Dear fellow citizens,

Our democracy has become an object of ridicule. Only if we become active and put our heads and shoulders together we can save our sinking democracy.

YES.  WE CAN.  If we believe in this and act with conviction.

In doing so, let us be guided by the following thoughts:

1. Have vision: A blind person asked Swami Vivekananda: Can there be anything worse than losing eye sight?"   He replied: "Yes, losing your vision!"

2. Be bold: “Boldness has genius, power and magic in it” - Goethe

3. Learn from history: “Never forget that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; it is the only way that ever does.”  -  Margaret Mead

4. Make efforts: “There can be efforts that fail but there should not be a failure of efforts”    -      Anonymous                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

5. Have an ethics of care: “Developing an ethics of care for the suffering millions will not clash with your legitimate self interests and will make you happy.” -  Anonymous

I am attaching the first article in a series of 22 articles entitled “Let us think and Act with an Open Mind to Develop a Vibrant Democracy” which draw attention to 30 obstacles which cause a distorted and ineffective democracy and possible solutions for these. You can help to save democracy by making as many people as possible aware of these obstacles and possible solutions, through e-mail and social media like face book and twitter so that we can have healthy debates and arrive at some innovative ideas to save our sinking democracy.

A citizen who cares

PS. When I sent Article 1 through email, some of you received only a truncated version. Therefore, I am now sending it as an attachment (virus free on scanning). Sorry for the trouble.