Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani…

Indian Independence. 67 Years. How do I feel about it? Well, Mixed reviews. 😕 I am one of those people, who gets all teary eyed while watching Rang de Basanti, who swells with pride when watching Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, who goes all patriotic when watching The legend of Bhagat Singh, who sings patriotic songs on top of her voice, who celebrates when India wins a match against Pakistan, who goes all abuses when we lose our soldiers to their misdemeanors. I am all of those. One of the aam junta, who has a little patriotic in them who overlooks many of the grave issues we face when it comes to MY COUNTRY , MY INDIA. I love her and the ‘Indianness’ is inscribed in me, deep down very core. 😀

I have so much to put down about the country. The cultural diversity, the unity (or sometimes the lack of it), the Indian spirit, the awe-inspiring places the country has been blessed with, so many things to put down! But hello, who am I fooling? 🙄 My mind wanders around the evils that we face daily. I cannot really turn a blind eye and just sing praises of our country. We did free ourselves from the clutches of Britishers, but what about the demons that are existing within the country and growing daily. What are we doing to curb those? My answer: May be nothing. Or nothing sufficient for sure. Agreed, all democracies face teething issues, but now, we are 67 years old, and yet the situation has only deteriorated with time. The daily cases of rapes, murders, corruption, the issues of illiteracy, female foeticide, honour killings, the economic issues of rising inflation, the rising gap between the rich and the poor, there are just so many things, that are preventing us from growing. 😳

I agree no country in the world is perfect, and the fight with the demons is just never ending. But some measures need to be taken to atleast try and curb these issues. Let alone, solving problems on a national level, we can’t even take care not to litter on the roads!! It is such a shameful thing, that while visiting foreign countries we take utmost care to keep the streets clean, but when it comes to India, our chalta hai attitude gets better of us and we don’t think twice while throwing the chocolate wrapper on the ground and in between the roads while waiting on a signal!! Talk about having double standards! 🙄 This may be an insignificant issue to be discussed when we are talking about rape and other grave things, but when the country has to improve, it has to be done from the ground level. And just by improving a habit that we easily can, however insignificant it may be, we definitely will make a difference. Bigger things in life are accomplished only after taking care at grass root levels. No, I don’t intend to sound oh-so-preachy with this one. But I certainly feel that the chalta hai attitude lets us down, universally. 😥

Now too much dwelling on the negative! Let me give it a break and time for some optimism to arise! Time for some celebrations! Time for waving the flag and singing our national anthem! Time to celebrate the indianness. Time to mention, despite all odds, despite the troubles, aakhir dil hai Hindustani. 😛  Time to bow down to India, The Mother. The one who has gone through all the tormenting and the bruises and still stands strong. Blessing her kids with all that she has to provide! I am really proud of our country and time and again, would be want to born in this great land of sacrifices. I just love the independence spirit. Decorating the office desks with tricolor balloons, the flag hoisting in the societies and the gathiyas and jalebis served and eaten discussing (read: criticizing) the politicians, flaunting the flag stickers near our hearts, singing praises of the land…wow. Dwelling in the festive mood of the country and forgetting all the bruises for another day. 😛

Wishing all the readers a very Happy Independence Day! 🙂

PS: Please take care not to litter the flags on the roads after the 15^th of August. One day a symbol of pride should not go down the gutters the next day! and again I say Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani……