whither democracy?

January 2026: Nepal, Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan surely pack some important lessons for India, but do Iran, Ukraine, Gaza and Venezuela also hold similar lessons for Bharat? You bet! All these countries show that if people relegate themselves to the background and "mind their own business" (that is, live only for personal, selfish interests and reduce community, society and ecosystem to mere means to fulfill, satisfy or meet such interests), and outsource governance to, or allow power to be grabbed by, populist figures, strongmen or extremists, then they (the ordinary people) will have hell to pay sooner or later. 

ELITE CONSPIRACY

 

Even otherwise, if ordinary people do not step up to the plate of 21st-century reality, and prefer to stay cocooned in their comfort zone of passive citizenship that characterized 20th century, they will have hell to pay sooner or later.

 

So, dear fellow ordinary citizens, wake up at least now. Realize that the level of the unethical dimension in polity, business, governance, sci-tech, news media, entertainment, religion, spirituality, etc, has risen sharply in the last 30-40 years. Fields like marketing, advertising, psychology, psychotherapy, and even general sciences, have been weaponized against common people, zombifying and disempowering the latter to an unprecedented degree. 

 

To check or contain that runaway rise, ordinary citizens need to first recognize this global-scale conspiracy of the elites (netas, babus, lalas, techno-feudals, sci-tech devils, celebrities, influencers, et al; watch the video below for a better perspective.) And then coalesce into a crack force to confront and combat this evil. For that to happen, ordinary people need to have a powerful voice that counts. But the reality today is that ordinary people have lost their voice, their say, both individually and collectively. 

Be it in the role of voter, citizen, taxpayer, employee, consumer of products/brands and services (government is also a service, mind you), tech user, content-consumer, devotee or follower, an ordinary person no longer has any voice or say in anything at all. Sadly, it's not just the elites who are to blame. Ordinary people are no less culpable. By that, we don't mean just the rural people or tribals, villagers, etc. Even the educated people, including scholars, merchants, traders, professionals, retirees, workers . . . the ordinary people in urban areas are no less culpable. 

PATHETIC PEOPLE, PATHETIC POLITICIANS

 

India claims to be world's largest democracy. Look at Bihar. The Dec 2025 state election outcome betrays ordinary voters' unholy preferences. Look at Karnataka. Even urban, literate people vote on the basis of caste, as per the partisan, irrational, sectarian diktats of so-called "seers". Look at Maharashtra. Marathas remain fixated on imagined regional pride while the real wealth is made in Mumbai by Gujjus, Parsees and Sindhis, real power is commanded by the underworld, while wealthy Marathas enrich and empower themselves through sugar and tobacco trade, even as ordinary Maharashtrians draw false pride from local cricketers' rise (and farmers commit suicides or sell body organs or undergo forced sterilization for survival money). Look at Delhi. People opportunistically, shamelessly vote for one party MLAs while empowering opposition party's MPs at the same time, neutralizing each side with the other, and ushering in statis and backsliding. In the South, even IT professionals get carried away by the mesmerisizing influences of film stars, and elect them as their leaders (like the people of Ukraine did with Zelensky). 

Sachin Tendulkar and Hema Malini are/have been lawmakers, like so many other celebrities, influencers and icons. Why do we confuse lawmaking expertise with celebrityhood? Do we even need politicians, Parliament and Assembly anymore in this day and age? If lawmaking is their principal business, should not that be done by relevant experts? Why do politicians deserve unchecked, unlimited, absolute power? In terms of record and achievements, what do they have to show for, to justify their (non) performance in the last 75 years? 

HAVE A VOICE

 

Unless this pattern is reversed, ordinary people will be subjected to even more atrocities, indifference, unresponsiveness, manipulation, abuse, disservice, etc, by governments, businesses, Big Tech, content publishers, gurus, evangelists, employers, so on. Ask yourself: when was the last time your voice counted or you had a significant and decisive say in something important done at the institutional level that affected your life and/or your loved ones in a very personal way? The answer most probably would be "never" or "can't remember". Right? But it does not have to be that way. Nor should we ordinary people ever face lockdowns, quarantines, vaccines, absolute controls, etc, in mass hysteria while those holding PM or similar top positions celebrate birthday parties, etc, on office lawns with impunity at the same time. 

