India is our country!

Dear Child,
The other day when the officer, asked for a little something, you paid him and came home fretting and fuming. This country is going to the dogs, you said, once my tickets come through, I am getting out of this dump and never coming back, after all, who wants to come back to this?
I did not answer to your question then, not because I was lost for words, but because it was not a one line answer. I am not going to write a patriotic 'I love my country' speech and fool you with false promises.

The other day, I saw an old woman walking on the street. She looked weak and frail and could barely take a step. She started to feel the hot scorching sun and lost her balance. Several people crowded her. One person rushed to bring a soda, the other, some water, one ordered everyone to move and let some air in, the other tried to ask who she was. The woman recovered her consciousness and was holding a pack of idlis in her hands. 'Eat this and take some rest', some one requested her. 'Tell me where is your home, I will drop you there', some one ordered. The woman reached home safe and prayed for the well being of everyone who had saved her.

Do you remember Asha, the little one next house. She had been waiting outside the school one day and her mom had been delayed by traffic. The little one's eyes were full of tears, all her friends had gone home. The school watch man looked at his watch, it was 10 minutes past his shift and he felt hungry. He looked at the little child waiting. He went and sat next to her and kept chatting about school and home work until the mother finally arrived 30 minutes late, with a lot of panic and anxiety. She was relieved to see her little girl sitting safely with the watchman, the man who had always yelled and never smiled and had no words to thank him.

Something happened here yesterday. It was only fifteen past 8 and we were busy watching tv when we heard a loud scream. We rushed out and the big yellow house girl Aishu, Chetan uncle's daughter, was fighting 2 men, who were trying to rob from her. Ram uncle ran to the girl, he did not hesitate for a minute. Thanks to the nosy, loud mouthed, conservative Ram uncle, the girl reached home safe.

A thousand and more crimes happen everyday, thefts, robbery, corruption, bribery, malpractice, accidents, incidents, papers are full, day in day out. Our country has gone to the devil, the hopeless talk and the hopeful despair. It's happening and no false pride or patriotism can salvage such an image.

But, I love my country, there is none like ours!

It is in this country where:
- Ram uncle would come running to your rescue, even if he is quite arrogant, a conservative fool and you have never talked to him.
- A hundred would go on a fast fighting for the injustice that had happened to one.
- A mother would carry her 17 year old disabled son on her back the entire day and a son/daughter would look after a bed ridden mother/father as his/her own child.
- A child who becomes a father will still be a child to his father and respect and listen to him.
- There are more than one Gods, to emphasize on the faith, conscience and hope again and again.
- Parents live with their parents and children with their parents, a few generations under the same roof.
- Your great grand mother, whom you've barely seen thinks about you everyday and longs to hear your voice on the phone.

I can pen a million things here, no space is enough to carry them all.

We can argue about the other side, the ugly side, old age homes, poverty, home less, child labor, nuclear families, corruption, crime, frauds, theft etc and play a devil's advocate. But, change will happen, even if it might be hundreds of years away. Our cup is not only half empty, it is half full too.

Do you remember the time we moved into our old house, the one that had been locked for over a year when we were up north. It was full of dust and spider webs, dirty and dark. We started cleaning it up, it took days and a lot of effort and yet when we moved in, it finally felt like home. What would have happened had we walked out and moved into a clean, sophisticated box space, a home just by name?

You are free to spread your wings, wherever it takes you, but, when you decide to fly home, remember, this is your home, this is where your roots have spread!
- One proud Indian

 

Thanks Vidhya for the wonderful feedback, keep visiting, it means a lot to me

 

Thanks Raji I was a child too in my teens and early twenties. I realized where my home really was, only when I left it.

 

Thanks so much Zingy, I am so glad you liked it

 

Thank you so much Subha, I am glad you liked it