Patriotism: A Dying Sentiment

I am an Indian. I love my country and I am a patriot. But these days, the sentiment of patriotism for India rings hollow for me. I grew up learning about the Independence struggle of India from the British; about people like Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh, Swatantryaveer Savarkar, Lokmanya Tilak and many others. Before that it was the oppression of the Mughals and learnt of great warriors like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Maharana Pratap. I adore and am humbled to live in a country that produced such people. I am proud of my country's achievements in various fields.

But, do I really have a lot to be proud about my country at the moment?

The 'zero' was discovered in India. It is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. It has a rich heritage and culture. It has tremendous amounts of diversity not just in the peoples but geographically as well. Indian scientists and IT professionals have performed exceptionally well all over the world. It is said the the when the Mughals burnt the libraries of Nalanda (one of the oldest universities in the world) and Takshashila, they contained so many books and scriptures that they were burning for almost a year. Such was the advanced stage of culture in India hundreds and thousands of years ago. Very few countries can boast of such things.

However, most of India's achievements have been in the past. The achievements by many Indians today have been out of India in some other country that provided them with the facilities and the encouragement. Why is it that other countries have the ability to understand the importance of these things and India fails to do so/? There is certainly not a lack of talent anywhere or even money. No doubt there is poverty in India but at the same time, enough resources are available for the advancement of India in all fields.

If Indians were able to accomplish so much, centuries and millennia ago, why is it so difficult now? Lately, I have seen a general apathy towards everything. I have only seen India high up in the rankings on corruption and scandals. Is this the India that the freedom fighters were hoping for? No, definitely not. Sometimes, when I think about it, I almost feel like apologizing to those people for not having fulfilled their dream of a great India.

Anant Kanhere, a 19 year old boy killed Jackson, the Collector of Nashik. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged when they were just about 24. Savarkar suffered the 'Kaalapaani', the jail on the Andaman & Nicobar Islands when he was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment. People did so much for the attainment of a noble goal and less than a century after the independence of India, the country has only been able to rake up the number of scandals and increase corruption.

I was lucky to have been born within the first 50 years of Indian Independence. There was some sense of freedom and the understanding of what it meant to be free. It was not because I had any personal experience, but I understood the importance from what I saw and heard and read around me. My grandparents and so many others were still alive to teach me the value of what I have and that I should always keep it in mind. I should never forget the sacrifices of so many that gave their lives for me to enjoy what I do today.

But, how do I make my kids understand that value? I could get a sense because I was lucky enough to be in that atmosphere. But, what do I tell my kids? Do I tell them that about 100 years ago, a 19 year old boy out of sheer determination to rid the society of an evil man and out of love for his country, killed that man? Will that have any effect? I don't know but I doubt it will. Although these people and incidents are admirable and are golden moments in the history of India, (golden, because of the spirit they represented) they may not hold much value to future generations as they did for mine and the ones before mine.

The world has changed and people are moving all over the globe. Patriotism is an idea only strengthened by a bond that you develop with your country. But how does that bond form if one keeps moving about?

As I said before, India does not have many moments of glory in the recent past. In fact, I hear people everyday compromising on their life. I hear many people say that they love India and yet complain about every single thing. Finally, all they say is that they have no choice and have to live like this. Many proclaim that whatever it is, India is the place to live, when they have never traveled outside India. Even if they have, they have only traveled for a few days, which doesn't give them a real sense of living in a different environment altogether. There are some, however, like my uncle who has lived and traveled extensively all over the world and never chose to settle anywhere else except India. He made a choice because there were some things he could not let go at home and he preferred to live in India because of the benefits it offered him, but he is not oblivious to the realities.

So, does Patriotism only come down to what makes it beneficial to someone at a particular time. Is it just convenience? I believe it should be more meaningful than that. John F. Kennedy once famously said, "Ask not your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country". He was right but there are few who even get that opportunity in India without indulging in some kind of corruption. And, he was talking to Americans who actually don't have to fight for the basic necessities of life or the basic joys of life, for example, going to a movie and not having to endure 1.5 hours of traffic to reach a theater 10 km away in a busy city like Mumbai.

I am just not sure why somebody would be proud of India right now and be patriotic towards it in the coming generations. What do they really have to be proud of? I hope I am proved wrong.

If there are any visitors from other countries to this blog and read this post, I would request you to post your views about your own country and if you feel the same. Is it the same case in your country where most of your country's achievements have been in the past and has relatively very little to show in the recent past? The reason I ask is, whether it is a sentiment echoed by people in other countries as well and that the achievements only seem to be a thing of the past in other places as well.