Real-life benign dystopia that envelopes us now is worse than cinematic fictions about post-apocalyptic scenarios. Shame we are yet to realize this.

 

Consider this fact: On every single transaction for a product or service (including tech and content), we ordinary citizens pay tax(es). Once in five years (or whenever elections are held), we cast our vote, if at all. Thus we outsource governance and administration, and funnel away all our power (and even responsibility and obligation to be active, vigilant citizens) to minority elites (lawmakers, and people like bureaucrats, policymakers, planners, regulators, law enforcers, etc, who administer various institutions and agencies).

 

The ordinary citizen does not really understand how much money flows from people into government coffers via taxes, and how much of that government revenue is spent, and how, when, where, to what purpose, although the annual budget is supposed to make this crystal clear to the last rupee. The ordinary citizen has no hands-on role nor oversight on governance, administration, policymaking, etc; she/he is not consulted on a regular basis on critical policies (ex: demonetization) that could savage his/her life. 

A mandate via elections (that are neither fair or free but rigged or manipulated using unethical psychological tricks or 'bought' outright by splurging cash) becomes a carte blanche for the government and the lawmakers (MLAs, MPs and their equivalents at various levels).

SYSTEM ISN'T WORKING

 

Now, at the ordinary citizen level, this flawed model of the lofty concept/theory of democracy and this corrupted system of governance are not working -- they are not delivering the promised and expected results. Instead, we, the ordinary people, reel from polluted air, poisoned water, adulterated or compromised food, corrupted pharma, potholed roads, erratic power supply, inflation, bad governance, scams, frauds, crimes, disasters, inefficiency, incompetence, mediocrity, abuse of power, corruption, extra-constitutional actions, nepotism, dynasties, lack of transparency and accountability . . . 

Since becoming a sovereign republic in 1950, we have gathered 75 years of experience, knowledge and technologies. Using all of them, should not we, the ordinary people, crunch data, review India's record so far, and ponder better alternatives? 

Where's the wisdom in dumbly carrying on in a "business as usual" manner? What's the point in meekly complying with a failed, flawed utter-flop system? Where's the beauty if there's no difference between "Ramgarh-walon" and us, the 21st-century citizens? (Flashback: In the epic movie Sholay, the dumb, meek, spineless, conformist weakling residents  of a fictional village Ramgarh either indulge in Holi revelry and live like robots or expect outsiders like Viru and Jai to team up with guardian Thakur to fight for them against the evil outlaw, bandit/dacoit Gabbar.)

FIRST QUARTER OF 'NEW' CENTURY IS OVER ALREADY

 

Wake up -- 25 years, or a quarter of 21st century, are already behind us. We are in 2026 now. Except for surface-level or superficial cosmetic changes, nothing substantive and substantial has changed in India's condition and situation. The flawed democratic model and the failed socioeconomic system are the two sides of our society's template coin. We, the ordinary people, need and deserve a different coin, a different currency.

2026 is here, calling us to consider a change in the underlying template itself. Are you ready to rise as an action-oriented change-maker and game-changer? Or, do you want to rot away as a keyboard warrior, a compliant conformist like "Ramgarh-walon" or a compromised citizen who has learnt to either game a flawed system or be indifferent, apathetic, docile?

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WHO CONTROLS WEALTH? WHO WIELDS POWER?

 

Do you know just 56,000 people, or 0.001% of 8 billion, control global wealth, which translates to unreasonable power and unimaginable influence over our lives? This should explain two inter-twined trends:

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i) rise of strongmen, despots, authoritarians, techno-feudals, multibillionaires; and

ii) trillions of dollars flowing as investments into AI, AGI, LLMs, algos, automation, robotics, hyper-clouds, data centers, new materials, life sciences (including biotech), space pursuits, brain-destroying social media/digital entertainment, and body-compromising GM foods.

 

Can we ordinary people rest assured our present and future are safe and secure?

 

Will the elites create heaven on earth for us or for themselves?

