Ambedkar Jayanti, Bedekar masala and everyday Indian spice.
Today's bus travel in the morning seems like ages ago. But I remember the school assembly, the patriotic songs and the National Anthem as if I sang it yesterday. Not to forget the guy who got punished for deliberately screaming the last four lines of the Anthem at one teacher named Jaya. Something to do with nostalgia maybe.
Looking back at those days, it makes me think: 'What is patriotism?' Is it pinning a small flag to our pockets or placing one on the dashboard, handles of our vehicles? Or for a major part of the community, is it standing to attention when the Anthem is played in the theatre? My dad's 'new' edition [1974] of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English defines patriotism as "the love for one's country". If this is a correct understanding of the word, then I'm lukewarm. This has been said taking into consideration that the basic definition has not undergone any drastic change in the past thirty two years.
Now before you report this blog as anti-Indian, let me clarify my stand. From this sentence onwards, all names have been changed to protect the individual's right to stupidity. Also, all examples are for better understanding of the opinion being discussed. No portion of this post, in part or whole, can be reproduced in any form [written, photocopied, printed] without explicit permission from the author.
Not that you would want to.
The general portrayal of patriotism by political parties seems to be 'Pakistan is the enemy'. Believe this, and you are a true disciple. And surprisingly, a lot of the gullible junta accepts it. For that matter, you must also be against multinationals, privatisation, Valentine's day, English names for Indian places and the like. What you must support is an even longer list. Apparently, love for country can wait till later. As far as I'm concerned, half of these are non-issues. An example: I'm against soft drink companies and a few other multinationals. Does that mean I don't like all of them? Of course not; they are so very needed. Then there's Bangalore becoming Bangaluru [Bangalooroo for numerologists]. Who cares? Is the number of crimes against BPO employees reducing there? But at the same time, some places named after tongue twisters need the change. So I'm lukewarm.
Piyush, one of my classmates, swears by the flag pole in our campus - he's that patriotic. But tossing the lunch wrapping on garden premises every single afternoon is his right. Mention it, and he will wave it off with an air of confidence that would make Rahul Gandhi sit up and notice. For the love of country!! Why is throwing dirt from the window or spitting out of the car normal but soiling the Tricolour a crime? Get real; that flag comes out twice in a calendar year but you are part of your environment. Drink to your heart's content, fight with your neighbours; or worse, beat up your wife and children. But observe 15th August and 26th January as 'dry days'. Still lukewarm.
Leaders stand to military attention during the Anthem. Some even get goose flesh and mistake it for a patriotic orgasm [in the non-sexual way] but are ready to sell country and all for personal benefit. Rajiv, representative of the common man, is no better. As long as his spouse is satisfied [read 'not irritating'] and the children have a promising future, the rest of the world can go to hell. It takes an unrealistic movie like Rang de Basanti to get him all worked up on national issues; that's how low he has reached. We salute the flag while trampling on our neighbour's peace of mind. You guessed it - lukewarm.
If a statue or memorial of a freedom fighter is blackened, the nation will know it in within thirty minutes. That just got reduced to twenty in the past two years. So when Ambedkar's statue was garlanded with footwear some time back, it was big news. But treating that poor labourer like dung is permissible. If we can take offense to an act of disgrace to a person's memorial, it better reflect in actual life.
Now I'm not one of those guys ranting for a perfect country. I don't want it to be so because there's beauty in imperfection. I don't agree with being called patriotic for the simple reason that brotherhood and social acceptance/tolerance mean more to me. What good is tradition if it's void of the original meaning? I'd rather donate blood or sponsor an orphan.
I like India - its beautiful history and nature. Not to forget the cliches on culture and diversity; I'll spare you those. The people and atmoshpere are just awesome. It's tough to call any other place on earth home. But I'd rather not restrict my loyalty and love to geographic/political[ly disputed] boundaries that some governing body decided long ago.
It's time we freed India - from ourselves. Jai Hind.
Looking back at those days, it makes me think: 'What is patriotism?' Is it pinning a small flag to our pockets or placing one on the dashboard, handles of our vehicles? Or for a major part of the community, is it standing to attention when the Anthem is played in the theatre? My dad's 'new' edition [1974] of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English defines patriotism as "the love for one's country". If this is a correct understanding of the word, then I'm lukewarm. This has been said taking into consideration that the basic definition has not undergone any drastic change in the past thirty two years.
Now before you report this blog as anti-Indian, let me clarify my stand. From this sentence onwards, all names have been changed to protect the individual's right to stupidity. Also, all examples are for better understanding of the opinion being discussed. No portion of this post, in part or whole, can be reproduced in any form [written, photocopied, printed] without explicit permission from the author.
Not that you would want to.
The general portrayal of patriotism by political parties seems to be 'Pakistan is the enemy'. Believe this, and you are a true disciple. And surprisingly, a lot of the gullible junta accepts it. For that matter, you must also be against multinationals, privatisation, Valentine's day, English names for Indian places and the like. What you must support is an even longer list. Apparently, love for country can wait till later. As far as I'm concerned, half of these are non-issues. An example: I'm against soft drink companies and a few other multinationals. Does that mean I don't like all of them? Of course not; they are so very needed. Then there's Bangalore becoming Bangaluru [Bangalooroo for numerologists]. Who cares? Is the number of crimes against BPO employees reducing there? But at the same time, some places named after tongue twisters need the change. So I'm lukewarm.
Piyush, one of my classmates, swears by the flag pole in our campus - he's that patriotic. But tossing the lunch wrapping on garden premises every single afternoon is his right. Mention it, and he will wave it off with an air of confidence that would make Rahul Gandhi sit up and notice. For the love of country!! Why is throwing dirt from the window or spitting out of the car normal but soiling the Tricolour a crime? Get real; that flag comes out twice in a calendar year but you are part of your environment. Drink to your heart's content, fight with your neighbours; or worse, beat up your wife and children. But observe 15th August and 26th January as 'dry days'. Still lukewarm.
Leaders stand to military attention during the Anthem. Some even get goose flesh and mistake it for a patriotic orgasm [in the non-sexual way] but are ready to sell country and all for personal benefit. Rajiv, representative of the common man, is no better. As long as his spouse is satisfied [read 'not irritating'] and the children have a promising future, the rest of the world can go to hell. It takes an unrealistic movie like Rang de Basanti to get him all worked up on national issues; that's how low he has reached. We salute the flag while trampling on our neighbour's peace of mind. You guessed it - lukewarm.
If a statue or memorial of a freedom fighter is blackened, the nation will know it in within thirty minutes. That just got reduced to twenty in the past two years. So when Ambedkar's statue was garlanded with footwear some time back, it was big news. But treating that poor labourer like dung is permissible. If we can take offense to an act of disgrace to a person's memorial, it better reflect in actual life.
Now I'm not one of those guys ranting for a perfect country. I don't want it to be so because there's beauty in imperfection. I don't agree with being called patriotic for the simple reason that brotherhood and social acceptance/tolerance mean more to me. What good is tradition if it's void of the original meaning? I'd rather donate blood or sponsor an orphan.
I like India - its beautiful history and nature. Not to forget the cliches on culture and diversity; I'll spare you those. The people and atmoshpere are just awesome. It's tough to call any other place on earth home. But I'd rather not restrict my loyalty and love to geographic/political[ly disputed] boundaries that some governing body decided long ago.
It's time we freed India - from ourselves. Jai Hind.
posted by heston at 11:49 PM
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