What India really wants from me??

I write this not after seeing “Rang de Basanthi” for the nth time. Nor after going through the articles of Delhi Gang rape case and surely not after I listen to all the pep talks in the youth forums. I got this question after observing this incident which I am going to describe now. Let me assimilate the answer to my original question “What I owe to my country?! “

I was travelling in a town bus bubbling with students of middle school crowding every possible space available in the bus. I always like to listen to what the gang of young boys near me discuss about and was keeping my ears open. Undoubtedly there was an argument and surprisingly it was not a Rajni-Kamal, Vijay-Ajith, Sachin-Sourav or Sachin-Ponting clash. It was about our bloody nation and when every other guy was complaining about this nation, there was one particular poor fellow, who was actually arguing for India and was answering every possible question thrown to him. I started feeling as if he was the wholesome representation of what we call as hope in this present bizarre situation of our country.

Of course, I could observe that he was over-patriotic forgetting realities and they even mocked at him when he said one day we will be in corruption-free, pollution-free India. He slapped me with the fact that I and the gang and even majority of youth are completely shame-less when it comes to mockery about the Nation. Have we realized too much about the cobwebs of present reality that we laugh heartily about every mockery about India and legal system, Govt set-ups. Shouldn’t we feel ashamed to enjoy a day off every Jan 26 and Aug 15 as we celebrate “Republic” and “Independent Governance” system on those particular days of the year!  I asked his name and shrewd came the reply! “Vivekanandan”, he said and aptly named, I felt. 

                          

I just recapitulate who am I? Am I that insignificant individual in this widespread nation declaring myself as a personification of “Commonness” observed in this nation? Surely not!!!  I closed my eyes and started visualizing what comes to my mind when I think of nation.

• Millions of Devotees queing up a line in Tirupati Velankanni & Nagore with Hopes

• IITians in Village schools and farming & youth working for some cause.

• A big crowd gathering around the Rajpath holding candles for every little thing that has a social impact (Right from Anna hazare, Jessica case and to the Delhi gang rape).

• A village school kid in uniform pedalling his bicycle with his fullest strength competing with a truck and laughing heartily. The way he carries his school bag while doing so looks even more stylish.

So many scenes... Lining up… Travelling through the leaps and bounds of this widespread nation... With millions of people diverse in almost every aspect, there is something that’s unique with every Indian. On looking close to the eyes of every Indian who works hard in the straight forward way, who has a sound sleep at night despite power-cut, for his tiring breadwinning efforts in day, who understands that everything happening around him is corrupted despite him being straight, I found the ultimate reality that literally drives them.

It is not the hope for a better tomorrow but a blatant truth that nothing can be done as of today. I smile at the cartoons depicting what Vivekananda would have done had he been on Facebook where he updates a status and millions like it instantly. Maybe, quite a fact but the mere liking itself, I believe, would have created impact.

That boy’s name was still resonating in my mind along with the above thoughts. Vivekananda asked for 100 youngsters with strong heart and mind to work with determination. Today we have thousands and we still are clueless about the genuine Vivekananda. Even that might be purposeful to realize the one in us.

I am not here to appeal or argue or justify anything but yelling out what was aching my mind thereafter. I close this article abruptly with a pledge I took on this “National Youth Day”.

• I shall not vote for a Government that I feel would continue to make the system more corrupt (I shall try to find the genuine one with my optimism)

• I shall not claim that I have done something patriotic after updating “Happy Independence day” in Facebook

• I shall not litter anymore my nation physically. It is already filled with litter and liquor.

• I am not a Mahatma or Netaji to just fight for the nation or for a cause leaving off my routine. But I shall pay tax, follow rules, and would try maximum to keep the cloud around me, as corrupt-free.

• If technology puts an end to misery and if I could help in that reaching to mass people, I shall endorse it.

I sum up and end with a humble request. Think of the farmer who is going to commit suicide next. What if the victim of tomorrow’s road accident caused by drunken drive is your kith and kin?

Ponder over the images of the malnourished kids of North Indian villages before you waste food next time. The child which was about to be treated by the Late victim of Delhi rape… Tomorrow’s leaders from the village that was set ablaze for condemning inter-communal love marriages…

Our country is full of uncertainties. A multi-millionaire in Bhuj district on 26^th January Morning 2001 was clueless about his fortune, the same noon. A fisherman from Andhra, in sea on 26 December 2004 never thought he would turn a God by saving few lives. People say “its hell” in crowded Mumbai suburb trains and least they would have expected that it would really be one on a July 11 day. Even luxury is not completely safe, argues a proof of concept in Marine drive in Mumbai. But our “legal system” was able to keep the accused safe for almost a year.

In this country with lot of uncertainties and at this juncture of omni-potent corruption, I frankly admit that I do not have the fullest energy to kindle the Swamiji in us. But still I would try as I see HOPE as an acronym for Having OPtimistic Expectations.

I wish to be the squirrel that helped to bridge Lanka and India without expecting mother India to caress my spine with her fingers.