 

"Universal basic income", Big Tech, Big Pharma, Big Finance  -- do they herald utopia?

 

Promises like "AI will free up humans from drudgery and create quality time to do quality things" -- are they genuine?

 

TIME TO WAKE UP

 

Wake up. Figure out what the global trends portend for us ordinary people. Don't dumbly consume and accept popular narratives and rhetoric -- they are sugar-coated lies and poisons. Dystopia is already here, albeit in a benign form. It will turn increasingly nasty and brazen.

 

But, to stop you from seeing reality as it is, elites employ a neat strategy. On the one hand, your life will be made super hectic, tiring, debilitating or near impossible in an environment of insecurity, uncertainty, confusion, under-development, substandard amenities, dog-eat-dog, cut-throat competition, hiring freezes, layoffs or anti-commoner policies (including tighter immigration controls, curbs on movement, visa restrictions, racism, violence, etc). On the other, your mind will be saturated with addictive but ultimately useless content (filth packaged as "news", sports, entertainment, gaming, betting, social media, etc). Dirty "market forces" will trick even your body to become dependent on addictive or habitual F&Bs.

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To educate, enlighten and empower yourself, read, watch and listen only the right content. Like the content on NriNatter.Com.

10 POINTS HIGHLIGHT MISRULE

 

In the wake of Somnath fiasco, Even Andh Bhakths (Blind Believers in Feku-Lotus) would probably agree, and even get awakened and enlightened after reading this. Feku's Somnath nautanki in January 2026 is the latest proof of the Lotus misrule of the last 11 years, which is characterized by the following TEN aspects:

1) Badmouthing, demonizing Nehru-Gandhi legacy;
2) Weaponizing religion, Hinduism, God, Ram, nationalism, fundamentalism;
3) Slogans, rhetoric, make-believe, narrative, spin (Atma Nirbhar, Amrit Kaal, Attchay Dhin, Gujrat model, Mumkin Hai, ghanti bajao-diya jalao, blah blah blah);
4) Recasting, repurposing, appropriating UPA govt's successful welfare schemes; similarly, taking credit for manufactured greatness of our civilization, our past, our history, and basking in the glory of others (sportspeople, scientists, writers, filmmakers, award-winners, etc);
5) Dirty politics, defections, factionalism, groupism, feuds, horse-trading, poaching, especially in Cong-/opposition-ruled states and UTs;
6) Criminal electoral malpractices like vote-buying, cultivating vote-banks, AVM tampering, vote-chori, booth-capture, tinkering with electoral rolls in the fashion of gerrymandering;
7) Undermining, subverting, weakening autonomous institutions like the RBI, the Election Commission, regulators, judiciary;
8) Favortism, nepotism (ports-airports contracts for Gujarati chums; cricket administration and content contracts for sons, daughters and daughters-in-law of staunch supporters and thug-brothers from Himachal, etc);
9) Tinkering with methodologies used in calculating, determining or computing GDP and other key statistical indicators, and revisionist approach to educational curricula, history, etc;
10) Unconscionable crimes, scams (including stock-market satta-baazi), frauds, intolerance, street violence, disasters, mishaps, tragedies, accidents, pollution, environmental meltdown, bad governance, lousy foreign policy, deterioration of physical/mental health.

 

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

 

What about real development, progress, upgrading of welfare? Ha!

How can India still shrug off, shake off the Lotus, dust itself and rise from the ashes like a phoenix, to co-lead the world that appears to be hurtling toward WW-III? 

How to wrest back control of our own lives, our future?

How can ordinary people become enlightened?

How can we ordinary people empower and enrich ourselves in more senses than one?

How can we ordinary people envision and co-create a New India, a New World, that we need and deserve?

How to preempt AI, automation, robotics, climate change, manufactured pandemics, dystopia, etc, from making us ordinary people (non-elites) extinct?

