Nehru 14 August 1947
Undoubtedly one is proud to be from the soil of a nation as great as our's with its rich heritage, enviable legacy, a smörgåsbord of culture, ethnicity, religion,clothing ,language, cuisines,color,creed, climate, eco system, geographical disperse, topography,crops .....No wonder everyone wanted a piece of it.
Yet I was wondering if we have enough reasons to celebrate the Freedom handed to us by brave hearts on a silver platter, one stained by their sweat and blood.
One could easily fall prey to denouncing what we as a nation have come to be , be called a pessimist and attract more brickbats but hey! one can exercise the freedom of expression!..nevertheless.
Oil Spill that have endangered maritime life with serious ecological implications, incurring loss of 85 crore rupees a day,snatched away livelihood of those who have been dependent on the ocean. A week later investigating authorities are still trying to pin blame on MSC Chitra and / or Khalijia - The vessels aren't registered with Indian ports.
Coming in the wake of the court orders on the 25 year old Union Carbide tragedy (worst ever the world has seen) what have we learnt?
The Flash floods in Leh ,damaging property and rendered people homeless, penniless and the death toll climbs by the day. The Army battling nature's fury (yet again!) with all its might and providing succor to the ravaged.The Indian Army- they man our borders,keeping vigil 24/7 and they are called in every time a child falls into pit, every time an overloaded bus knocks itself off the roads on dangerous terrain,every time a boat capsizes...whatever happened to the basic civic structure that should have been in place to deal with such emergencies? Why after 63 years of being free, the shackles of bureaucracy and babudom, dictate our actions and reactions?
The commonwealth shame, Greed raised its ugly head yet again and this time for the world to see. Each day newer juicier details of the scandals hit the headline and repeatedly aired on the channels.A colossal waste of tax payers money apart, we cut such a sorry figure in what should have been a proud moment for India. And the drama is yet to unfold. 49 more days to go ..lets wait and watch.
More sordidness from the valley of death, a purported heaven on earth.Our generation has known Kashmir to be anything but that.The never ending bloodshed.The innocent caught in crossfires.What rights have the people there known, seen or exercised when the basic right to a leading a humane life has been denied in all of these 63 years of independence?
The Taj group of hotels opened its door to public 2 years post the terror attacks.Renovated and Refurbished by the Tata's at 1.8 billion rupees crores in restoring its glory and heritage, the resurrections symbolises a lot more than hope. I am surprised no enthusiastic journo or no channel has yet made it to the doors of the Unnikrishnan household. Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan valor is lost in the imbroglio of justice, diplomacy and worst still politicking.
One can go on endlessly- crib, write blogs,shake my head in despair and get into angry tirades... but that will not change anything....
...Govt of India will continue to remain deaf when the Swiss bank has publicly stated that Indians are their biggest customer ever. A collective figure of 70 Lakh crores. And that it is willing to handover the list of its account holders should the Govt ask for it. How many of atleast, the educated mass know that's enough money to pay our national debt 13 times over, provide food , cloth and shelter to our billion plus strong populace?
...Maoists and extremist will continue to blow up buildings, irreversibly damage the socio-economic infrastructure and deny any chance to our hopes of peace in those strife torn lands.
...Inflation shall continue to be a double digit figure even as food grains rot in granaries and middlemen are squeezing the life blood out of farmers.Driven to suicide by the system , even the Almighty has not spared them the troubles. In what used to be a primarily agrarian country, our ill devised plans of development ,currently the 11th 5 year plan has managed a skewed economic divide at best.
..Channels will continue to air patriotic movies for the nth time, damned reality shows will have celebs croon and shake a leg and tingle our sentiments and feed out insatiable appetite for glitz and glamor around the dates of national importance.
I am justifiably annoyed, when a reporter asks school children what freedom means to them, the children shout in union- We will be the superpower!!!! Who wants to be one as long as no child is forced into bonded labour and slavery, no woman shall want to be trafficked, no stomach shall go empty, no lives are endangered due to adulterated edibles, no infant shall die of lack of basic medical care, no child falls into half dug ,uncovered wells. no queues and fights break on streets for a potful of water.
I am enraged ,when a popular youth channel, has a PYT in her tricolor inspired itsy bitsy, thrusts the mike onto nonchalant youngsters asking them to define freedom and what does 15th August mean to them...As for the responses the lesser said the better as they made light of the struggles of those who fought to death to free us.
