INDIANS – Suffering from a false sense of pride….
India’s struggle for freedom saw the emergence of many great freedom fighters who in some or the other way contributed to India’s freedom. They were great people who sacrificed a good life for a life worthy of remembrance. Freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh who sacrificed his life so that other people could get rid of the fear and despair. Freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi who was seen as a true leader and who got us freedom with the use of violence. As an Indian citizen I will be forever in debt of these people but somehow I don’t feel good about this independence. I don’t feel the pride that I should feel as a free person. To find the answer lets look at a glance at our freedom struggle.
In the 18th century India was enslaved by the British. They studied the Indian society and found some basic flaws. It was unity. It was the time when the Mughals were losing power. They were losing the territory that they had ruled for centuries. The sense of a national pride lacked in the Indian society. It was overburdened by its own miseries. This was the time when they were vulnerable. And the English made full use of it. They used the policy of divide and rule. And it worked wonders for them.
By the mid of the 19th century Indians made a stand against the British rule. The famous sepoy mutiny was seen as one chance that the Indians could get rid of the british rule. But it was not to be. Till the late 19th century which saw the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, a name given to him by Rabindra Nath Tagore. R.N.Tagore was a great poet, a great artist. Mahatma Gandhi started a new movement that was never before used in a freedom struggle, the non violence movement. Till 1945 when the second world war was over and Britain was losing ground both politically and financially, the non violence movement was at its peak. The Britishers had no choice but to let go of big colonies which they could not afford to control. And then we got independence in 1947.
So this was a very brief summary of our freedom struggle. Now lets look at the main points. Mahatma Gandhi was a great man no questions. A man who could control the masses with such ease is bound to be a great leader. But the non-violence movement was a great foolishness. Why should we make ourselves suffer to take the very thing that is ours? Why should we be slapped on the other cheek when we have been slapped on one? Mahatma Gandhi said “koi ek gaal pe thappad mare to doosra gaal age kar do”.(if someone slaps you on one cheek, show him the other). But what if the person slapping you has no heart? He will slap you till you can’t take more.
This mentality robbed us of our pride. Every revolution needs blood. Without spilling blood no revolution, no war is complete. Look at any freedom struggle around the world. The American freedom struggle is one of the prime examples of a co-ordinated stand against their oppressors. Even the industrial revolution saw the spilling of blood. But Indian freedom struggle saw spilling of sweat, lots of it.
This non violence movement is haunting us till date. This is clearly portrayed in India’s foreign policy. Even when Pakistani army intruded Indian border Jawaharlal Nehru went to the United Nations for a ceasefire instead of fighting for the very land that was our own. According to me that was the biggest foolishness of the 20th century. This is the impact that Mahatma Gandhi has left on the Indian society. He has castrated the sense of fighting for our very own rights. Even when there was an attack on Indian parliament, and on Mumbai, the very thing India should have done is attack the very source. But no, Indian leaders were not man enough to accept that we should fight for the safety of our people.
Another thing that hurts my pride is our national anthem. Rabindra Nath Tagore wrote it in honour of the british queen who visited India sometime I don’t care to remember. Firstly why write a song for the queen who is oppressing us. And secondly why remember that song every time with our hands on our chest like we even care. Why do we even stand on this song? Stand in honour of whom, the British queen? I hate the line “bharat bhagya vidhata”..Who gave someone else the right to decide our fate? Our fate is in our own hands. But R.N.Tagore could not see this. He was too indulged in his poetry to feel the pride to be an Indian rather than a slave.
Even Bhagat Singh was a great man, a true leader. I have great regard for him. This is because he sacrificed himself so that people could get rid of their apathy. He could see the fear and despair in the hearts of the Indians because of 200 years of slavery. He thought he could present an example if could sacrifice himself. But he could not see the depth upto which this despair had enslaved the Indian man. What hurts me the most is Mahatma Gandhi’s tomb is so adorned with flowers and only dogs visit the tomb of Bhagat Singh. Many films have been made on Bhagat Singh, but an average Indian could care less.