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SUCKERS CALLED FOLLOWERS/FANS

 

Consider how capitalism-driven, religion-heavy, politics-infested, modern culture-afflicted democracies across the world create ecosystems and societies that 'convert' ordinary people (say, "middle-class" and "lower-class" taxpayers, consumers, citizens, voters, employees, pensioners, home-makers, etc) into hardcore (online/offline) "followers" or "fans" of the following:
 

• con artists, psychopaths in the form of rhetoric-spinning, emotion-whipping politicians (or political ideologues)

• sports icons, teams or franchises

• cultural phenomena (say, movie superstars, musicians, singers, music bands/dance groups, or even TV serials, web series)

• religious/spiritual gurus, evangelists or zealots

• celebrities/influencers

• bestselling authors of mystical stuff

 

In the age of economic globalization, even Communist states, theocracies, juntas, dictatorships and socialist states are not impervious to this malaise of dark influences. If you happen to be a "follower" or "fan", it could mean the ecosystem has trapped you, probably for life, by hyper-stimulating the wrong regions of your brain nonstop for decades on end. You probably don't realize this yet, but you've become a "loser"; your hero is the gainer. For, this invidious and insidious trend makes a follower/fan a "loser" and the other a gainer. You gain nothing at all by being just one of the millions of inconsequential, brainwashed followers/fans. Your hero/"god" probably takes you for granted, 'plays' you, abuses you (if not sexually, then emotionally or intellectually), monetizes your admiration and weaponizes your following against you.

Yet, you imagine you are 'close' to your hero; you feel obliged to defend, fight for, glorify, deify, even lay down your life for her/him. You funnel away your identity, individuality, time, money, energy, power and intellect to your hero. You celebrate the hero's 'giftedness', skills, 'virtues', traits, talent or achievements but don't emulate her/him. He/she gains; you lose. But you get angry if you are called a "loser". You stand diminished. By becoming a follower/fan, you allow yourself to be tricked into accepting that you are ordinary and the object of your admiration/adulation is extraordinary.

 

How to shake off this disease, beat the ecosystem and create a better alternative?

 

POINT-OF-ORIGIN INEQUALITY

 

The answers and solutions are all there on this website. To fully grasp them, we first need to rewind a bit and understand how we reached the current juncture where we all find ourselves now in the first place. So, let's rewind a bit, if only to gain a proper perspective and overview (bird's eye view or helicopter view).

 

The socioeconomic story of humankind since the inception or origin of our species Homo sapiens can be summarized as follows: Through genetics and similar mechanisms, Nature introduced inequality, in terms of 'natural' hard-wiring, potentiality, 'giftedness', in-built propensities, ingrained proclivities and intellectual quotient, at the very point of origin. Call it a completely random phenomenon brought about by the passage of time, evolutionary processes, changing ecosystems, etc, if you will.

That nevertheless divided humankind into mainly two groups: haves and have-nots. Now, the challenge of creating equality or egalitarian society was embedded in a binary: either bridge the gap by embracing genuine spirituality or embrace a process that would continuously widen the point-of-origin gap through various deceptions, topsy-turvy techniques, unethical and unfair methods, so forth, until a case can be made out that equality can be created by exterminating have-nots altogether and by ensuring only haves remain on the scene.

Our history shows the haves chose the second path.

That second path has brought us to the current juncture where the haves are indirectly implying or even asserting (among their secret societies and their modern-day equivalents like the WEF of Davos) that the have-nots are beyond repair and redemption, a burden on earth and socioeconomic systems, and it's best they are eliminated. They cite the have-nots' record so far (of being parasites, dregs of society, "low life" who bring no value to the socioeconomic table in the digital-age of AI and automation) They also cite factors like unsustainable economic systems of capitalism-driven societies and their effects like climate change, environmental meltdown and simmering discontents among have-nots (like the January 2026 developments in Iran) that could soon boil over, resulting in complete breakdown of law and order, and established systems, and in unmitigated, runaway anarchy.

The second path traveled so far is characterized by the majority have-nots continuously funneling away their power and money into the minority haves (which is how the gap got continuously widened) through various fraudulent practices like monarchy, theocracy, empires, colonization, capitalism, crass consumerism, manufactured modern culture/fashions, etc, and the ecosystems that fostered them.