I am disappointed ,at recalling how at the beginning of the year, looking at the list of holidays from the HR, a very many of us at work had groaned at the loss of one more holiday.2nd October, 14th November too fall on weekend.
I am exasperated at the ethnic day celebrations at school, colleges and offices when I am being pestered by children at traffic signals to buy the plastic version of our national flag.
I am saddened to read of young lives being gruesomely snuffed out by an orthodox society and khap panchayats for choosing their life partners.
Finally, I am surprised,
I can still manage goosebumps while listening to Vande matarm in the quiet environs of my home. Aye mere watan ke logo.... can still mist your eyes.
I am still happy over the Jessica Lal murder case which saw justice after a long drawn battle primarily spurred by public outcry. Its a hard hitting proof of what we can achieve if we unite our voices, awaken our sense of responsibility and channelize our actions.
I am still glad my nieces and nephews believe that one day they will make India proud by becoming a scientist or a cricketing sensation.That's some hope for a Nobel, a Bharat Ratna, a Grand slam in the times to come.
For now, I am still looking for reasons to celebrate.
As an afterthought:
Too much has been written said and debated on what plagues us and too little on executing what needs to be done. Thats the need of the hour and the call of the liberty.
For all those who made it this far on the post my following post would be your say on this. This 15th August ,after all the introspection and soul searching , I feel the need to be reassured that we still pack the might that has propelled us onto the 21st century as a force to reckon with. I know you are doing your bit.Share with us Just how.Bring it on!
I respect.I admire. And doff a hat to all those who are doing small, meaningful things in their everyday lives and living out their dreams in a free India as a responsible citizen and not merely being a passive one given to existential mundaneness with only rights to embolden them.
Kudos to them and Cheers to the hope that it brings to us. JAI HIND.
This has definitely set me thinking. After so many years The things that we love about our country are so far back in our past. There are so many things about our country that we hate. I am sure there have been a few achievements that we can be proud of, but they are very few. One of our biggest conglomerates which is supposed to make our country proud is synonymous with corruption. Corruption is so deeply ingrained in us that we (every common man) take pride in beating the system. Better not to talk about people who are expected to take our country forward. The Indian Army has it's own share too. But still they are one that i am really proud of too. When i was at a government school for independence day celebrations yesterday, I noticed something that i have noticed all through the years. Giving respect to the National Anthem seems to be the duty of the people who are inside the compound singing it. While the people standing outside were trying to be Indian Idol judges laughing at some small kids who were trying their best to sing the anthem.
ReplyDeleteSu, I feel this would make a good article for the newspapers
ReplyDelete:) Thanks for your kind support.It's merely the angst of the common man poured forth.
ReplyDeleteIf my words have ignited one mind to think and act differently,subsequently bringing about a difference in our society I am happy my education has served some purpose.
The idea was to nudge our thoughts out of comfort zone. Patriotism and sense of responsibility are not a reminder that shall pop up on 15th Aug or 26th Jan and then remain in snooze mode for the rest of the year.
The past has to be acknowledged, remembered and revered. Taking pride in it doesn't suffice. The freedom that we take for granted was earned by blood and sweat and DOING.
You were at the school with young impressionable minds,celebrating,singing the anthem. And your take away is the disgust. That of a handful of people mocking at these kids. You were actually DOING something when you could have spent that time with your family.
But I read it differently. If one child, 5 years from now, recalls this day, recalls your presence,what you did back then and tries to bring that very difference to some other children's lives,haven't you done your bit?
Think about it. To quote Robert Savage,
"You can measure a man by the opposition it takes to discourage him."
Keep at it!
:) Thank you Su
ReplyDeleteFreedom comes at a cost & unfortunately we are not aware of that. Freedom is not licentiousness and unfortunately that’s what we think so...root of the problem lies in each one of us. The way we think, act and behave…Can’t help… it requires a sea change in our personalities which we are not ready for...but there's always light at the end of the tunnel, so let's be optimistic. Things aren't that bad as it appears to be… though not good totally. Definitely in these 63 years there are lot of things to be proud of so let’s look at them, they motivate us, give us hope and makes us proud & intiate a positivet thought process things can change, we can make a difference. Lets start from there keeping in mind that lot needs to be done and work towards that instead of looking at things –vely and complaining, which results in one getting demotivated and ending up as a perpetual cribber, a cynic who keeps on pointing fingers at others ( which’s nothing but complaining ) but does nothing.
ReplyDelete