It doesn't take an Independence Day to remind you how much you love your country. every time i hear a patriotic tune my eyes go moist. in a multiplex when we rise for the national anthem i feel my vision blurr. when in 'Roja' the hero puts out the flaming Indian flag by rolling over it, i cried like a baby. the lilting notes of 'bande mataram' melt my heart till date. The shehnai in 'swades' makes me weep for my country deep inside.
this Independence Day as i lay in my couch wondering about life (my fave pass time) i realised i have hardly done a thing for my country except living off her everyday. i am safe today because of her. i have clothes, shelter and as a woman i enjoy every freedom. yet i curse the roads, the political situation, the corruption and say its going to the dogs.
today i feel apologetic for all that i have said because after a bit of soul searching i know for sure that i haven't meant any of it. i love my country so completely and dearly and this sense of patriotic pride is so deep seated in me that i never want to live anywhere else i guess. i too long to see the world, long to travel far and wide but my land, my country is a place so special that no job, no opportunity, no amount of greed seems bigger than my country. Her history fills me with pride, her struggles make me cry, her future is mine too.
as India evolves today our destinies remain entwined forever. like a child never finds a better place than her mother's lap, i too find peace in this land. with its congested cities, traffic jams, pollution, bribe-taking-police, forever dug-up roads, continual protests at the drop of a hat, parasitic politicians and little things made difficult, i accept her for who she is, as i too am a part of her. if we can't change, how will she? if we keep blaming one another we will never get out of our third world mode and more people will leave her and settle abroad serving other countries but not their mother-land. all of us feel what can i a significant being do? can we not plant trees? not litter the streets? follow traffic rules? don't give or take bribes? pay taxes? help one another? support a cause? these little things lead to a revolution. to bring about one you don't need to parade the roads and go on hunger strike. as actions speak better than words, if each of us contribute a wee little bit, we will make our nation a much better place. remember you can leave India but the India within you will never leave you.
i feel the tricolour smeared allover me, my soul is dipped in it. it runs in my veins and makes me want to make a difference. i want to wake up in the India of my dreams. don't you?
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