The Patriotic Touch
The country, India.
The people, Indians. The culture, Oriental. The rule, Anglo-Indian. A nation of
Confederation. That was the scenario in the pre-independence period. A nation
full of insecurity, uncertainty and non-entity.
Towards the end of the 15th
century the countries of Spain
and Portugal, began their
imperialistic activities in India.
The Dutch, the French and the British too came as competitors. In 1857 AD. an
attempt to overthrow the British power was made by Indian rulers, including
Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi,
Tatya Tope, Nanasaheb and others, but the revolt failed. Queen Victoria of England
took over the administration of India,
and India became a part of
the British Empire. For 90 years, from 1857 to
1947, when India
became independent, the Indian people were under the imperialistic rule of the
British. Imperialism spread in India
and its neighboring countries.
In the intermediate period the First World
War broke out between 1914 AD. to 1918 AD., involving 32 countries. The factors
leading to the First World War were deep rooted since the beginning of
Imperialism. It aroused nationalism among the masses. The spirit of nationalism
became fierce and aggressive with the passage of time.
Patriotism became perverted and nations
became selfish. The word ‘Patriotism’ comes from a Greek word meaning
fatherland. For most of history, love of fatherland or homeland, ‘motherland
for Indians’ was an attachment to the physical features of the land. But that
notion changed in the 18thcentury, when the ideals of Democracy,
Socialism and Communism strongly emerged into political thoughts. Patriotism
was still love for one’s country that included connection to the land and
people, but then it also included its customs and traditions, pride in its
history and devotion to welfare.
Today most people agree that Patriotism
also involves service to their country, but many disagree on how to best
perform such services. Some believe that the national government speaks for a
country, therefore, all its citizens should actively support government
policies and actions.. Others argue that a true patriot speaks out when
convinced that their country is following an unwise or unjust action.
The emergence of Patriotism led to the
independence of countries from overpowering rulers. The celebrations of the red-letter
days, i.e.
·
The Independence Day --- The day we stopped
depending on foreign authorities and started self-governing our territories.
·
Republic Day ---The day on which the country
where the supreme power is held by the people or their elected representatives.
·
Liberation Day ---The day the country or state
was set free from its oppressors.
These days are
reflections of the patriotic feeling. On these days’ freedom fighters,
patriots, soldiers are awarded with medals and mementos to honour their
contribution towards the nation. The celebrations are pompous events
contemplated by millions of people. But, do these millions nurture the thought
of liberation in their mind or heart?
They definitely
forget it. It is just an event, blurred and insignificant, which drifts to the
back of the mind after the momentous day has passed by.
Hon. Ex-President, Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam,
in his speech at Hyderabad,
echoed J.F.Kennedy’s words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians
--------------
“Ask what we
can do for India, and do
what has to be done to make India
what America
and other western countries are today.”
The
essence of liberation is lost. The three basic essentials for attaining
liberation are Right knowledge, right faith and right conduct. Do we at all fit
into this form?
The post-independence period has made
quantum leaps in different fields of art, science, music, education, politics,
etc. but the conduct is left behind. People have suppressed the importance of
conduct, of religious and moral codes of behaviour, heading towards corruption,
political instability and religious disharmony giving rise to universal
destruction, terrorism, where all human values are lost.
Terrorism is
caused due to frustration and desperation, misinterpretation of religion,
justifying one’s religion to be superior, ignoring humanity and respect for
life itself. The entire cycle begins and ends from the lack of conduct. People
forget that life has to be valued more than nations, cultures and religion.
“Nations grown corrupt,
Love bondage more than liberty.
Bondage with ease than strenuous liberty.”
----------------John
Milton.
Year after
year, we boast of celebrating several National events regardless of what we are
truly doing to the country and for the country. The freedom fighters struggled
to liberate India
from its oppressors keeping in mind the human values. We have left these values
far behind and are adopting the western culture that our ancestors strived to
quit. The argument suggests that if we wish to live in the modern global village,
which the world is transforming into, we need to adopt their ways. But would it
justify the idea of leaving back our own culture and ethics, just to globalize?
Do we really cherish the liberty we have or are we just making it a hoax?
The west is adopting the oriental ways of
life not forgetting its indigenous culture, so also can we preserve and
cultivate the patriotism with our own values and principles, leaving no space
for discrimination.
“The strength
of a nation is derived from the integrity of its homes” --------------Confucius.
The countries of the world fight for their
identity, for power, but each forgets that in the cosmic universe each has its
own position. As Peter Sterry has quoted:
“See a golden Chain, see the Order of the precious Links,
see how in a beautiful circle, the beginning is fastened to the end.”
If the chain
has beautiful pearls in different colours, each would add to the entire beauty
of the chain. Each country with its own brilliant colours could make a
priceless jewel.
The world is a small place to live in, for
one and all to live in its entireness, in wholeness, not with one country but
with the universe to celebrate life. Let us share our similarities and
celebrate the differences.
Many authors, scientists, intellectuals
have expressed their Impressions of India, which might inspire us to adore our
country, to be proud of it, to change our attitude towards it.
“India
is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of
history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition.” ----------
Mark Twain.
Adding more to
it, Albert Einstein quoted,
“We owe a lot
to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile
scientific discovery could have been made.”
To sum it up, Liberation is therefore, to
celebrate our freedom from dominating powers and not freedom from our faith for
the nation, from duties and responsibilities towards the nation. Then and only
then will the true sense of Patriotism come to the fore overshadowing the rest
of the world and shining brightly.
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