On
this eve of Independence Day, I’m sitting in my room and reflecting on the past
few months’ happenings. It is pretty clear for even one who is not in the know
that Indians have had some pretty embarrassing news stories to their
"credit", specially and most significantly this past year. With the
inflation rate hitting the roof, women safety becoming a national and you-tube
publicized issue etc etc etc, I have only ever heard fellow Indians in random
discussions about the country express THEIR discontent, THEIR helplessness,
THEIR anger. I wonder what has happened to their patriotic spirit. I really do
and it upsets and worries me. It upsets me that we Indians are merely fair
weather friends. We love our nation during world cup triumphs, during victories
of international significance when our countrymen make the world sit up and
take notice. But what happens to this sentiment when the country is in
distress, when the world is judging us for each fault, each misstep. Why then,
do we decide to side with the naysayers and consider ourselves socially
involved in doing so. I have concluded that there is no time better than the
present to declare to the world proudly that I LOVE MY NATION, LOVE IT WITH ITS
IDIOSYNCRASIES, ITS CONTRASTS, ITS FILTH, ITS STENCH and YES EVEN WITH ITS
BACKWARDNESS. I have decided to tell the world exactly why I love my country
and what exactly I love about it.
As
you read this, I’ll advice you to listen to Yeh jo desh hai tera swades hai
tera- a patriotic song from a little gem of a movie by the name of SWADES
directed by Ashutosh Gowrikar. The song gives me goosebumps everytime I hear it
and the movie is in my opinion perhaps the bollywood movie which has best
reflected our country in the past decade. The statement it makes is subtle but
in no way quiet. It makes a point whether through the moral dilemma of its
protagonist Mohan Bhargava or the various small characters that successfully
bring the directors vision to light. The characters of the movie are as
unassuming as the story itself. I love Gawrikar for the emotion behind it and
for getting out of Sharukh Khan the most restrained and smart performance of
his career.
And
now for the I love India because…list
1)
I love that we Indians are known worldover for our familial bonds. I realize
the intensity of this belief only when I go out of the country. Yes Indians’
love for their family may be convoluted on so many levels (Honour killing??).
Our Indian telly shows highlight just as much. But it is reassuring. It is the
knowledge when I travel to foreign lands that I may be far from home but never
ever far from family. The concept of extended family, not the friends who are
like family but the family connected by blood bonds spread all over the globe
gives me the confidence to explore unchartered territories. Maybe this sense of
duty is a forced one. But I do know that no friend has responded as fast to the
call of distress as one aunt I’ve met just once in my life did after a
particularly harrowing experience at the London Heathrow Airport.(She made the
connection- Oh she's Sunil's daughter- remember Shanno Boju's sonilaw.) And
this when she doesn’t even live in London but a county a few miles away. My
heart beats for my father whenever I remember how he, on one particularly dreary
evening in Wales, England refused a pub outing with his colleagues from the
university and without even an ounce of hesitation declared to his professor-
I’m sorry Mitch, I have to go back- My family is alone at home. Mitch, (bless
him) had replied that it’s just a few drinks with friends- the family wont mind
being without him for a few hours. But my father ever the loyal patriarch had
then more assertively declared. No Mitch, I’m a family man, you young fellas go
ahead. I remember that this was the moment when I realized that in addition to
being MY father- he possessed the following qualities. He’s fiercely loyal, he
values loyalty in others, he’s emotional, he wears his heart on his sleeve and
expects the world to be just as transparent. He’s stubborn but steady. He’s
stable and dependable. He is the quintessential Indian family man. My hero. And
believe me contrary to the depressing picture painted by the media, magazines
etc there are many many more like him in my incredible country. Yes there are
horrors galore (just like everywhere in the world, perversity is not scarce)
but there are examples just as substantial of those who put family above all
other priorities. On my recent trip to NYC, I was met with on more than a few
occasions with amused glances from strangers, people who told me quite frankly
that they had never seen an Indian lady traveling alone in the city and then
with a smirk and short laugh “Don’t Indians travel in hordes.” I had been
unable to reply quite appropriately then and for whatever reason (that reason
will be the subject of another post). I regret greatly not telling off the
black tourist guide near the Empire State building who was more than a little
friendly and had way to many opinions to share, opinions regarding MY nation lacking
heavily in factual authenticity. (Pet peeve (major)- People who don’t know shit
talking shit) I now want to express or perhaps its just my guilt raising its
ugly head that I love US for traveling in groups resembling quite often a cozy
wedding party. Its who we are. We do big, bold and out there better in my
opinion than any other nation (Read: The Big Fat Indian Wedding- definitely not
just an urban legend) We are crass more often than not, we are suckers and yes
we are (lets just admit it however uncomfortable a truth it may be). I will
never forget how insanely mad David Letterman’s ( who happens to be the most
unfunny comic I have ever watched) question to international beauty queen
Aishwarya Rai about living with her inlaws after marriage and whether any funny
business could really happen with the others’ in the other room made me.
