Mera Bharat Mahan
To get a background why this blog comes the way it does, please visit Siddharth's comment on my blog.
Yes, I truly agree. There are many among us, who just for the 'heck' of it, want to denigrate our country; they find it 'uncool'. Sitting during our national anthem is one sign. But my bet is that the punk Sid is referring to, can not even recite the national anthem. He does not realize what power fills the spaces between the words of 'Jana Gana Mana'. He does not realize that our anthem is a tribute to our independance; the scores of freedom fighters who gave their lives only to make ours better; the millions who gave up their youth only to see their children and grandchildren revel in their independance.
It seems to be a universal phenomenon. Pick any teenager today, and ask him to sing 'Vande Mataram', the song with which freedom fighters used to motivate themselves; the call of the war. Hell, we haven't seen any wars, you would say. What about Kargil; it was recent, and it was televised. We saw it during the few months, felt for the soldiers, empathized with the family of the ones who gave up their lives, and then enjoyed it in retrospect, with popcorn in our hand, in a multiplex near our home. Patriotic movies make for good movie-viewing - because that is perhaps the only time we feel for our country. For most of the other time, we are too busy scheming to get more money, to get one-up on our neighbours, to improve our social standing.
I remember, when I was in school, we used to say proudly:
Sau mein se nabbe beiman
Phir bhi Mera Bharat Mahan!!!
And most of us will grow up to be the same beimaan, the same crafty man who is willing to sell his soul and his country for a few nickels, a few dimes. It is we who make what India is; and when we have such low respect for India ourselves, how can we expect the world to respect us.
And who cares for a solution? Either we run away from the country, seeking greener pastures, better pay packets, a western lifestyle, kids who speak in umreecan. Or we earn money here, and actually start enjoying the system. Start milking the cow, the kamdhenu; what better place to enjoy your wealth than in India. It is here in India that weddings are the most ostentatious, that homes have to resemble palaces, that social standing is directly proportional to your bank balance, quarterly average. The system is really fine tuned, if you are rich.
There is no harm knowing about western history, and greek mythology. In fact, if one looks at it closely it all seems to diverge from the same point. Noah's ark and the story of Manu and Shatrupa, bear a start resemblance. Even the Trojan war seems to resemble Ramayana; in both the princes fight for their wives who were carried away by others. But in this world of Cartoon Network and Pogo, what we must not forget is that roots are roots. They are what bind us to the soil; they are what keep us on ground. You forget your roots, and you start flowing with every new tide, new fad; and there is nobody to provide you the anchor every ship needs.
The ones who proudly proclaim that they belong to the 'US of A' even before setting foot on that soil, don't understand all this. Probably they will; after they experience the racism existent there - after they order the two volumes of The Wonder That was India. We cry all the time about the caste-system in India, but color-based discrimination is equally bad in the US. We bhuras do not fall into either category; and have to face the wrath of both. The white feels we should be doing lowly work, and the black that we have come to take away their jobs. And the only reason Indians are successful there, or perhaps in any other part of the world, is because they work their asses off to send money to their ailing parents or their expecting wife, or only just to make a point, change the perception of the world towards India. But the guy who does not have any love for his/her country -- how will he understand all this.
Yes, we will not die for our country. Cummon, we are not that good; even if we go to the border, we will probably mess things up. But we can make a lot of difference. We can at least try and change the way the world thinks of India, in our own little way. And most of all we can try to make Indians proud of India
Yes, I truly agree. There are many among us, who just for the 'heck' of it, want to denigrate our country; they find it 'uncool'. Sitting during our national anthem is one sign. But my bet is that the punk Sid is referring to, can not even recite the national anthem. He does not realize what power fills the spaces between the words of 'Jana Gana Mana'. He does not realize that our anthem is a tribute to our independance; the scores of freedom fighters who gave their lives only to make ours better; the millions who gave up their youth only to see their children and grandchildren revel in their independance.
It seems to be a universal phenomenon. Pick any teenager today, and ask him to sing 'Vande Mataram', the song with which freedom fighters used to motivate themselves; the call of the war. Hell, we haven't seen any wars, you would say. What about Kargil; it was recent, and it was televised. We saw it during the few months, felt for the soldiers, empathized with the family of the ones who gave up their lives, and then enjoyed it in retrospect, with popcorn in our hand, in a multiplex near our home. Patriotic movies make for good movie-viewing - because that is perhaps the only time we feel for our country. For most of the other time, we are too busy scheming to get more money, to get one-up on our neighbours, to improve our social standing.
I remember, when I was in school, we used to say proudly:
Sau mein se nabbe beiman
Phir bhi Mera Bharat Mahan!!!
And most of us will grow up to be the same beimaan, the same crafty man who is willing to sell his soul and his country for a few nickels, a few dimes. It is we who make what India is; and when we have such low respect for India ourselves, how can we expect the world to respect us.
And who cares for a solution? Either we run away from the country, seeking greener pastures, better pay packets, a western lifestyle, kids who speak in umreecan. Or we earn money here, and actually start enjoying the system. Start milking the cow, the kamdhenu; what better place to enjoy your wealth than in India. It is here in India that weddings are the most ostentatious, that homes have to resemble palaces, that social standing is directly proportional to your bank balance, quarterly average. The system is really fine tuned, if you are rich.
There is no harm knowing about western history, and greek mythology. In fact, if one looks at it closely it all seems to diverge from the same point. Noah's ark and the story of Manu and Shatrupa, bear a start resemblance. Even the Trojan war seems to resemble Ramayana; in both the princes fight for their wives who were carried away by others. But in this world of Cartoon Network and Pogo, what we must not forget is that roots are roots. They are what bind us to the soil; they are what keep us on ground. You forget your roots, and you start flowing with every new tide, new fad; and there is nobody to provide you the anchor every ship needs.
The ones who proudly proclaim that they belong to the 'US of A' even before setting foot on that soil, don't understand all this. Probably they will; after they experience the racism existent there - after they order the two volumes of The Wonder That was India. We cry all the time about the caste-system in India, but color-based discrimination is equally bad in the US. We bhuras do not fall into either category; and have to face the wrath of both. The white feels we should be doing lowly work, and the black that we have come to take away their jobs. And the only reason Indians are successful there, or perhaps in any other part of the world, is because they work their asses off to send money to their ailing parents or their expecting wife, or only just to make a point, change the perception of the world towards India. But the guy who does not have any love for his/her country -- how will he understand all this.
Yes, we will not die for our country. Cummon, we are not that good; even if we go to the border, we will probably mess things up. But we can make a lot of difference. We can at least try and change the way the world thinks of India, in our own little way. And most of all we can try to make Indians proud of India
~posted by kpowerinfinity at 9:42 am
1 Comments:
Yeah, KK and sid I think both of you are very correct. I agree every sane man has his aspirations and he is free to move anywhere on this planet (may be even out of it) to fulfil them but one must not forget his motherland. It is this land for which we say "Janani janambhumi swargadapi gariyasi" in sanskrit, I am sure that hardly any1 of us is going to borders but I am equally sure that we can contribute no less even being in our safe rooms if we wish.
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