I have been a die hard patriot all my life, rather always wanted to be. Any which way, I still do not know if I am one for I never made out what a patriot is. Is it someone who goes out there in the army, navy, etc., etc., ready to lay down his life for the sake of the country? Or someone who loves his country so much that he can not take a word against it? Or is there a third kind?
As a kid, being patriotic was about an unquestionable support towards the Indian cricket team. Then I read history and in came the Gandhi, the Nehru, the Bhagat Singh and who not. And I meet people who have different views. Nine out of ten have so many defects to point out about the country, better still, they have innumerous suggestions to sort out the defects; sad enough, none of those suggestions are towards being a good citizen. Mahatma Gandhi had once said - be the change you want to see in the world; and he has no takers, literally. In the name of being a Gandhian, we wear Anna Hazare caps; we choose what is easy and take that as right. That has always been the problem with mankind.
As human beings, we judge too early. We judge just by the look of someone, and sometimes merely by listening to what people say about a person. We judge by religion, we judge by region, we judge, judge and judge. Mother Teresa had said - If you Judge people, you have no time to love them.
Since I am writing about being a patriot I would emphasise more on judging based on region. If you're in a foreign country, you judge people based on their nationality; when in a country, you judge based on the state or territory which they belong to; if in the same state or territory, you judge based on the city you live in; if in a city, based on the locality, so on and so forth.
Talking about being the Indian to be proud of, I realized recently how much of an Indian I am. I was on a trip to Pune with a few of my friends. We were chilling out at a place called 'Sheesha' on the last day of our tour. There's a waiter named Ali; I judged him, in seconds, by religion and spoke ever so gently. While leaving the place I told him that we are on our way back to Hyderabad. He asked if I said Saidabad, which apparently is a locality in Hyderabad. I pressed on being from Hyderabad, got excited and asked him how he knew of Saidabad; whether he is a Hyderabadi as well? He replied that he is an Indian, shook hands with me, gave an innocent little smile, turned back and disappeared.....
It took me a couple of minutes to figure out what he said. Once understood, the guilt I felt is inexplicabe. Until then I hated people who judged based on region. At that very point I hated myself. The illusion that I was a die hard patriot, a person who loved the nation, had all turned upside down. I realized - if the first thing that excites me when I meet a person away from home is his locality, trimmed down to the city he lives in, then I can never be a person who loves the country unconditionally. I wish I were better, I wish there was an Ali in everyone. But this is what I am; and this is what I reckon most of us, the Indians that we are....
As a kid, being patriotic was about an unquestionable support towards the Indian cricket team. Then I read history and in came the Gandhi, the Nehru, the Bhagat Singh and who not. And I meet people who have different views. Nine out of ten have so many defects to point out about the country, better still, they have innumerous suggestions to sort out the defects; sad enough, none of those suggestions are towards being a good citizen. Mahatma Gandhi had once said - be the change you want to see in the world; and he has no takers, literally. In the name of being a Gandhian, we wear Anna Hazare caps; we choose what is easy and take that as right. That has always been the problem with mankind.
As human beings, we judge too early. We judge just by the look of someone, and sometimes merely by listening to what people say about a person. We judge by religion, we judge by region, we judge, judge and judge. Mother Teresa had said - If you Judge people, you have no time to love them.
Since I am writing about being a patriot I would emphasise more on judging based on region. If you're in a foreign country, you judge people based on their nationality; when in a country, you judge based on the state or territory which they belong to; if in the same state or territory, you judge based on the city you live in; if in a city, based on the locality, so on and so forth.
Talking about being the Indian to be proud of, I realized recently how much of an Indian I am. I was on a trip to Pune with a few of my friends. We were chilling out at a place called 'Sheesha' on the last day of our tour. There's a waiter named Ali; I judged him, in seconds, by religion and spoke ever so gently. While leaving the place I told him that we are on our way back to Hyderabad. He asked if I said Saidabad, which apparently is a locality in Hyderabad. I pressed on being from Hyderabad, got excited and asked him how he knew of Saidabad; whether he is a Hyderabadi as well? He replied that he is an Indian, shook hands with me, gave an innocent little smile, turned back and disappeared.....
It took me a couple of minutes to figure out what he said. Once understood, the guilt I felt is inexplicabe. Until then I hated people who judged based on region. At that very point I hated myself. The illusion that I was a die hard patriot, a person who loved the nation, had all turned upside down. I realized - if the first thing that excites me when I meet a person away from home is his locality, trimmed down to the city he lives in, then I can never be a person who loves the country unconditionally. I wish I were better, I wish there was an Ali in everyone. But this is what I am; and this is what I reckon most of us, the Indians that we are....
