I can't be the only one in this country who thinks we Indians are a little too rigid when it comes to moving ahead with the times. In an age when there are bigger problems like pollution, population, inflation, etc. to deal with, we are still stuck on issues that prevent us from being a truly free society. There are many things we Indians need to be more liberal about and no, this is not some Utopian dream; it's actually possible if we just make the effort. We are still hung up on many things and we need to change that. They are things like (not in any particular order)

7. Food Habits

Some Indians are vegetarians while most others are not. Yet, when it comes to food habits, there is this apartheid-like atmosphere out there. Landlords not renting out to non-vegetarians, RSS volunteers writing letters to HRD ministry to stop giving out tamsic food in IITs, local Muslims in Kerala raging over a school that served pork, saffron activists calling for bans on cow slaughter (it's not about animal welfare though; they don't ask for ban of chicken or lamb slaughter), these are signs of a society where some people believe they are better than others just because of what they eat or don't eat. Everyone needs to calm down and eat whatever they want to without trying to force their culinary habits on others. Yes, this also goes out to meat-eaters who snigger every time a vegetarian person dines with them.

8. Career Choices

Raise your hand if you've given an engineering or medical entrance exam just because some cousin of yours made it to some good college in those fields. We really need to start encouraging our kids to start chasing their dreams, not settle for something safe. Believe me, with the number of kids whose dream it is to be a doctor or engineer, we'll still be sorted for the next few generations. Instead of opening more IITs in the country, why can't the HRD ministry get central universities to start long-term courses in vocational fields. If my dream is to become a carpenter (if you're laughing at this example, you're part of the bias I'm talking about), why can't I find colleges in India that offer the best training in such a field? While students all over the world get to choose which subjects they want to pursue, we're still bound by science, arts and commerce streams.