The Dog Who Calls Him Tiger
‘ Mera Bharat Mahan’: one would find this slogan conspicuously glittering at different places across India. Be it at the back of a rickety auto screaming down the bumpy Indian roads, its passengers enjoying bouncy ride or the incredibly overloaded trucks that give you an impression that they will break down the very moment you add extra kg of load on it or advertisements on our doordarshan or the national parade on 26th January. Perhaps this was one of the first lessons in my school, though I hardly believe I grasped its patriotic essence at that tender age. And through ages of listening and reading books by great visionaries who claim that the nation (where presently half of the population feels grateful if they manage meal twice a day) will achieve the incredulous task of reaching the G8 nations group (or G9 then!!) by 2010 and those patriotic movies that I used to watch after bunking my boring college classes, this line has permanently etched my heart.
But I haven’t still made out as to what I am proud of? Is it our great national freedom struggle, our great freedom fighters, which claimed of shaking the strong British Empire and bestowing us independence after 200 years of imperial rule through non-violence movements, by peaceful demonstrations, by organizing dharanas and getting beaten up by handful of policemen?. Doesn’t it look more than a coincidence that few years before our independence Britain was completely shaken by the second world war? Isn’t it time we thank Hitler for at least destroying western colonial powers, who all heavily lost ground during this dreadful war and afterwards gave up their quest for imperial rule?
Or should I be proud of our great education system where only the top one percent gets a chance to study in premier universities, by far the toughest exams in the world, but in term of facilities these colleges rank nowhere amongst other western colleges? Or is it of our politicians, elected democratically by our smart intelligent citizens, who have ruled our country and given new definitions to corruption ever since its inception?
Or perhaps my head should rise with pride on our wonderful sporting history where last year we had surprisingly made a jump from one bronze to one silver medal in Olympics. Or our only tennis star, who has made more mark on the court for her jewels rather than her talents. But at least she gives something to rejoice about in our morbid dull life by crossing the first stage in the tournament. Or our entertainment industry, Bollywood, that produces a record most number of movies in the world more than half of which have copied scripts and actions from Hollywood.
Or our crawling Sensex that has been crippled now and then by brokers like Mehta. But recently we had reached the pinnacle, the 9000 mark, and everywhere it was flooded with news by economic analysts that this is a true indication of our growing power and soon we shall reach heights, although the same had been done 10ys ago claiming that by now we will definitely be amongst developed nations. Well, I might sound once bitten twice shy but I am a bit skeptical of it ever happening. Probably I should be proud about our lagging neighbors, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh who don't have the capability to grow in terms of resource and manpower and become oblivious of China, who got independence later than us but has become 3rd largest economy in spite of having the largest population in the world.
Or maybe our handful scientists and economists, who had made a mark in this world but only after settling in the US. And all those English writers who have won accolades in their field, we should feel happy that, centuries ago their ancestors resided in India before migrating to the west.
Well if not these then definitely not growing population, growing hunger, growing pollution, nor caste and religion that has led the country torn asunder and created examples like Godhra Kand ,following which the state’s highest authority was shamelessly denied visa to enter the US.
I am still perplexed …unable to find any convincing reason to hold my head high and proudly shout that ‘I am an Indian’. But I will still say ‘ Mera Bharat Mahan’. Whatever it may be at least it gives me a hope that if not the best we can at least strive to be one among those. There goes the famous hindi saying ‘ Umeed Pe To Puri Duniya Kayam Hai’. Jai Hind.
But I haven’t still made out as to what I am proud of? Is it our great national freedom struggle, our great freedom fighters, which claimed of shaking the strong British Empire and bestowing us independence after 200 years of imperial rule through non-violence movements, by peaceful demonstrations, by organizing dharanas and getting beaten up by handful of policemen?. Doesn’t it look more than a coincidence that few years before our independence Britain was completely shaken by the second world war? Isn’t it time we thank Hitler for at least destroying western colonial powers, who all heavily lost ground during this dreadful war and afterwards gave up their quest for imperial rule?
Or should I be proud of our great education system where only the top one percent gets a chance to study in premier universities, by far the toughest exams in the world, but in term of facilities these colleges rank nowhere amongst other western colleges? Or is it of our politicians, elected democratically by our smart intelligent citizens, who have ruled our country and given new definitions to corruption ever since its inception?
Or perhaps my head should rise with pride on our wonderful sporting history where last year we had surprisingly made a jump from one bronze to one silver medal in Olympics. Or our only tennis star, who has made more mark on the court for her jewels rather than her talents. But at least she gives something to rejoice about in our morbid dull life by crossing the first stage in the tournament. Or our entertainment industry, Bollywood, that produces a record most number of movies in the world more than half of which have copied scripts and actions from Hollywood.
Or our crawling Sensex that has been crippled now and then by brokers like Mehta. But recently we had reached the pinnacle, the 9000 mark, and everywhere it was flooded with news by economic analysts that this is a true indication of our growing power and soon we shall reach heights, although the same had been done 10ys ago claiming that by now we will definitely be amongst developed nations. Well, I might sound once bitten twice shy but I am a bit skeptical of it ever happening. Probably I should be proud about our lagging neighbors, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh who don't have the capability to grow in terms of resource and manpower and become oblivious of China, who got independence later than us but has become 3rd largest economy in spite of having the largest population in the world.
Or maybe our handful scientists and economists, who had made a mark in this world but only after settling in the US. And all those English writers who have won accolades in their field, we should feel happy that, centuries ago their ancestors resided in India before migrating to the west.
Well if not these then definitely not growing population, growing hunger, growing pollution, nor caste and religion that has led the country torn asunder and created examples like Godhra Kand ,following which the state’s highest authority was shamelessly denied visa to enter the US.
I am still perplexed …unable to find any convincing reason to hold my head high and proudly shout that ‘I am an Indian’. But I will still say ‘ Mera Bharat Mahan’. Whatever it may be at least it gives me a hope that if not the best we can at least strive to be one among those. There goes the famous hindi saying ‘ Umeed Pe To Puri Duniya Kayam Hai’. Jai Hind.
posted by Prashant Agrawal @ 4:09 AM
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