63 years of Independence, with India soaring high on the charts: from pollution to population, from poverty to inaccessibility to political leaders, from starvation to reservation. And we proudly say that “I am proud to be an Indian”. 63 yrs, many definitions changed, even the meaning of Independence day, from being a big festive occasion to a mere holiday which we curse if it falls on weekends. The journey which is as follows:
63 yrs earlier, we were proud to be Indian for wanting to live in this country, now for the highest brain drain rate.
Then for veergaddi, now for rajgaddi.
Then against partition, now for corruption.
Then against colonialism, now for regionalism.
Then for non-violence for uniting the country, now violence for dividing the country into states.
Then for “Atithi devo bhava”, now for laathis against the people from a different state.
Then for its revolutions, now for its 50% reservations.
Then for satisfied Indians, n now for it’s complaining Citizens.
We have seen many lacunas in the current system, with every right thing being in the wrong place. For instance, the money being at IPL instead of BPL (Below Poverty Line). The selection into government jobs on the basis of reservation than on education. The food supply on the basis of location than on total income of a family. Water being wasted at one place with people dying out of thirst at another. 24X7 electricity at one place and hardly 4 hours of street light at another.
There are many things that money and power has done wrong. But then too we are proud to be an Indian, because some things never change. We still are a country where family is given utmost importance. We still are a country where children are asked to memorize mathematics tables till 25, even when they have calculators so that we can make their minds sharper. We still are a country where we touch our teacher’s feet on Teachers Day. We still are a country where people from different religion freely live and talk to each other. We still are proud to be a country which had Aryabhatta and invented zero. We still are a country who believes in Ahimsa even though we have the third largest standing military in the world.
Yes, I am proud to be an Indian, not for the negatives listed above. But for trying even if there is the leanest hope to succeed. We are the ones who protest when any Jessica Lal is brutally killed. We are the ones who stand back again, the next day of being shot without mercy on the lanes of Mumbai. We are the ones who have their soldiers having sleepless nights fighting terrorists and nature at -4 degree Celsius. We are the ones who keep fighting in the name of religion, but if the country faces a difficult situation, fight back being united. We are the ones who have given the world the brains (scientists, businessmen, etc.) that have given a new direction to the human race. We are the ones who have “Unity in Diversity”, in its culture, in its flora and fauna, in its landscape, in its languages, in its clothing and attire and what not. Yes I am proud to be an Indian.
