Happy Birthday To You India

During school days, first two weeks of August were my favorites. One reason for this was that my birthday used to bring me many gifts and that was my day to be the cynosure of all the people around me. It was my day to feel the boss of the world. The other reason was the Independence Day. And honestly, it had nothing to do with the patriotism.

As was the tradition in the schools all over the country, everyone at my school used to switch to the ‘preparation’ mode. Everyone was preparing for something from Principal to teachers to students. Be it the welcome speech for the chief guest, extra curricular like dance, drama, group songs etc. And these preparations were a welcome break for people like me who detest studying (even today). But there was a catch. The ‘break’ was meant only for people who were ‘ performing’. So it eventually led to my participation in almost every other performance. This also justifies my liking for all these extra curricular till date.

You can be sure of reading many articles about the state of the country today, few black n white clipping of Britishers beating Indian freedom fighters, those old patriotic songs and movies, a detailed analysis of what we have achieved in last 62 years, prominent figures distributing alms to the poor, PM giving speech from the Red fort and many other things which I cant write here because of the paucity of space.

The point is, do we want to ‘celebrate’ our Independence Day by seeing/reading all the above things that are repeated every year? Do we want to again listen to someone on the television about his take on patriotism? Or do we really want to do something different this year? But before anything else, do we want to be patriotic citizen or a responsible citizen? Are the terms ‘patriotic citizen’ and ‘responsible citizen’ different?

To me, they are same. Patriotism includes, of course, fighting at the border, doing charity for the society, helping poor, and maybe joining politics or any government agency where we can take decisions to take our great country forward. But these are not the only ways to be patriotic. These are the popular or mostly known ways to be patriotic.

But the one way which is comes closest to my definition of patriotism is being a responsible citizen. Now being responsible is very subjective and can vary from person to person. But there are certain qualities that apply to every Indian. Being responsible is to throw your garbage in the dustbin and not on the street. Being responsible is to switch off the bulbs and fans before locking the door. Being responsible is to close the water tap tightly (come on, it takes half turn more to the right in less than a second). Being responsible is pushing your chair under the table after you’ve finished your meal in the mess. Being responsible is stopping at the red signal behind the zebra crossing. And there are many other ways to be responsible.

These things are those that I see daily in my college. And these are not the ones that are visible in my college only. Its everywhere you go. I’ve worked in one of the best software companies of India. The condition was same there as well. And literally, my heart bleeds to see so-called “literate” and “highly-qualified” people failing to follow the basic etiquette of being responsible. I refuse to accept that these people don’t know or understand their responsibilities. The same people who use to throw their coffee cups in the street will become well civilized when they will go to a foreign country. You can’t dare to spit on the road in US because that would cost you $100. So you follow ‘rules’ there. If you can do that in a foreign country then why this ill treatment towards your own country? 

Yeah I know I got a bit carried away. Everyone today glees over the fact that they can do what they wish. But I think we are not able to understand the cost that our forefathers had to bear to attain what we fall “freedom”. With freedom comes great responsibility. And let us not forget that. I’ve made a simple resolution this year again – to be more responsible. And that is best gift I can give to my country. My love.