Aishwarya, in my opinion the worst and grossly unsuitable ambassador for the
country had responded quite feebly and infact quite stupidly. But it irked me
that HE judged Indians for living with their inlaws after marriage. And it
irked me more that he considered his way, his view, the American family way to
be superior.. It annoys me now that Letterman’s questions were met with
applause and laughter from the studio audience. I wish I could have been next
to Aishwarya then to shake her, to take her place and tell Letterman to just
shove it, to put a sock in it. Pardon this random burst of irritation- It does
however pave the path for my next point.
2)
I love how unashamedly emotional Indians are. We love our cricket, our movies
to the point of fanaticism. It gets us in trouble more often than not. But it
is a distinctively Indian feature. We take loyalty and fandom to the point of
bestowing God-like status on mere mortals- case in point Indian cricketers and
Bollywood movie stars or RAJNIKANTH. But it is just this spirit of crazy and
extraordinary love that foreign movie stars visiting our country, foreign
dignitaries and tourists in general respond to. Some may call it the highest
degree of sucking-up. I call it the grandest declaration of love. Whichever way
you’d like to see it determines YOUR patriotism. Yes, we tend to take the
reverence to crippling heights when we provide undue patronage to US industry
big wigs who are responsible for the misery of our own (read: the Bhopal Gas
leak Disaster- the most significant incidence of government treachery and
traitor-ism). But perhaps this is also what leads great writers etc to make the
country their new home. It makes people like Gregory David Roberts pen the
international bestseller Shantaram which can be best called an Ode to India’s
underbelly or if you want to be nice and kind the bustling metropolis of
Bombay. It makes international music artistes like Katy Perry get married to
her lunatic comedian husband Russel Brand in our desert city of Rajasthan (
India witnessed celebrity behavior at its worst in an incidence of violent
behavior shown by Brand towards some media persons).
3)
I wonder why these white skinned delicate beings from alien lands chose
to even visit an incredibly hot tropical country like India, is it the lure of
the presumed mysticism associated with India or are they like Roberts running
away from prison hoping to remain hidden in the land of the lax laws. I’m
evolved and aware enough to not hold on to any romantic notions of my nation.
Lets call a spade a spade and admit that it’s a dirty, filthy, hot country with
a lot left to be desired in terms of standard of living. But I don’t also
belong to that group of people who enjoy a sense of passing intellectualism by
berating the nation and ranting about its ills. Like my wise mother often
states: Talk is cheap. I’d like to add, talk is easy as well- Just yesterday I
was standing near the gates of my college (Symbiosis Law School, Pune) and saw
for the nth time a water truck leaking water while men from the truck were
assembling pipes. I had a close friend standing by me at the time who none too
quietly "spoke out". God look at these people dude. I mean half the
water goes in their lack of watchfulness. I mumbled something in agreement and
then suddenly frustrated with my own inactive self went up to one of the truck
men and said- Bhaiya, paani leak ho raha hai, aapko pata hai desh mein sukha
pada hua hai, aap aisey paani ka nuksan kar rahe hain. Thoda soch samajh key
kaam kariye na. I remember quite distinctly the amused glance the man in
question had shot me followed by- Arey Madam aap apna kaam karo na, mujhe apna
karney do. By that time a curious group of young adults had started ogling at
the scene and struck by the hopelessness of the situation, I finally accepted
defeat and left. But I left with a definite lighter load on my conscience. I
realized that instead of lamenting, eloquently stating the deteriorating state
of affairs, I'd finally graduated to vocalizing my angst, my views, my
frustration. I’d stood up in the smallest of ways and taken action. Maybe it
came to naught. But my outburst did manage to grab a few eyeballs and if
Id stood for longer maybe I would have even been able to touch a few souls. I
gave up too easily and I’ll regret it for a long time hereinafter. But Im all
the wiser for it. And next time, I know there will be louder words, sharper
retorts and achievement of more effective action from the wrongdoers.
This
leads me to the conclusion. This independence day, I plead to all those who
claim to love their nation- to show it, to wear their love on their sleeve and
proudly voice it. To accept the negative but never feel defeated. To crib and
cry as apathy is worse than insensitivity but also inculcate national
consciousness. And next time a on asking a bimbo: Toliya hai tumharey paas
and hearing her respond: OMG, who says toliya retort assertively. Wohi
log jo takiya, palang, potty (not shit), bistar, etc bolte hain. U know Jo log
Hindi mein vartalap kartey hain, you know jinhe apne desh key baarey mein 90210
and US state of California (LA etc) sey jaada paata hai. Jo apni matra bhasaha
key shabdon ka uccharan garv sey kartey hain naaki mazaak sey. Jo apni jagrookta
ki kami ko mazaak nahin sharm ka vishay samajhte hain. JAI HIND, VANDEY
MATARAM. Today I pledge to defend my country’s honour each day everyday and as
long as I call myself a healthy spirited part of it, today I pledge to silence
the naysayers by the strength of my faith in my country and its people, today I
pledge to speak in my mother tongue more than the language left behind by our
colonial masters, to protect its integrity, its vocabulary, to learn to speak
it right, better and practice writing it, Today I also pledge to inspire others
with my bubbling passion and not let Hindi become a language we once learnt in
school and never quite thought about after. I regret greatly the day I stopped
reading Hindi Upanayas and more so the day I realized I lack speed when writing
in Hindi. This shall change and hopefully one day so will the nation.As someone
great somewhere has said- IT TAKES JUST ONE!
