Building a Strong Nation
An Indian industrialist once had the occasion to go to West Germany in 1965. While there, he visited a factory and, going around it to see how it functioned, he stopped beside a worker and started to put a few questions to him. To his surprise, in spite of his repeating the questions several times, the man paid no attention to him and went on with his work.
After some time a bell rang for the lunch break and the workers filed off to the dining hall. It was only then that the apparently mute and unapproachable worker came up to the Indian visitor, shook hands with him cordially and asked him—a faint element of incredulity in his voice—”Do you talk to the workers in your country while they are on duty?” Without waiting for an answer, he went on, “If I had taken a break to answer your questions, I would have wasted several minutes of my work time, and this would have been a loss to the company. In the long run it would have been a loss to the nation. We are here to benefit the country and not to make it incur losses.”
It is sterling character of this sort which accounts for the success of western nations. In 1945, the Allied Powers had almost completely destroyed Germany, but in a matter of a mere 25 years, Germany became more powerful than it had even been before. The reason for this astonishing progress was that each and every individual of the country considered it incumbent upon him to carry out his duties to the best of his ability.
To him, the individual self was subordinate to the nation. It is true, of course, that everyone was working for himself, but it was not at the cost of the nation. Whenever there was any clash between personal and national interests, he made it a point of sacrificing his personal interests in favour of the greater good of the nation.
The state of a nation depends invariably upon the state of the rank and file of the people who are its mainstay. A nation prospers or declines according to whether its inhabitants are pulling their weight or just mindlessly frittering away their time. A nation is comparable to a machine which works only so long as all its parts are of high quality, well-oiled, properly assembled and in working order. Similarly, a successful nation will be made up of individuals of sound character, well-integrated in society and with a thorough-going sense of cooperation. The building of a nation means, basically, the building of character. For without character, the utterly selfless dedication, which is a prerequisite for national success, will never manifest itself. Without reforming individuals, the reform of a nation will remain the stuff of dreams—illusory and without substance.