 

The haves, by sheer dint of being haves, cleverly baited have-nots by activating the negative spectrum of emotions, feelings, sensations and thoughts (greed, ego or irrational, unjustifiable sense of hyper-individuality, pride, hubris, arrogance, immodesty, laziness, anger, primal rage, lust, fear, insecurity, delusion, lower/baser propensities, envy, jealousy, sense gratifications of the wrong kind, etc).

Now that the gap is almost unbridgeable, it is very convenient for the haves to condemn the have-nots for falling into their trap and to build an argument -- burden on earth, beyond repair/redemption, etc -- for have-nots' extermination (through manufactured pandemics that will precisely target certain DNA, nuclear holocaust, etc, after first disempowering the masses through ultra dystopian-authoritarian regimes).

VIABLE ALTERNATIVE

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Now, let's consider a viable alternative: since the have-nots never got the benefit of the first path, let's try it -- let's bridge the gap that Nature introduced at the point of origin. Let's visualize an ecosystem that actually facilitates the all-round evolution of have-nots to the level of haves, in terms biological, physical, mental, emotional, intellectual, psychological, technological, financial and spiritual growth.

This can be done -- just reverse the clever-cunning methods that were used as part of the second path to continuously widen the gap. Instead, let's continuously bridge the gap. Until we try it out, we cannot decisively and conclusively assert that the first path is impractical, unrealistic; nor should we condemn the have-nots as beyond repair and redemption.

But the haves are not inclined to try it out. It suits them to create equality, an egalitarian society, a utopia where only haves exist without have-nots. That's the juncture where we are all now.

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BIGGEST RISK

 

What, who or which poses the biggest risk to humankind now -- i) prospect of WW-III (including nuclear holocaust); ii) trade and tariff wars; iii) "dark triad" of AI-automation-robotics (including high chance for AIs to gain sentience and run amuck, like in post-apocalyptic dystopian movies); iv) the seemingly unstoppable rise of authoritarians, the far right (nationalism, fundamentalism, parochialism, extremism), despots, techno-feudals, fake gurus, agents of dystopia; v) climate change; vi) environmental meltdown; or vii) outbreaks of designer viruses manufactured in labs?

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Look at any news paper/site/app, you'll find plenty of coverage of ultra mega investments in India's AI and automation fields -- data centres, hyper-clouds, cloud software, AI infra, so forth. Lakhs of crores of rupees. Who decides this is what India needs right now? Do ordinary people have any choice or say in determining their own future? Do we have a clue about what kind of society India will become once these mega investments turn into ventures? What will change? Who will benefit? The IT (coding/programming) wave of 1990s -- who benefited the most from it? Not coding coolies but Indian IT sweat shops (bodyshoppers) and Western MNCs who got cheap labor to do the drudgery for peanuts over decades.

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When automated voices and automated menus took over customer service phone helplines in early 2000s, did we people realize it marked the beginning of complete disempowerment of consumers? When Internet, apps and social media exploded, did we ordinary people anticipate our own zombification and intellectual emasculation? When biotech burst upon the scene, did we people know it would pave the way for eve-ill Big Pharma, designer viruses and pandemics manufactured in labs?

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The less said about scams like health, travel and life insurance firms' claim-denying practices the better. Can you visualize the tech wasteland and corporate-controlled dystopia that India will likely become 15-20 years from now once these AI, robotics, automation waves turn tsunamies that will drown and submerge entire society?

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'DEMOCRACY' FOR WHAT?

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Are the ongoing pre-2026 poll political games in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, West Bengal and Assam, and the outcomes in the January 2026 Maharashtra civic polls and the December 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, latest proof "the world's largest democracy" is a total farce, fake and fallacious?

 

Have India's "praja" (voters, citizens, nagrik, ordinary people, so-called Common Men, consumers, employees, tech-users, content-consumers, retirees, pensioners, home-makers . . . ) been zombified by the elites and by the ecosystem that they operate, command, control and manipulate?

 

Have the praja been intellectually emasculated? Is the ecosystem flawed? Despite GDP being the fifth-largest, has India failed as a society? Is it time to uproot the socio-politico-economic template itself?

