not a Special Day. .
The day i post this is neither 15th of August nor is it 26th of January, one of the usual two suspects when the dormant patriotism rises among many of my fellow Indians. And this tags along a pride for their country and a realization of the trouble and hardship that our freedom fighters had to go through or that our armed forces are going through for us to have a peaceful night's sleep. After 63 years of freedom i'm glad for at least that short-lived moment of pride and patriotism. Thank God, at least that exists!
The reason i have such a bleak and pessimistic view and sudden interest in my country's past is because i have had a glimpse of the future based on todays generation outlook. Recently i read in my friends blog, how every succeeding generation being churning out of schools deteriorated in terms of depth of thinking and ideology. I am guessing it would require only a few dialogues or wall posts in any kids Facebook Wall post to prove my friend right.
Years of struggle and sacrifice now matter only if the date in question is a national holiday or not. I have personally overheard a million of the conversations when people wonder why the particular day is a holiday and ask around. The day might have been to honour the contribution of some great war hero to show our appreciation, but the only thing we were appreciate at that point of time was that at least the dead guy gave us a holiday. Or, in college, curse him, as we have to survive a Dry Day due to his death/birth. It would be rather juvenile for me to expect some great peace march or to even make you get up from the safe and comfortable confines of your couch but i request you to not make a mockery of the people who gave you the freedom to rest your behinds so peacefully on your couch and gave you the liberty to do what is todays most common pass-time, Vegetate!
Always interested in our freedom struggle, it was a childhood hobby of mine to research on the lives of a lot of our famous figures who are famous today only due to their appear in every address of our country being some street name or the other. This hobby of mine evoked the slightly extra patriotism that made me write this blog on one of the non-patriotic-feeling-evoking-day of the year. If we are still unable to appreciate what they have done for their country, just try and compare what they had accomplished by the time they were the same age as what you are now. Forget leading protests or forming political parties, most of the youth i know still battle stage-fright issue and get tongue-tied in their speeches in front of their own classroom. The two men who emerged genuinely marvelous and blew my mind in terms of their thinking, ideology and achievements are Shahid Bhagat Singh and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. I would also like to mention that there are many other unsung heroes who deserved a lot more appreciation than a meagerly sum that the Govt. Of India issues to their families.But these two men have had a profound impact on my psyche and nurtured my love for India.
Both of these gentlemen started out young with a vision that was well beyond the imagination capacity for any other oppressed mind at that time and worked their way to achieve the goals they set out for. Using British imparted education as a mean for gaining their insight into the working of the British Govt. in India and launched attacks at the government from their weakest points. Apart from their active leadership in the freedom struggle, their vision incorporated not just an Independent India but also a Functional India. Bhagat Singh had laid down ideals for the nation which could be followed after he along with his nationwide supporters saw the fateful day when they ousted British Govt. as he had imagined what hapless condition India would be in post-independence without the Queen ruling it. Netaji was a globetrotter not as a wanderlust but with the novel idea of searching allies in different nations which had just grabbed their independence and knew what India was going through. While many leaders thought that the British would ultimately leave due to our strong will, he decided to make the British experience what India's might can be when we united in the real orderly fashion. He gave birth to the Azad Hind Fauj which is now famously known as the Indian National Army, to which we are grateful even today to keep our nation safe in troubled times as well.
The short lesson in history above was a slight reminder of the measures these people took and in turn the respect that they deserved and never got. Movies being the largest medium for propagation and quite seemingly the only medium that gets issues through the think skulls of todays ignorant youth have tried to potray these men much less than i thought they would, but have been done quite tastefully. I applaud the makers of movies like Bose : the Forgotten hero, the few Bhagat Singh movies that were made saving my personal for the end, Rang de basanti, for such movies made a lot of us relate to such great minds and for a few were eyeopeners in the historical context.
Borrowing words of the Netaji himself
Inspite of my pessimistic start i believe that there are those few who still have the patriotism in their hearts, maybe dormant but the flame still flickering deep within themselves. These people, i strongly believe, understand the idea Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was talking about and will continue the wheel of evolution.
I, today, profess my love for my country, out of no reason apart from the simple fact that i love it and i'm proud of it. i hope others will join me in this as well.
Be Random .
Show love .
Jai Hind . <3>
1 comment:
Heartfelt! really well written :) do write more often.
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