N.B. : Sending out greetings to all natives of India, Congo, Bahrain and South Korea on their independence day, before I unleash an acerbic tongue.
The past couple of weeks have evoked the feeling of nationalism among most Indians across the globe. Television channels, print media, social media, shop windows, malls and all other means of mass reach around us adopted the patriotic theme for this fortnight. The omnipresent tricolors may be a great change from the usual for the creative minds that design the signage. I only wish the patriotic spirit of this country was as ubiquitous as the colour scheme that springs to life in the months of January and August.
On the one hand we glorify our freedom fighters, the political leaders and businessmen who shaped the fate of India many years ago. We recall their contributions on a couple of specific days in the year, and hand out little mementos to their family or probably run a few snippets of clippings on air. Simultaneously, on the other hand, we have riots erupting in various parts of the country. Women being molested by mobs. Village heads beheading young couples in the name of honour killing. A castrated government shying away from demanding the release of a hapless PoW from our neighbouring country.
We have no idea where the economy is headed. An active union minister is suddenly granted the position of the head of the state, and an otherwise incompetent nincompoop replaces him. And this is one of the most crucial portfolios we are juggling around by the way. Why are we paying so much of tax? And where is the promised upliftment and development? Why are the masses famished? What happens to all the welfare funds? Why do RTI activists meet with mysterious gruesome ends?
An Anna Hazare raises his voice against corruption and in turn faces ridiculous allegations which eventually dilute his entire movement and blur his vision. We pay a hefty education cess and thousands of government schools are only empty structures with false names on their roll; a way to extract official funds. Politicians are shamelessly fleecing the public in all ways possible. A brash woman holds an entire state at ransom. Not very far away, another state head alleges his own political ally of being a radical extremist. What is it if not a mockery of the world's largest democracy?
As a nation we have lost the essence of unity, dignity, honesty, respect and integrity. Since we were officially declared independent by our former rulers, we observe the rituals on the 15th of August. However, a little introspection will put us to shame. Not getting into too much detail at the moment, but I will leave you with a little food for thought. The recent London Olympic furore about the 6 medals that came home is proof enough of our shoddy system in place. 65 years of independence we celebrate and 6 medals - no gold, mind you - leaves us awestruck. This is what the true Indian mindset is. Being servile. A certain Pandit somebody, who is credited to being the architect of 'modern' India, in reality only laid the foundation of a meek Indian. A feeble individual who harasses anybody who is slightly less powerful than him but will never once retaliate when being oppressed. The kind of reaction we saw from our government when we were ruthlessly attacked by terrorists many a time only substantiates this.
In a country where one cannot expect to get any sort of official (read: government related) work without paying bribe, where educated people struggle to get their names on the electoral roll, where votes are bought by distributing liquor bottles, where the government just does not care for the people it represents, a complete sense of apathy prevails and the poor common man struggles to make ends meet, it is still a long way before we can justify our Independence day celebrations.
- A Disappointed Indian