 

As it hurtles toward the cliff edge, can India be reset in a different direction? Can ordinary people team up and create a reasonably "model society", if not a 100% egalitarian, absolutely utopian nation?

 

Whither democracy? 

 

THE WAY FORWARD

What can, should and must have-nots do now?

 

Well, first of all, we ordinary people need to regain our voice. How? Through cooperation and collaboration. Stop funneling away power and money into the haves, the minority elites. Rise above the negative spectrum discussed above. We must stop dumbly complying with, and conforming to, patently flawed-failed systems. We must replace the many-for-few/many-for-one model with many-for-many model.

 

Improbable as it might sound, this is the only solution that can bring about real, lasting, positive, BIG change, a full transformation and a complete break with all of our flawed history. This is also the only way to break the vicious cycle.

 

For, no politician or bureaucrat will deliver change that is pro-people. No reformer can take on and beat the flawed-failed system anymore. No spiritual/religious guru or Messiah has the wherewithal to bring about lasting change at the nation-state or global level. The corporate crowd and sci-tech whizzes are not interested in empowering ordinary people or improving systems to benefit them. No Avatar Purush or God Incarnate is going to materialize in our physical dimension in our lifetime or in the foreseeable future.

The real lesson to draw from scriptures or ancient texts, humankind's history and from our own real-life experiences, is this: do not wait for some God or Miracle to rescue you all from the cliff edge.

 

First of all, be conscious, conscientious, sincere, community-spirited, vigilant and proactive so as to avoid reaching the cliff edge in the first place. Do not outsource power, administration and governance to the wrong people; do not funnel away your resources like mind's attention, money, personal power and brain power to market forces either.

 

If you dumbly take our mythology and fairy tales literally and expect God, Mahatma, Avatar or Messiah to incarnate to save your ass, be prepared to wait for millions/billions of years. But, given that your lifetime lasts no more than 125 years at most, and your active adult life stops around age 80-90, it is imperative you wake up around age 30-60 to realize and shoulder your responsibilities as a citizen, as a community-member, as a part of Nature, in this digital era. Else, be prepared to reap the consequences and face the music.

The nitty-gritty of the proposed citizen-driven transformation of society is all there on this website. But it is deliberately not presented to you on a platter, in one place. You need to open up your "third eye", your subtle mental-intellectual faculties, persevere, persist, and patiently connect all the right dots, by devouring content on NriNatter.Com. Once you do that, you'll "get it" -- the grand plan to recast human society on this planet. In your own lifetime. In a jiffy, in fact.

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The juncture where we are now is such that it is entirely possible, for both the haves and the have-nots, to set a new direction for humanity. The haves are at it. If the have-nots don't grab the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, they can kiss their future goodbye.

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BEWARE CONSEQUENCES: COST OF INACTION

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Lest we forget, here' a gentle reminder -- alarm, caution or warning, if you will -- about what will likely ensue if ordinary people do not wake up, become conscious, increase their intellectual bandwidth and come together, team up for cooperative, collaborative action to save themselves:

1) Full-blown, corporate-controlled, authoritarian-led dystopia worse than post-apocalyptic scenarios described in sci-fi books, serials and movies (more pandemics, arbitrary lockdowns/quarantines, etc); OR

2) Full-blown anarchy (complete breakdown of law and order; violent/bloody overthrow of existing setup by conventional revolutionaries), political takeover by more powerful foreign regimes, civil war or conventional war (with risk of nuclear holocaust) as described at the beginning of this essay.

Other than this binary prospect, there is little chance for a third possible scenario if ordinary people continue to remain compliant, conformist, status-quoist, apathetic, indifferent, disinterested or non-committal. It's not as if they can hope to continue to live without any serious consequences if they don't resist the current downward spiral and if they don't support initiatives for Big Change and transformation.

Hence the urgent need to embrace our vision and play a fundamentally different role as a citizen in our community/society from now on.

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Spread the word. Share the link to this website with as many people as possible. Our planet is finite, not infinite. Our time on this planet is limited, not unlimited.

Many thanks. Jai Hind!​

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