Patriotism is much more than waving flags in stadium when india is winning a cricket match
Good Morning! Are you feeling patriotic today with all the desh-bhakti blaring on the loudspeakers? Besides being the anniversary of the killer earthquake of 11 years ago, everyone celebrates January 26 as the Republic Day of India.
So, have you contributed to the nation’s economy or the unorganised sector by buying a little flag-fixture for your car from road-side sellers during traffic jams? Or are you going to manifest your patriotism into action by dragging yourself out of the bed early on this wintry morning and go for a flag hoisting ceremony, look up at the tri-colour with moist yet stern eyes with a crisp salute? Or perhaps something that is a little less trying - watch the Republic Day parade in New Delhi on television?
If you haven’t done any of these, are you any less patriotic than you were yesterday? Or do you care less about the nation and its well being than your preceding generation? The answers are in full-blown debates often played out casually in urban living rooms, without any definitive conclusion. The participants of this debate are generally 50-60 year-olds who have passed through the teething troubles of a young Independent India in the pre-liberalisation era. In the same living room, the younger scions are meanwhile busy on their Apple devices connecting to the world on their high-definition palm-sized screens, oblivious to and unable to comprehend the need for such a debate.
Traditional desh bhakti (patriotism) has changed context in today’s day and age of global civilisations. Some youth argue that a way of giving back to the society / country is politics, others simply believe in strengthening the country’s economy by spending well in swanky malls and restaurants with their fat pay cheques (just lookout for the sales going on in various malls). There is a another section, which includes our chief minister Narendra Modi, who believes that the best way to display your patriotism is to respect mother earth by something as simple as not spit on the roads or keeping country clean. And then of course, there is always Gandhiji’s motto of good citizenship articulated in ‘Vaishnava Janato tene Kahiye je peed parayi jaane re…’
So, which side of the debate are you going to defend today?
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