Indian First

Some random musings about our country, thanks to all the patriotic songs I was listening to during this Independence day period...

What gives you the utmost feeling of relief? Like really, just sit down for a minute and think. What gives you the utmost feeling of relief, peace, however differently you try to name that feeling.  

It's the feeling of being at home. What can top that?

A lot of people move away from their homes, go to other cities and countries in search of other opportunities and they will tell you the relief that they get by going home for just a weekend. No worries, no tension, no targets, no stress. Feeling at home is the best feeling in the world.

I listened to the song “Vidai kodu engal naade” recently. It’s about the heart-wrenching pain of those people who had to forcibly leave their countries because of various reasons, violence and blood-shed being some of them. There is a line “Verum koodugal matum oorvalam pogindrom” – meaning, we are soulless bodies leaving our homeland. Can any of us now imagine a life like that now? Life is so normal for us and we take so many things for granted. Having your life uprooted like thatis unthinkable to me. I cannot imagine what those people would have experienced, leaving their homes, their land, their country to save their lives. 

I get annoyed when Indians who left the country and got settled in various parts of the world, blame India.These are the people who enjoyed our panipuris and veechparotas and crowded bazaars and our cinema. But the minute they land in the other country, it is as though they have become this pure responsible citizen who just disapproved of how chaotic their homeland was.
It is not fair to blame the country you just left. I just wish their concern would give rise to some action, and not just mere words of blame.

My country may be corrupt, it may be evil, it may be a haven for crime. But it is still MINE to blame, mine to save and mine to heal. There is no grudge here about them moving to another nation. Everyone is free to explore and utilise life’s opportunities. There is a possibility even I may be forced to go to another country for different reasons. But that doesn’t give me the right to forget what I enjoyed here. If I am concerned enough to blame, then I should be responsible enough to correct the situation too. I cannot give up on my nation just like that. 

It is just like the feeling of possessiveness we have over our family, our city, our school, our college. I can fight with my sister, but I am not going to shut up if you criticise her. This same feeling reflects for my country as well. I know we have a lot of problems at hand, but please, let us quit blaming others and start taking responsibility for our actions, and this applies especially to us Indians. Some say “Why should I pay tax? It doesn’t go to the right path anyway”. How could you say that when you don’t pay tax yourself? You start paying tax, do your share of the responsibility, only then do you get the authority to blame or question another person. If there is something wrong with our country, it is our job to fix it. Let us be correct in whatever we do, and keep our nose out of whether others are also doing the same. We can correct them, but we cannot use their ignorance as an excuse for our lack of responsibility.

They say charity begins at home. Do your bit for the nation. Do not throw garbage outside on the road, even if it is a bus ticket. Know your ways of separating the waste. Reduce your usage of plastics. There are a 100 things that we can DO, instead of just blaming others.

The next time you blame our country, take a minute and think of how you will actually be if you don’t have all the luxury that is unconsciously taken for granted. To live here by choice is better than having to leave by force. 

PS: Thank you Vaagdevi for some ideas and words. (Unconsciously, you have helped me write this ;) )