They loved their Mother. Not just as a motherland, but as a real Mother. They bled for it. They sacrificed for it. They lived for it. They died for it...
And NOT just for The Mother. For the children of this Mother. For all the people living in it. For them, for you, for me...
They underwent pain, torment, humiliation, agony, imprisonment, estrangement from their families for weeks and months at a stretch... They sometimes considered the court-room to be their playground, with a lot of "fun-filled" eventualities following the proceedings.
They went on strikes, infinite and infintely long hunger-strikes included. They embraced the hardships being manifested unto them with pride. And more importantly, with non-violence.
Who were "they"? They were THE most important people in the history of our country. The people, without whom this life of absolute freedom and independence would just have remained yet another unfulfilled dream. Without whom, we would still be existing in servitude, being at the beck and call of our masters. These were the noblest of souls to have walked the vast lands of our nation... The Freedom Fighters.
Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Balgangadhar Tilak, Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Ashfaq... just to name a few. But these were not the only ones. There were hundreds of thousands more, joining not just hands, but spirits too, in the National Struggle for Freedom.
I sometimes think that it is very easy to comment and criticise the actions and decisions taken by these great men under difficult circumstances, most of which we can't even imagine. But right now, I wont get into this thought much, because it will require an entirely new post.
Right now, I just want to think about what happened today evening, on the 15th of August 2006, our 59th Independence Day.
After a long and hassled day at work, I was returning home. There is a cross-road right next to our office building. I reached the cross-road, and was waiting for the signal to turn green. Now, something really strange yet very typical of our "Indian Civillian System" occured. Even before the traffic signal could turn green, allowing my side of the traffic to start moving, people started moving on their own will. The signal was still red. I stood there, moving just a little bit further, albeit forcefully, because the "gentleman" behind me wanted to join in with the "GOTRTSRO" (Gang Of The Royal Traffic-Signal Rule Offenders) and move on with the flow. Somehow, I could not move ahead with them. It just didn't feel right. I had this recurrent thought in my mind, telling me that these traffic signals are there in place for a reason, which somehow, unfortunately, my fellow brethren (for whom I used to take the "pledge" each morning in school) could not understand. Someone behind me in the long queue of people even encouraged me to join the others. Yet, I waited, til the signal would be green. And I feel proud... Not of the others, but of myself. For doing the right thing. Not that I should be nominated for the Nobel Prize or something, but because I just did one thing which was correct.
The incident doesn't stop here. I moved towards my home, taking the daily route. I approached the next cross-road, from where I had to take a left-turn. There was a small traffic-jam at that point of time. Again, I noticed something very strange and of course very typical of our "way of life". There was some sort of routine inspection of driving licences and vehicles RC papers in progress. A couple of two-wheeler riders had been stopped and were being inspected. Now, there was another compatriot of mine, who in his regular fashion was not carrying his papers which he is supposed to. The person inspecting him, however, did not seem very concerned about this fact. Rather, he was more interested in the other aspect of the whole scene, The "Capital Relief", both for himself and the person being inspected. The two-wheeler rider, in complete and absolute view of one and all around him, dug into pockets, took out a 100 Rupee note, handed it over to the person inspecting him, shook hands with him, and left off. Some "relief" for both, I was forced to think...
"Vande Mataram...
Mera Bharat Mahaan...
I Love My Country...
Proud To Be An Indian..."
Time to think... Am I really proud to be an Indian? Come to think of it... All this happened on the day we celebrate our INDEPENDENCE. A blessing that has been bestowed upon us by the heroes I mentioned above... Would they REALLY be proud of THIS India? Is this what they had fought for? What they had laid down their lives for?
We feel proud of the fact that India is the fastest growing economy in the Asia-Pacific region, the second fastest growing major economy in the world, and will be the fastest growing economy in Asia by 2010. But, do we really maintain the basic discipline to call ourselves the kind of Indians that our true heroes had dreamt of?
The way I see things happening, there is a sudden upsurge and spurt of "Indianness" and a feeling of "patriotism" in the country only on three different occasions...
1) The Republic Day - 26th of January;
2) The Independence Day - 15th of August; and
3) an India-Pakistan Cricket Match.
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And then, what do we do? Blame the country's governing system for our plights and quandaries.
Time for me to take a break and think it over. You do that too... Think.
'Til the next time we meet.
Love, Peace n' Harmony
Sam.
{P.S.:- In case you might not know what the basic purpose of a traffic signal is, or might have forgotten and would want to take a crash-course, hit here.}
© Prateek Sharma Aug 2006
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