When I see today’s leaders I see a fear in his heart. He fears the masses. He fears these words “WHAT IF”. What if this happens, what if that happens. A man who cannot control himself, cannot control others. And the average Indian leader doesn’t seem to be in control. For example when the opposition should help the government in formulating decisive policies, they walk out rather than facing it. This shows how much they want to flee away from their responsibilities. And this was taught by none other than Mahatma Gandhi, to walk away from what is ours. It is the opposition’s duty to stay in the house no matter what and see that the government is working properly. But no, they will rather stay at home and watch the proceedings on News rather than attending the sessions.
I don’t have the liberty of writing a long article although I have much more to say. But I think its time to conclude. This all was certain things that have always made me feel that no, India is not great and neither it on the path of becoming great. Its just that our history is great. We compare ourselves with China, but the true comparison is with ourselves, not with others. We are in a false race with China when we should face our own demons. When I say non violence is foolishness, I don’t mean we should be violent everytime. But we should not let ourselves be oppressed. There should be a limit to everything. And when someone crosses that limit we should face them. Or else valiant people like Vikram Batra(died in Kargil war) would have died in vain if Mumbai Attacks get repeated every now and then.
well…war is not always a solution but then our ‘dear’ neighbour
really deserves a good licking.these so-called ‘dialogues’ can well be
called ‘monologues’ where we keep fooling ourselves with dreams of
peace while our neighbour behaves like one of the monkeys of our
father of the nation. a country like ours could have done a lot since
independence but thanks to the lackadaisical attitude of ours, we miss
every opportunity to consolidate our clout, if any. perhaps the only
indian insti good at doing this is BCCI..it can well teach the govt a
lesson or two in arm-twisting. ofcourse, things are wrong with our
country but there is an equal and opposite truth that certain things
are right with it and that is why i feel proud of being an indian and
will never shy away from this fact. its good that we recognise the
flaws in our system but that does not mean that we should ignore the
positives. there are things we take for granted.look around and most
of our neighbours are either suffering coups or authoritarian regimes.
here, we choose our leaders, don’t we? we are free to criticise every
step the govt takes…try doing this in china and u may well end up in
heaven or in a hell of a jail. things cannot change overnight..but
they will if we want them to.not trying to sound too filmy but
seriously “koi v desh perfect nai hota, use perfect banana padta hai”.
as for the national anthem…well its a matter of peception…now that
the british queen has no business here..the term ‘bharat bhagya
vidhata’ can only mean ‘the people of india’…because ultimately they
have to decide the fate of the nation. this term can well serve as a
motivating factor to bring about the much-needed changes.
yes we cannot change things in a night….but we should try….
@admin
thanx 4 support
sure…
@i love india
i dont think you even understood a word bro….!!
@nakul
i think you are right….
@ i love india
you have a false sense of pride that is passed down from overidealastic upbringing
& populist media.
please tell me 10 things you are proud of
@divya
u certainly seem to have a problem otherwise why did u advise me to leave this country in the first place
@praphul
you are certainly right. if Divya would have the common sense to read / understand the context of things discussed she can be in better position to see that she is making a fool of herself in the blog
@admin
you have just over exaggerated the points.india is not a great country.and i am proud to be an indian
hey divya you are getting hyper.u should probably read the content before reacting.
yes…people please understand the content before commenting….
Stop fighting over petty things. The author has expressed the feeling existing in *most* of us Indians today, it is a true fact, there is no denying it. If you take a look at today’s modern India, the cultural values have dwindled rapidly over the past few years. Quite a large number of us are ready to shift out of the country at the blink of an eye. Having said that, the feeling of patriotism still exists somewhere deep within out hearts and just needs the right stimulus to burst out.
@AG
rightly said….
