campaign was built by middle-class people, who dug into what little they had to give; 1 rupee, 5 rupees, 10 rupees to this cause. It gained strength from the young people, who rejected this myth of apathy; from those who left their homes and moved to new towns and cities in the search for jobs that offered little pay, and even less sleep; from those who braved the elements to get our message across; from the lakhs of Indians who volunteered, and organised and proved that our government, is one of the people, by the people and for the people still exists after 60 years of Independence. This, is your victory.

I am not naïve to believe that you did this just so that this party could win the election and most certainly you did not do it so that I could be the Prime Minister of India. You have done it because you are fully aware of the situation that stares at us in the face. Even as we sing and dance today in celebration, we must look ahead and realise that the challenges we face tomorrow, are one of the greatest that this young nation of 60 years has faced; a planet in peril, a global financial crisis. Even as we all stand here today, valiant Indians are guarding our borders to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who, after their children sleep, wonder how they will make the repayments for their house, pay the bills of the doctor, or even save enough for decent schools. There is a new energy to be tapped, new jobs to be created, new institutions to build, new threats to be neutralised, new alliances to be built and old ones to be repaired.

This road ahead, will be long, and the climb, will be steep. We may not get there this year, or in one term, however India – I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight, we will get there. I promise you – “we the people”, will get there.

There will be false starts and there will be setbacks. There will be many who will not agree with decisions I make as the Prime Minister of India, and we all know that government alone will not solve each and every problem. However, I always will be honest with you on the challenges we as a nation face. I will listen to you, even and especially when you disagree. Most importantly, I will ask you, to join the work of rebuilding this nation, the only way it has been done in the past sixty years of independence, and the previous ninety of the independence struggle, brick by brick, block by block and sweaty palm by sweaty palm.

What began a hundred weeks ago, in the start of the scorching summer, must not be swept away in the monsoonal rains. This victory is not the change we seek – it is only a chance for us to make this change. We have to be the change we want to see in the world, and this victory, is the first signs of that change. This cannot happen if we go back to the old adage of “chaltha hai yaar”. It cannot happen, without your presence and involvement.

Therefore, let us summon a new spirit of national pride; a spirit of service and responsibility, where each ones of us pledges to dig deep and work as hard as ever, and not look only after ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis has taught us anything, then it is that we cannot have growing Dalal Street, if our Rythu bazaars are declining. Within our boundaries, we rise and fall as one nation; as one people.

Today, let us pledge to resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship, pettiness, immaturity and narrow-mindedness that has poisoned our politics for so long, and stunted the growth of this nation. Let us remember that the father of the Constitution, wrote it keeping the values of self-reliance, individual liberty and national unity. These are all values we share, regardless of party affiliations, and while our party has won a great victory today, we must do so, with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. In the spirit of Bapuji, let us demonstrate that we are not enemies, but friends. While our passions may have strained it, the bond of affection cannot break. And to those Indians whose trust I have yet to earn, I may have not won your mandate, but I hear your voices. I need your help and I shall be your Prime Minister too.

To all those watching now, from beyond our shores, from parliaments and castles, to those who are huddled around listening to radios in the corners of our world, our stories are unique, however we share a destiny, and a dawn of a new Indian leadership is at hand. To those who wish to tear this world apart, you shall be defeated. To those who seek peace and stability, we shall support you. And to whose who wonder if the American light burns as bright, tonight we have proved once again, as we did sixty years ago, that the strength of our nation comes not from the strength of our weapons, or the supply of our wealth, but from the enduring power of the ideals our forefathers set before us; liberty, democracy, hope and opportunity.

This is the true strength of America, that India can change. That India will change. This union of States, can be further perfected. What we have achieved today, gives hope for what we can, must and will achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts, and stories that will be told for generations. But a story on my mind is about a lady who cast her ballot here. She is not that different to lakhs of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing, Laxmibai is 100 years old.

She was born just two generations past the first war of independence; a time when neither there cars on the road, or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote, for two simple reasons, skin colour and nationality.

And today, as I think about all she has seen throughout her century in India – the heartache, and the hope; the struggle and the progess; the times that we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that Indian motto: yes we will.

At a time when the voices of Indians were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up, speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we will.

When where was despair, in the rice bowl of the nation, and a depressed psyche across the country, she saw a nation conquer itself with a deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we will.

When bombs fell on our shores, and tyranny threatened us, she was there to witness a generation to rise to greatness. Yes we will.

She was there for the reversal of the Bengal Partition, the arrival of Bapu, movements of non-cooperation, Jalianwala Bagh, Purna Swaraj, Dandi march, Bhagat Singh and Subhas Chandra Bose. Yes we will.

A tryst was forged with destiny, new nations were carved, a new republic was born, and this world was connected with our own imagination and creativity. She watched, as some years ago, a Muslim president administered the oath of office to a Sikh Prime-minister, belonging to a party led by a Christian, to rule over a Hindu majority, with the ceremony overseen by a Dalit Chief Justice. Yes we can.

India, we have come far. We have seen much. Yet there is more to do. Today, let us ask ourselves, if our children should live to see the next children, if our daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Laxmibai, what change will they see? What change will they want to see? As Pandit Nehru said “Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavour?”

This is our chance to answer these questions. This is our moment. This is our time, to put our people into work and to open the doors of opportunity for our children; to restore prosperity and promote peace; to reclaim the Indian spirit, and to reiterate that fundamental truth – that we are a nation formed by Unity in Diversity and that while we breathe, we hope and where we are met with doubt and sarcasm, and to those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that eternal creed, that sums up the spirit of our people.

Yes we will.

Thankyou. Sare Jahan Se Accha, Hindustaan Hamara. Jai Hind!