10000 years old history; 3.3 million square kilo meters; 7600 km of Coastline; 6 major religions; 22 major languages; 845 dialects; 1.3 billion people; 7 major rivers; 28 states; 7 union territories; Taj Mahal; Poweful democracy; Founders of chess; ...hmm, the list never ends, and we call her Mother India.
With a stiff pose, my mind filled with heart, heart filled with soul, soul filled with pride, with a shiver in the body, I grew up as a proud Indian.
Amal, Jose, Antonio and few of my friends have witnessed me with a loud voice, wide opened eyes and an arrogant attitude to fuel up the defense in me to shield my country when some loop holes and flaws have been pointed out about my country, culture and people.
As the saying goes "A person who flaws your country, should not be spared even if your mother orders to do so", Hoo Ha! my soul shivered and my mind said, I am patriotic.
I like Netaji and love Gandhiji, hence I am angry at them for not owing me a chance to be part of the freedom fight. With that fire, I ran into a tattoo shop in Germany and printed "Jai Hind" to celebrate the Independence Day.
When there is no pain, there is no gain; a patriot does not know the pain. Long live India.
Infinite time has been clocked with and without the company of Moon and Sun, by arguing over the problems; the creators; the leaders; the politicians; the drainage; the system; the law; the changes; the society; the root cause; the remedy; Yes, argued until our throat gave up on us and went on inventing an another remedy for thirst.
Yeah! we are all children of Mother India, and we are all loyal to her. Vande Mataram.
These were my thoughts on patriotism. hmmm... I am NUTS, am I not? Though I did not do these deliberately, I was deceived to think that this is what is patriotism is all about, but as the time ticked along, mentors and friends made me realise that I was pretty much screwed. For god sake, yeah, they made me realise...
stiffening the posture for the national anthem; respecting the flag than your life; knowing history and geography about your nation; arguing over the national issues; not standing the constructive criticism about the nation; switching to defensive mode and attacking the person who criticises it; tattooing patriotic slogans in the body; shooting up the patro-meter on an Indo-Pak cricket game or when a terror attack in the state;
...just these won't make one patriotic. Since I misunderstood the meaning of the patriotism, yes, I was screwed.
Abdullah, a ticket checker in the train fined us for a missing ticket for a luggage, his politeness and respect shattered me.
Vellaiyappan, a neighbouring farmer, his dedication and mentoring to the next generation inspired me.
Shankar, my colleague in Pune, his commitment and sincerity shook me.
Sivakumar, owner of a snack shop, his straight forwardness and passionate attitude impressed me.
(I just chose few examples in a long list, if I keep listing, I bet the list will beat the Schindler's list ;-)).
All of these patriots do not know either the history or details about India. They do not know how and who delivered India. Some, do not even know the complete national anthem or the meaning of it. However, they do their duty without fail with the right attitude without compromising for anyone or anything. They might not be aware that they are lifting the country up with their actions, but in reality, they are.
They ran through me, and stamped hard in my mind and made me realise that patriotism does not need a mass motive, it does not need a complicated effort. Small things and actions taken every day with a right attitude and motive to do good itself will qualify as patriotism. Hence, every day has to be celebrated as an Independence day, not just August 15th. Therefore, patriotism is not something scenic or fashionable, but a humble act involving struggle for what we believe is right. The struggle could be in any form, it could be in,
Performing our duties correctly;
Being honest about everything in any situation;
Actions to make a difference in the society;
Voicing against the crime and corruption;
Participation and contribution to the system;
Care for the people around you;
Respecting the countrymen and the opponents;
Accepting the criticism and acting necessarily to rectify it.
I witnessed the law acting in a light speed to enforce the rules on flag handling, evolving the national anthem, posturing for the national anthem etc. I cannot explain this in any other words than "joke", hence the fun is unlimited. It is a "joke" since the government fails to realise that the patriotism is a feeling and not a knowledge or habit. It needs to be nurtured in the citizens and not forced. As we all know, anything forced in us will be killed sooner than a day.
There are plenty of silly stinking political games played in the country by the people who only cares about themselves and not their countrymen. However, I realised that the love for the country is different from the love for the government. We have to bear with lots of non-sense with the government's lack of vision, planning and lack of common sense, but a patriot should still perform his/her duty correctly to bring up the society and the nation.
Jai Hind