@nakul
i dont care if you have a problem….you can keep it with you…..
@admin
why will i get hurt with this piece of crap…..
@ divya
u dont leave everything that u have a problem with.u try & improve it.
& that is what thsi blog is doing.
i only said i have a problem with ambiguity & hypocricy in our culture.
if you have got a problem with that i have got a problem with you
well, you can keep your problems to yourself.
please dont start fighting here….this is a place to discuss….not fight….
i don’t have time for such useless stuff.i have much better things to do than fighting.
@nakul khanna
i think you have a good point….and you have got the message quite well…
@divya
its clear that you are hurt by what i have written….its no problem….many people cant take truth very well….but seeing that you are hurt i think what i have written is true….why don’t you take it sportingly and give a thought to what i wanted to say….
@admin
and you are writing as if you have done so much for the country. first go and do something then write.
@nakul
if you have so much of problems why don’t you leave this country.
hello,
I agree with the non violoence part not working now. Back then, though, if we had tried to fight with violence, we wouldnt have gained freedom, cos we had tried that in the uprising of 1857. that maybe due to lack of unity, but still, their weapons were much more spohisticated. We could have asked for help from other nations, but then why be indebted to anyone else for our freedom. And non violence movement gained popularity mainly due to skills of gandhiji. people were afraid and they wanted to follow someone. gandhiji convinced them to become non violent. so they did.
As for the national anthem, i dont care what it stands for. for me, it just unites our people, which u claim is what we lacked. i mean , i really like it when everyone stands up and do u really think they are thinking of the British queen when they do that? they are paying respect to the nation when they stand. For them, the national anthem reminds them that they are free. why analyse whats making htem happy? do you think, if we make another national anthem, it will have the same impact, invoke same feelings?
as for today’s politicians , bah! they are ninnies. and others are even bigger cowards cos they are afraid, politics will change them so they dont eneter politics at all. and comparision with china, i wonder why are we doing that in the first place. their system is totally different from ours! i suppose maybe because both of us were considered underdogs and neutral in wars and our economy improved suddenly.
We have to find our faults and improve them, not dwell on what should have been. And maybe compare ourselves to some other better nation to improve
whew!
@ruchi
very inspiring reply….i think you need to understand i dont have any grudge against anyone….its just i am not happy with the way things are happening in this country…..but before jumping to a solution we must first understand what is the cause….
this is what i was trying to do….finding the cause…..you may say we must live in the present….but we must know our past so that we dont make the same mistakes that were made in the past…..
@priya
please get out of being proud mindset
cause to me pride should be for something that u have achieved or earned…
not for a accident of birth
being indian isnt a skill it is a fcking genetic accident…..
@admin
keep it up…good work
indian society is full of ambiguity & false pride
their is so much of soft state still present in us thet we cant even fcking defend our state…….
for more tha 50 years their has been a problem of kashmir cant we just tell pakistan that we arent gonna talk any further on kashnir & that kashmir is an integral part of india.
either they give recognition to the fact or face our brunt.
instead of it politician say we must sit & talk rather than fight…..
but for how long
can we further sit & talk…….
i think their is a lack of political will in this country.
no politician is willing to take strong decision cause they think they will be personally inconvenienced in the future.
they don’t address the matter until their is something in it for them
instead of something in it for the country.
brilliantly written….
being an indian is not an accident.its an honor.to be born in a country like india, you should consider yourself lucky.if you are not happy with india then try to change it, not only accuse it of its shortcomings.afterall its us who can change things no one else.
you are absolutely right varsha….its us who are going to change things…
i don’t agree wid u. i am proud of being an indian and india is a great country.
@priya
india is not great neither it is on the verge of greatness…..its just that its history is great…..
the content is true but the topic chosen is wrong…..
Good!, you are good at essay writing.
@vineet
i can see the sarcasm in your statement…..but it shows you have a predefined notion about things and you dont want to change it…..