Are you a global citizen?

Kanishk
Maharaja Sawai Man Singh Vidyalaya
Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

You have the latest iPod, you are dancing, jiving to the polyphonic i-tunes, you have a dazzling pocket PC equipped with latest features which vary from satellite networking to resource sharing. You wear shoes that are worth no less than $2,500; Porsche and Lamborghini are among your favorites, from the troops of cars you possess. You may call it an impact of globalisation, but it does not make you in any sense a global citizen, for you are just among those meek followers who have chosen to be in the rat race, ambulating just to become technology savvy. A global citizen is one who has the capability to tackle injustice and inequality, maintain peace harmony and fraternity, propagate the idea of global citizenship and to work actively to do so.

It is more about valuing Earth, its ecology and its uniqueness; it is about safeguarding the future of those coming after us, to see the whole world as our home, and its citizens as fellow beings of the same human race as equal members of the family. 'Global citizenship is a person's obligation to respect and protect their environment, and people around them while thinking on a global scale.'

I see a global citizen as one who is aware of the wider world and has a sense of his own role as a world citizen, who is not only concerned about his nation but also about the whole world and looks forward to serve the world and make decisions that would benefit it and bring about global development. One who respects value and diversity and is not biased towards some sections of the society, who understands how the world functions, economically, politically, culturally, technologically and environmentally, as one who is aware that the progressive stride of one nation who desires it own developments may prove to have devastating and drastic impact on another nation. The one by whom geopolitical division, limiting boundaries and a large communication gap are looked down upon. One who promotes social equality and advocates the ideals of mutual love and non-violence. He or she would participate and contribute to the community at a range of levels, from local to global and would be willing to make the world a better and more sustainable place to live.

In a way, if we talk about the humans, zoologically, than the whole human community is one race and the geopolitical boundaries are all artificial creations. Since the dawn of human history, these boundaries have created havoc for the human race. According to annals of history, we have faced more than 40,000 wars in the last 5,000 years, which have taken the lives of two billion people, and this is still going on.

Now a bigger enemy than the war has emerged and that is to squeeze nature in the name of national interest, by the optimum and unplanned utilisation of natural resources. We just want to churn out the nature to meet our selfish and narrower interest. While squeezing this, we never think about the broader interests of humanity and, above all, the interest of our planet, which is the abode of the entire living organism. We will have to save the ecosystem if we want our future generations to be safe and happy, but we have become so selfish that we never try to grow out of our mean mentality.

Now the time has come when we all should think about our planet because if we are not able to save the Earth, then all this so called development will be irrelevant. For this, we all have to become global citizens and will have to work in accordance with the broader interest of humanity. Global citizenship is not simply a slogan but a commitment to a safe and pleasant abode for our race. I believe that I am really committed to this, that's why I think, 'I am a global citizen'.

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