Hoist It in Your Heart..

India is turning 60 tomorrow! Very few of us would have seen both sides of the ‘midnight’ and so for many of us 15 August is:

1. A day of flag hoisting
2. A day when TV channels play patriotic songs
3. A day when we get to see movies like ‘Mother India’, ‘Independenc47Day’, ‘Haqeeqat’ on TV
4. A day after Pakistan’s Independence Day
5. A Holiday
6. A day when the chances of a bomb blast happening increases
7. Just another day

Most of us can not connect ourselves to the pain, the suffering and the sacrifice that has gone through for centuries before this day finally came in 1947.

For most of us, nothing will change after 15 August 2007 and so most of us would not care much for this day. Many of us who do attend functions will momentarily think of images we have seen of the freedom struggle on TV, maybe remember the famous photo of Bhagat Singh/Azaad or think of Nehru’s ‘freedom at midnight’ speech but rarely will we think of the dreams that these people had for India.

India at 60 may be a ‘transforming’ country but Indians certainly do not carry the vision that our freedom fighters had in their hearts when they had laid down their lives fighting the British. We burn our women, we kill our girls before they are born, we run-over innocent people on the streets, we discriminate based on caste, color, region and religion, our children work when they should be in school and we don’t feel ashamed being one of the most corrupt nations in the world. We are in one country but we are not one.

By saluting the Tricolor and singing the National Anthem but not sharing the vision we are not giving respect to our forefathers. If we want to pay true homage to the martyrs, we must start making a change in our ways. Let each of us make a resolution today to do something that is right. If we win the fight to stick to our resolve even in the face of adversity, we would have paid true homage to the millions who sacrificed everything to see their children breathe the free air of a free country.

Some suggestions:

1. I won’t honk on the road unnecessarily
2. I won’t jump a red light
3. I won’t dirty the roads
4. I won’t abuse anyone
5. I won’t eve-tease (and adam-tease!)
6. I won’t discriminate on color/caste/religion/gender/region
7. I won’t have more than 2 kids
8. I won’t give/take bribes
9. I will vote

Take your pick!!

Jai Hind