Love India

The other day, I was talking to some friends about the movie, Rang de Basanti, and as I was talking about it, I realized that it was path-breaking movie in terms of the subject matter, and the way in which the subject matter was dealt with. I remembered this one dialogue from the movie, which had stayed with me, much after the movie had ended: "Koi bhi desh perfect nahin hota... Use perfect banana padta hai", meaning, no country is perfect, it has to be made perfect. The dialogue echoes of the famous words of John F. Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." It set me thinking...

Do you remember The Indian Pledge, the one which we used to recite in school, too young to understand its significance? Let me jog your memory.

"India is my country, and all Indians are my brothers and sisters.
I love my country, and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage.
I shall always strive to be worthy of it.
I shall give my parents, teachers and all elders, respect,
And treat everyone with courtesy.
To my country and my people, I pledge my devotion.
In their well being and prosperity alone, lies my happiness."

I didn't even remember the pledge completely. As bad as it may sound, I had to Google it! I didn't even remember the last time I had thought about it! But, as I read it today, my heart is filled with a strange sense of heaviness. Have we stood by our oath or have we buried it along with a host of other things we prefer to forget? Has it become just another inconvenient truth for us? What happened to us? We have forgotten how much our freedom fighters have struggled to give us our freedom, which we not only take for granted, but abuse, today. When did we become what we have become - selfish, self-centered, self-serving, uncaring... How did we get here? When our forefathers handed our country over to us, they must have had such hopes and dreams for our country, for us. They had given us the most precious gift of all - our freedom. Freedom to spread our wings, to grow, to prosper... And what did we do? We curtailed our own freedom, we set boundaries, we divided ourselves into regions, we segregated ourselves with our castes, creeds, and religions. "With freedom comes great responsibility" said Jawaharlal Nehru in his historical Independence speech. Here are some excerpts from that speech.