Being Indian

It is a strange feeling...There is something about the national flag that inspires me. It kind of stirs a lot of emotions. It gives me goose bumps and makes the hair on my neck stand up instantly…I don’t know why this happens… Is this patriotism?

I frankly do not know what patriotism means.. Are you labeled patriotic if you salute the flag and know the anthem ? Are you patriotic if you keep yourself abreast with all the happenings in your country? Or are you patriotic if you want to do something good for your country?Maybe it is all of these…maybe it is something else…maybe its just in my blood...My grandpa was a freedom fighter. He was imprisoned by the British for this and he even shared the same cell with the Mahatma. I do not know much beyond this..I was too young when my grandpa passed away. I only remember that he was given a state funeral and his body was engulfed and wrapped with a sea of humanity and ….the national flag. To me this is the ultimate achievement of any human being...It is measured by not what you are when you are alive , but how much you are remembered when you are gone. Not everyone has the privilege of taking the national flag to the grave. To this day (it has been a couple of decades now) people still remember my grandpa.

India might be a country which tops the list of most corrupt nations. It might be a country where being above the povert line makes you a minority. It might be a country where corruption forces the common man to succumb to the deadly sins of life.It might have a system of governance where coalitions change overnight and lack – of – governance is the paradigm…

But heck, India is also the country with the smartest people on the planet. The fact that a country with such diversity in culture and traditions has a billion ppl staying together and united speaks volumes for her character. It wont be long before the world wakes up to a new super power. A super power that feeds the world through its talent pool, a super power that leads in technological prowess built completely from scratch, a super power that countries long to have as an ally, an economic power house that drives the world economy.

However these things might never happen. India might just stop progressing. The poverty line might just hit the sky. Our allies might turn into our worst enemies. The world order might suddenly change. India might go back to the dark ages. Irrespective of what happens, irrespective of what patriotism means or is supposed to mean, one thing is for sure....(at the cost of sounding cliched and corny) i will always be proud to call myself an Indian.