India turned 68 on the 3rd Saturday of August
2015. Six decades in the life of a nation is not a very long time to pass a
quick judgement over how it is growing. India has been one of the ancient
civilizations on earth and has been open to various people of different
religion, race, creed and class who have lived here and continue to do so.
Reminds me of Mark Twain when he said “India is the cradle of human race,
the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of
legend and the great grandmother of tradition.” This transformation from an
ancient civilization to a modern nation-state has been a tumultuous journey. But
today is not the day to ponder over and analyze this ginormous voyage, today is
the day to romanticize it. Days like these are about venerating our beloved
country, idealizing that feeling one gets while observing the tricolor unfurl
in its beautiful colors.
It’s about remembering the freedom fighters, the supremely patriotic
people who gave up their lives so that after six decades one can cherish and
romanticize over it.
It’s about taking oneself back to those times when our
nation was divided into various regions and the mammoth task that was done to
unite them all.
It’s about reminding ourselves of the challenging task which
great men and women accomplished of giving us a brilliant constitution.
It’s about saluting those inspiring people who dreamt of an
idea of India, of a united country, ruled by its people.
It’s about rediscovering ourselves, our identity, our roots,
and our traditions and appreciating every bit of it.
It’s about singing the national anthem at the top of our
voices, with our heart and soul and being mesmerized at the beauty of it.
It’s about being charmed with its humongous diversity, its
huge population, its colorful culture, its beautiful people, its eco-friendly
festivals and its strange ways.
It’s about being fascinated by its mighty mountains, its
numerous rivers, its gigantic population of flora and fauna and the beauty that
underlines them all.
It’s about enjoying its rich culture and traditions, its
classical songs and dances, its poetry and drama, its authors and storytellers.
It’s about engrossing yourself in the country’s past and
present, its history and geography, its length and breadth, its legends and
traditions.
It’s about taking pride in its plurality, its ethos, its language
and its composite culture and standing as one in times of any sort of external
threat.
It’s about rejoicing the thought of belonging to this great
nation with all its glories and follies, its achievements and its
imperfections.
It’s about delving deeper into this ancient land and
understanding how it functions and succeeds, fails and gets up, moving ahead.
It’s about understanding the idea of being an Indian and
thinking of making this country proud in our own respective ways.
It’s about believing in this country and the country people.
Issues of price-rise, terrorism, women empowerment,
unemployment, farmers, armed forces, clustered cities, poor villages,
corruption, infrastructure, schools, colleges, factories, SEZs, government
policies, corporates, PSUs etc. can wait for every day.
Whining is a routine. Let’s romanticize a bit on this one
day and celebrate it.
JAI HIND.
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