India celebrated 60 years of its founding as a republic on 26 January. It's six decades after we adopted a new Constitution and empowered the masses to choose their rulers. It is indeed a moment of celebration.

Over the decades, India has shown considerable progress. We have an array of technological achievements to showcase. We can legitimately boast about our food production, road networks, telecommunication, space technology, our Election Commission and a credible judiciary.

We can be proud of our young population! Despite our massive efforts to control population, half of our nation is young! We have a large workforce to support a smaller aging population - a healthy age-wise population distribution. The large domestic consumer base has helped us to tide over the recent and yet current financial crisis. Therefore, it is high time we stop complaining about population!

There are however areas in which we have to improve our track record. First, it is one thing to be known as the world's largest democracy; but it's entirely a different thing to be known as the world's greatest democracy. While numbers alone determine the ‘largest' democracy, it takes a whole lot of other parameters to determine the best and greatest democracy. Are we the best democracy in the world? This takes us to the next point.

Second, our indices for progress need a revision. The progress of a nation should not be measured just in terms of GDP, foreign exchange reserves, stock of reserve food, number of telephone/mobile/computer users, infant mortality, per capita income, or even literacy rate. Our progress should be measured by indices that reveal our character as individuals and as a nation. Our skewed sex ratio reveals our diabolic side! We still prefer sons to daughters and will do anything to kill our unborn daughters. Crimes against women, children are on the rise.

India is still among the most corrupt nations in the world. Almost anything can be achieved with a small bribe. The Sukna land scam has tainted our army officials. We steal public land to build temples and mosques; some of them stand right in the middle of public property! Illegal constructions, pirated music/movies/software are still in fashion. We hate to pay others for their work; in turn, we don't get paid for our work.

It's 12 years after we signed an international treaty on prevention of torture. Do we have a law against torture? People die in our police stations. A majority of Indians are scared of entering a police station. Our investigations are shoddy and our convictions rates are poor. And worse, people with criminal charges against them are among our Parliamentarians. Talking of Parliamentarians, aren't we ashamed of them when they stall proceedings in the house and just walk out for flimsy reasons?

Our rivers continue to be massive sewers. Water supplied in cities aren't safe for human consumption without boiling it or using a special purification system at home. We kill our tigers to satisfy the Chinese craving for tiger parts; we kill our elephants to harvest ivory. Our forests continue to fall prey to timber mafia.

Our alcohol consumption is sky-rocketing; our people do not know the meaning of 'small.' It's a matter of shame that our government offices start functioning at 10 am or 10:30 am; the world over, offices and banks start functioning at an earlier hour. We enjoy more holidays than most progressive nations. We need a holiday for remembering the birth and death of great leaders and for celebrating numerous religious festivals. On top of that comes numerous strikes that paralyze the nation's economy. Our workers and trade unions are yet to learn of a civilized form of protest or of pressing their demands. And our employers and decision makers will not buckle unless workers paralyze the system.

Third, our manner of celebrating republic days need a change. We take great pride in displaying our military wares along Rajpath. In other words, we are proud of our capacity to destroy. The military is for defense. We use the military option as the last resort. Why then do we showcase our military might? Who are we trying to impress? The display of our destructive power is an affront to our Creator and His creation. May the Almighty give us good sense so that we will one day become the greatest democracy instead of remaining just the largest democracy.