This was something that i had written for Independence Day on my Facebook notes and people liked it, so i thought i will put it here one more time:
It was not just another day yesterday.
"Sunday is a very special day Sriram. Your grandfather was fighting the British in the army & I was in the small town of Mannargudi in Tamil Nadu; the separation caused by distance was overwhelmed by the unifying cause.The one thing that connected the hearts of your grandfather & myself is the joy created by the day of Independence, August 15 1947". She continues "I dont know about your generation but our pride & purpose was so strong".The conversation continued before she slept.This as usual triggered off my thought process onto another level and i started writing into the night...
" My first reaction to this was an emotional connect. A deep sense of pride that people of my lineage had actually been part of such a legacy. My second reaction was how much we had progressed since then. Plethora of world class industrial infrastructure developments, rapidly improving technology, world class communication devices; the thought that India has carved a niche for itself in the global arena and the beaming sense of pride that India is indeed on the verge of global dominance in the coming century. My third reaction was of what actually independence means to us. As time conquered the night, i started to question what actually independence means to us in this modern world.
In an age of technological surge and globalisationomania, i wondered how many people actually felt a sense of purpose about it. Pride is there for everyone on that day but purpose is a totally different ball game altogether.To those warriors in 1947, India was the only home. In general for the NRI's (i am one on and off) India is seen physically only during the weekly break in december when they come down for"holiday". Wishing people on Facebook, wishing their fellow clans in their cities, a few will do the symbolic flag raising & there ends the story. No matter how much they disagree, the fact is their physical absence in the nation will mostly cause them not to have a definitive purpose. Definitive pride yes, definite purpose no.For the Indian who is living in India, the sense of purpose is degenerated by the public system and the breeding bacteria called crass commercial cinema. Do you find ANY channel in television that actually has anything socially productive on their shows during Independence day? mostly NONE. The only thing that is common is women flashing their sexuality in the name of cinema songs and the plethora of useless movies/tv shows that run across the day. These things not only fill your mind with rot but it doesnt trigger of any sense of purpose within the already contorted mind of the indian. They completley smash the "purpose" factor for a toss.
Even if a purpose is engineered, there are these cynical fools who think that the execution in todays rotten Indian public administration is considered impossible, so no point thinking about the purpose is their stance. I agree that corruption is a big de-motivator for people to indulge in such activities. Just because the road has various potholes, does it mean we dont travel on the road? We can atleast try, cant we or do we need to be given a hike in salary to actually make us "try" to be socially productive?
Leave alone looking at the national system, why cant one treat it as an opportunity to create a sense of purpose within ones life?
This would be the perfect opportunity to bring back the ethos of our independence movement into our day to day lives. This would not only enhance the individual but the overall approach of the family and hence the nation in the long run. For once if we can sit and think about the values such as simplicity, patience & honesty that the great people of the independence movement stood for, you will be shocked.Shocked to see how much we have gotten away from them.Shocked to see how disgusting, shortsighted and filthy our thoughts have become.
Even from a materialistic point of view, these values help us in day to day lives:
1)The simplicity of Gandhi that existed will help us when we get fired from our job's and are looking for live a life of austerity.
2)The bravery of Bhagat Singh will help us to overcome odds to go up the ladder at work & will give us the strength to take on all the complications within our family network.
3)The honesty of C.Rajagopalachari will help us to earn respect which cannot be bought but can only be earned.
4) The selfless nature of Lal Bahadur Sastri teaches us the need to give back to the society.
All of these values from these great men and other freedom fighters will help to streamline our life and make it more pristine.
We need independence from the naivety of knowledge of our culture; to realise the immense history of our land of sanathana dharma (99 percent of you reading this would ask me what the hell does this term mean?). We need independence from the thought of who to "sacrifice" to move ahead in life materialistically so as to ensure the word "sacrifice" is equated to selflessness. We need independence from the addiction to impatience; patience should be a virtue as in Gandhi's legacy.We need independence from the rule of state's in the country by corrupt dynastic political maniac's so as to ensure nobility at the top.We need to use this as an opportunity for introspection within the nation and also within ourselves; as in 1947, it needs to be a beacon of light to start the process of creating a new world.We need independence from all the above using the values & principles that our independence from the British taught us on August 15,1947.
We need to have pride and a sense of purpose towards the nation & the individual on this day; there can be no other better tribute to the fighters of August 15,1947 on August 15,2010."
The next morning i show the text above to my grandmother and she says eloquently "This tells that even after 63 yrs, the hope for a sense of pride & purpose still exists with your generation either dormantly or actively, this ever lasting beacon of hope & light across generations is the eternal beauty of India".
That is the eternal beauty of OUR India.
Jai Hind
Wishing all my fellow Indians a very Happy Independence day!
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