Be a better Indian. Review on Republic Day of India

This year we would be completing 60 years as a country, and as a republic we are already 50 years old. As an Indian, I belong to one of the world’s most ancient civilizations and to one of the largest democracies of the world. On the occasion of Republic Day, I wanted to share a few thoughts of mine on how we can really be a better Indian. Please keep in mind, that these are not tips and suggestions. I am only expressing my views and ideas.For me India is a passion, its something which gives me my very own identity. One person can never make a difference.

Many of us keep hoping for a messiah or a Mr.Clean who would some how come up, clean the system and make India a better place. Never happens in real life. Whether it’s your own family, your workplace, your city or your country, only a concerted team effort can make things better. Sitting in the hope that some one will come and clean things up, is sheer escapism. When you see a highly rated CEO being felicitated for his work, that success is not his alone. It’s the success of the ordinary faceless employee in his company, every one of whom put in their effort. Independence was won not by a handful of leaders, it was because of thousands of ordinary Indians braved police lathis, sacrificed their lives, gave up their comfortable jobs, that we ultimately won it. Each one of us has a role to play for our country.

We don’t need a Superman to solve our problems, we need every ordinary person in the country, to put in their effort to help the nation go ahead. What can I do for my country? You need not fight wars or win a cricket match or win theNobel/Booker prize to feel that you have done something for your country. Take pride in your surroundings for a start. You are an Indian, you belong to this country, this is your home. The place you stay is a part of the city, which in turn belongs to the state, which in turn belongs to the country. When you treat your surroundings with care, in effect you are showing it for your country. Stop treating your surroundings as a giant dustbin, where you can litter and spit. You would not do such things in your home, why should you do it in your surroundings. We often blame people in slums for dirtying and littering, they have no option.

What about supposedly educated, progressive people like us, who have the option, but still prefer to dump the rubbish on the road or in our neighbor’s backyard? Recently in Bangalore, the Government, came up with a rule that all 2-wheelers should wear helmets. Predictably there were howls of protest from people, giving all sorts of weird reasons, why they would not wear the helmets? Now the same person had he been in China or Japan or Singapore or US or Europe, would have accepted the rule with minimum fuss. We often crib that rule of law is not observed here, but other countries are so law abiding. Well who breaks those rules, certainly not aliens, its we Indians who do it in India.

Yes the very same Indian who thinks it’s his/her birthright to flout the rules in India, would follow the rules abroad without any fuss. Rules and regulations are necessary for any nation or society, and before you accuse others of breaking the law, please ask yourself, whether you are following it. Its ironical right, abroad we follow every law, even if it’s discriminatory to the core, but right back here, we crib about every law.I grew up in a middle class family. I studied in a convent school, where we had people from different backgrounds. Some were poor, some middle class and some rich. We had Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs all together. My father being a doctor, we often had patients coming from poor backgrounds.

For us Id and Christmas were as much as a celebration as were Diwali or Ganesh Puja. My parents were quite conservative like any other middle class family, nor did they claim to be liberal or progressive. But yet at no stage was an emphasis made on “us vs them”. My mother would chide me, if I behaved arrogantly with the servants or labor. My father emphasized that any one who comes to our home is a guest, and we must not make them stand outside, just because they were not of our kind. Today we claim to be liberal, progressive and modern. But yet I find we are much more exclusivist than our parents were. We want to live in closed localities, where riff raff don’t disturb us. We like malls, because we can then avoid certain type of peoplewhom we would meet in the bazaar. We want our children to study in posh schools, never mind the quality of education, they give, as we don’t want our children to mix with all sorts of people.

We seem to become more and more exclusive and elitist. And this is not a healthy trend. A construction laborer is as important to this nation as a research scientist. A country has all kinds of people. Forget about a country, can you honestly claim that all members in your family are alike. What we are doing is creating a closed enclave, where we can feel good, and forget about the reality. Tagore had asked for a nation where the mind is open, but in reality, we are closing our minds, and when that happens, the destruction of a society begins.When I was a student, Vande Mataram was regularly sung at the morning assembly in our school.

Now before you jump to conclusions, let me emphasize, I studied in a Christian missionary school. Our school had a large number of Muslims and Christians too. For usVande Mataram was our national anthem, that all. At no stage, did we have the debate about it being secular or not secular. For us Republic Day and Independence Day were a matter of pride. Not just another holiday to go and spend at the mall. We had flag hoisting, cultural shows, displays. Our teachers used to explain to us the importance of those days. Nowadays I really doubt how many of us know the significance of these 2 days, other than the fact that we get a free holiday. Its time we teach to our children, the importance of these national days. We need to bring them up with a sense of pride in their country.

Why is that we have to denigrate everything that is Indian? I see people taking great pleasure in being modern, and making fun of Indian customs, traditions and values. We ape the West, we want to be like them. When I see such people I am reminded of the crow who wanted to be a peacock, and who ended up neither here nor there. We blame foreigners for looking at us, as a nation of beggars and elephants. But who gives that impression to them, its us only right. We take great pleasure in running down our nation, our heritage and our culture. When we don’t respect ourselves, how can we expect other people to respect us? We had great intellectuals and reformers who fought against the evil traditions propagated in the name of culture. Yet at no stage did they denigrate the nation or pander to the West. Today we are saddled with intellectuals, whose sole aim is to denigrate the country in the West, and make money from it. What a disgrace.