Mark Twain had once said "India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only." 63 years back when India became a "free" country(Pun Intended) thousands of Indians were in Delhi to celebrate and hear Nehru speak. At the stroke of midnight Nehru spoke, In English. The first Prime Minister of Independent India spoke to his people in a language gifted by those whom he himself was very much opposed. The language which majority of the Indians did not understand.Today when India completes 63 revolution around the sun as an Independent country we make Macaulay a proud man(in his grave) by making his project of creating "people who are Indians in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions. in morals and in intellect" a grand success.
Come Independence day or republic day I see people using the phrase "Proud to be an Indian"(PTBI), are they realy proud or is it just a customary lip service. I myself feel that the phrase PTBI has become a cliche. Most of those people who use this hardly know anything about India and I must say they don't even care to know anything about India. Most of these people prefer English over any Indian Languages and Pizzas over Parathas.Its like the proverb "Muh Mein Ram Bagal Mein Churi". In an IT company the employees are asked to reduce the Mother Tongue influence in their English accent, the HR sends a mail inviting everyone for the celbrations of Independence day where they are served with pure European food which the employee is supposed to Eat with a Knife and a Fork, the mail ends with the favorite quote "Proud to be an Indian". I was searching on web for the places I can visit on 15th to celebrate Independence day and I come across a Resturant which was celebrating Indian Independence day by serving pure Italian food on 15th, another restaurant is celebrating Independence day with a western musical concert . One of the Restaurant's website which was not updated said "Come Celebrate American Independence Day in Desi style".
We are all just trying to Emulate the west which has become a role model by default, in this process we end up becoming caricatures. We need to realize what we are and what our country is, only then it makes sense to say "Proud to be an Indian".
Happy Independence day to all my friends
11 comments:
Its good to enlighten others, Just to remind u, u r also currently providin service to some blah* blah* company whch is located in ur so called western world.... Everybody is restricted to their own constraints, Dont be so sick, world is movin forward, move wth it ...
Good one Rattu. Well, if someone is eating pasta on Aug 15, and he claims he is a proud Indian, You can't go and tell him, that he isn't a proud Indian and that he may be a proud Italian. He may have his own reasons to be a proud Indian. There are so many things to be proud abt India. If you start doing PhD on the reasons to be a proud Indian, I bet you won't be able to complete it in your lifetime..India is really that great a country man!!! I agree with you that one can't be totally ignorant abt India. I know in our day to day life no one gets enough time to study abt India and its riches, it may not help one to earn his bread and butter. But at least during the occasion of Independence day, republic day, etc., one must put some effort to enrich his/her knowledge abt India. Well the point is not in finding the reason to be a proud Indian, can "WE" be that reason!!!!
Very well written Rattu...I completely agree with you.
The statement PTBI is very confined to 24 hours of August 15 and mere remains a statement and outside of which we don't give a damn about our Indianess.We always crib about the system,blame the officials for corruption, lackluster attitude and say "this doesn't happen in USA or UK,you know" blah blah but overlook the fact that we are also a part of it albeit small.
But still we are PTBI and that too only on Aug 15 or Jan 26 but in the rest of 363(or 364)days we are either licking America,UK,OZ etc.
Dear Ratu, Wat u have highlighted here, through most part of the text, concerns to the lifestyle of ppl. There are a hundred million other ways to show tat u r proud to be Indian. U cant always wear ur patriotism up ur sleeve,such tat it be on public display. I agree with Anil, there are so many things/reasons to be proud abt India.
Ratnakar- i agree with you that atleast on special occasions such as independence day ,we should celebrate in a style which reflects our culture, but concluding that those who have Pizzas and Pastas as Not PTBI or they just do lip service is wrong.Rather we should judge whether a person is proud of his country by his actions not by his words(for example :Tata's). if a person is PTBI he will add value to his country without hampering country's core values.
One thing which is true is that Indians have a high degree of inferiority complex.Also,people need to be shown the benefits of leading an Indian way of life.But one thing is guarnteed:Cities will always fail in tackling with the challenges posed by globalisation.
Seriously?! You deleted my post?! I came back here looking for your views. But you're just too narrow minded to receive any sort of criticism. Why am I anonymous? That's probably because I know you very well, and you wouldn't like me being so critical about your mindset. I might hurt that special little child in you. Or probably I don't know you at all and your nothing less than those people who killed and burnt their children for getting married to someone else from the same village. Stick to your opinion if you have one. Respect criticism and learn to appreciate what I have to say about your views. Don't bloody go deleting it because I may have hurt your ego
hi i have not deleted your post there is some problem with the spam setting i dont have access to internet for few days and i am using my friends cell phone to reply i will reply to your comment in 2 to 3 days
hello Mr.Anonymous this was your comment which got deleted
"You're simply confused. Nehru spoke in English because at that time it was more popular than Hindi (Keep in mind the States of Bengal And Madras). There's no reason for you to charge Nehru. And even now, English is still the official language of our country as is Hindi or Kannada. FYI - Hindi is NOT our national language as many people put it. It is held at the same regard at Hindi. Just because people express their feelings in the Queen's language does make them less of a patriot than you. It's the feelings or actions that count. I could be as critical as you have been while writing this blog post and ask you - What good have you done for your country? What have you taught the brothers and sisters of our great nation? What steps have you taken to stop poverty, malnutrition, hunger, illiteracy and corruption? And for god's sake, what's wrong with loving New York and India at the same time? Does 'loving' a location only imply patriotism. Get your facts right. More importantly, get a broader outlook on life and stop complaining about chicks wearing mini-skirts! "
Well here is my explanation
At the time of the Independence 82% of India's population was illiterate so Nehru speaking in English doesn't make any sense. I know that Hindi is not a national language( I will never accept Hindi as a national language :-) ) but don't you think that Hindi would have appealed to a larger population than English at that time??
I don't think that people speaking in English is wrong but I am opposed to those people who prefer English over other Indian Languages just because they feel that it is "cool" to do so and finally you are correct I have not done anything substantial but I don't belong to those set of ppl who dream of a life in foreign country and say " Proud to be an Indian" for just 2 days in a year.
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