I'm going to make a confession today. Every year without fail the Republic Day spectacle on Rajpath makes me a little teary eyed, and this year was no different. I always feel a little foolish at that little lump that invariably forms in my throat, and I always struggle to hide this from whoever it is I'm watching the parade with!
I'm sure there are many others who feel the same way but never acknowledge it even to themselves because it seems stupidly sentimental and unworldly and naive. True, we are surrounded by scamsters, tax evaders, Swiss bank account holders with crores and crores in black money stashed away safely in them. We are bombarded everyday with news that slowly but surely destroys any hopes we might have that these thugs will be brought to justice.
And yet the pomp and pageantry on Rajpath unfailingly remind me about all that is precious, pride worthy, and beautiful about my country. How can I ignore and close my eyes to the fact that despite the discipline, perfection and brilliance of our armed forces, amply on display on this day every year, the military remains staunchly unpoliticised and loyal to our Constitution? This is just one very good reason why we need to keep celebrating the day we adopted our Constitution, the day we committed ourselves to Democracy and the Rule of Law. There are of course a million other reasons including the fact that we are pretty much surrounded by countries that make a mockery of their constitutions, if they have one that is!
On the one hand it saddens me to hear young people sometimes say in despairing, disparaging and cynical tones, "Yeh India hai, yahan kuch bhi ho sakta hai", but then on the other, I feel better when I remember what a very senior, sophisticated, brilliant bureaucrat said in the days following the terrorist attacks on Parliament some years ago. She said and I quote "I cried because I was so hurt that our Parliament had been desecrated and attacked and that they had wanted to destroy it."
And now that I have confessed to crying a little as I watch the parade every January 26, let me also confess that it feels wonderful to shed my cynicism about India, if only for a couple of hours every year! I want to say to all those jaded young Indians, "Try it, it feels good!"
I'm sure there are many others who feel the same way but never acknowledge it even to themselves because it seems stupidly sentimental and unworldly and naive. True, we are surrounded by scamsters, tax evaders, Swiss bank account holders with crores and crores in black money stashed away safely in them. We are bombarded everyday with news that slowly but surely destroys any hopes we might have that these thugs will be brought to justice.
And yet the pomp and pageantry on Rajpath unfailingly remind me about all that is precious, pride worthy, and beautiful about my country. How can I ignore and close my eyes to the fact that despite the discipline, perfection and brilliance of our armed forces, amply on display on this day every year, the military remains staunchly unpoliticised and loyal to our Constitution? This is just one very good reason why we need to keep celebrating the day we adopted our Constitution, the day we committed ourselves to Democracy and the Rule of Law. There are of course a million other reasons including the fact that we are pretty much surrounded by countries that make a mockery of their constitutions, if they have one that is!
On the one hand it saddens me to hear young people sometimes say in despairing, disparaging and cynical tones, "Yeh India hai, yahan kuch bhi ho sakta hai", but then on the other, I feel better when I remember what a very senior, sophisticated, brilliant bureaucrat said in the days following the terrorist attacks on Parliament some years ago. She said and I quote "I cried because I was so hurt that our Parliament had been desecrated and attacked and that they had wanted to destroy it."
And now that I have confessed to crying a little as I watch the parade every January 26, let me also confess that it feels wonderful to shed my cynicism about India, if only for a couple of hours every year! I want to say to all those jaded young Indians, "Try it, it feels good!"
good one. i also do get that lump in the throat. keep writing
ReplyDeleteYou're a sentimentalist lost anachronistically in a fast evolving world where parade, pomp and attached piffledom is grossly irrelevant. The Chinese may celebrate a new year of a different animal, but for all of us humans around the world, it is and is going to remain for a long long time,The Year of the RAT. Throw away your tear ducts and scurry around gnawing at all vestiges of sanity, as might remain.
ReplyDeleteKnow that feeling - but the harsh reality is that we are brilliant at staged parades but when it comes to real life and getting the job done we many a times fail miserably. Having said that, being of Indian origin, am to this day proud of our freedom fighters and the selfless service of our armed forces and other uniformed personnel.
ReplyDeleteamita...well penned !
ReplyDeleteguess we are always torn between being pro INDIA and anti INDIA !!!
Amita, (Du hast aus unserer Seele gesprochen) You have spoken from our hearts. Keep it up. Hope many more Indians would come out with their feelings, set examples of right behaviour and help develop a mass movement for transparency and correctness in every sphere.
ReplyDeleteIndu, Rajesh
It may be that in today’s ‘no borders’ scenario, patriotism is fast becoming an irrelevant concept. But allowances will always be made for world citizens to be proud of their roots and we Indians are lucky. Corruption, unaccountability and credibility of leadership aside (and yes, they are big asides), we have an awesome and endless intellectual, spiritual, cultural, historical and even geographical reservoir to draw from.
ReplyDeleteI am unabashedly proud to be Indian and am with you Amita with anything you say in this regard ☺
Another profoung piece! Meaningfully thematic and timely in these times of conflicting despair and opportunity.
ReplyDeleteShould one not get off those armchairs and do something more constructive?
I wonder whether the scamsters you mention feel the lump on 26 Jan! Or some shame or guilt? I doubt. What they would feel is "power" and the fact or illusion that they are "powerful" give them the natural rights to the regulatory rent-seeking behaviour. And rent-seeking over a broad "spectrum" of monopolistic supplies starting from land and sand right till broadband
ReplyDeleteHow about the second set of politician-bureaucrat combination that probably is as responsible as anyone for the gross inefficiencies of the system... (refer your previous post.. Is there a single clean railway station in the country with say clean toilets?). I live in Mumbai and what do you see as you get out of the airport or a business district like BKC... Slums, garbage, traffic jams, pollution, political banners and a overall feeling of a dirty city
Amitaji: We all love India but what matters for the common man is how much the politicians and the bureaucracy love the country. They probably are as patriotic but they certainly don't seem to show this in their work