My country

It was just a normal regular afternoon when I was writing test automation. Just now I renamed some packages and all the import statements were showing red squiggly lines under them. We don't like those squiggles so I was getting rid of them. There's no connection with the state of mind I was in to the caption of this article. Is it? Well, I was listening to our Independence Day flag hoisting clip on YouTube at that time. I don't remember watching the Independence Day flag hoisting ever, it's the Republic Day one that has more viewers, but with Narendra Modi as the new PM, I wanted to see what is special this time.

Firstly, the tune of "sangachadwam" got me interested. I have never heard it being played on military drums. But the thing that made me sit up straight was when the National Tricolor unfurled and immediately the Anthem started playing with gun salutes! So brilliant and so bold! Yes, bold. That was the adjective I thought of. Did I swell with pride? Of course I did. I am yet to find an Indian who would not jump up at that moment. It doesn't matter who I am or where I am located at this moment, I could well be in the outer space for all that matters. It's just that moment when you realize you are first an Indian and then everything else. Religion, language, society, financial status, nothing matters. It is at that time when you realize what Swami Vivekananda meant by "I am an Indian, every Indian is my brother." Say, "The ignorant Indian, the poor and destitute Indian, the Brahmin Indian, the Pariah Indian, is my brother."

I have traveled in India. Not a lot, but enough to get a general idea of my country. But I still wonder have I ever seen the real India? Probably not. The one which is far away from glittery shopping malls, designer wear, Bollywood or million dollar advertisement contracts. I hardly have an idea about that country. I can count three of my "India moments" right now. One was when I traveled in the general compartment in a train back from Darjeeling. Where people sat and lay on old newspaper spread on the compartment floor. 

The second one is quite ongoing. That is when I see my students at the orphanage over Skype. Their handed down clothes, bare feet, very minimal school stationery and in general a very rural lifestyle shows me what most of my countrymen are like. Families where sending their kids to school is a luxury, where having access to internet over modem is a dream come true. Last week those kids sang patriotic songs for me. As I was looking at them, I realized that they are the "future of our country" as people say. Their dreams and aspirations would be the path our country will take. If they learn to lead an honest life, we would have a whole population working by honest means. We will have to make sure that they get enough opportunities to bloom. 

The third moment was something very close to my heart. It was in the Himalayas, at the last village before India-Tibet border. I saw our National Flag flying high. All by itself, just a solitary flag. It did not have any language or expression like the human beings I mentioned before, but there was something in that lonely flag that made me wonder about my nation. It felt like a symbol of the motherland that we need to love and protect.

We don't really think of our country much. We probably don't have a "national feeling" because until the British came, there was nothing called "India", just a collection of states which always fought against one another. Our nationalism only shows during cricket matches and at the Wagah border. That is not going to help us. We need to start "doing something" instead of "saying things" and blaming each other or the government. Think of one thing you can practically do for India and stop procrastinating... just do that!