Indian..?? A proud Indian..??

Do you guys feel patriotic..??

Its just a question. I mean, yeah, I feel patriotic. And this time it was Ramit who made me feel so. Well actually the credit goes to Kacie who, in her post, talked about a Burmese couple in The US earning merely earning $1000 a month and supporting a family of 9 people.

A lot of Indians share the same story as this couple. If I have to give an appropriate example for you to visualise such a scenario then 3 idiots's Raju Rastogi (played by Sharman Joshi) is apt to imagine. Since I was born I have lived in Delhi and trust me, it is a boon to live in one of the metropolitan cities. Every year I go to this temple somewhere in Rajasthan and it a sight to watch. It saddens me when I see people living in such misery. We have to walk through the village to reach the temple and what I see there is too heartbreaking. And I am sure that not one of these people complain. Not like we do in Delhi.

Do you remember even a single day when you did not crib. A single day when you did not curse anybody.

Did you not curse the maid for not cleaning the house properly.
Did you not curse the beggars for dirtying your shiny car when the fellow was just trying to wipe it and earn Rs. 2 from it.
Did you not curse the MCD for digging the roads thereby increasing the traffic and the chaos.
Did you not curse your wife, your mother, your cook for putting extra salt in your food.
Did you not curse your boss for he kept you waiting and still shouted at you for not finishing the work.
Did you not curse DMRC because they failed to accomodate the regular commuters but not once you appreciated that they finally brought a metro line in areas which were not connected with the rest of Delhi.
Did you not curse the BRT corridor for not making a separate road for autorikshaws because they keep coming in your way. I know your cursed the rikshaw walas and auto wala for that too.
Did you not curse your slow internet speed of 1 Mbps because you couldnt complete the transaction over the net.
Did you not curse the vegetable wala, the dhobi, the dhoodh wala, the postman the electrician, the plumber because they were not available at your disposal.

I too do the same. We have learned to curse every soul around us. But what about those who have not even heard about an internet let alone crib for its slow speed.

But lets look at those who get nothing. They do not have a car like you do, nor do they have a surround sound music system or even an LCD TV. They do not huge houses like we have. And they have no servants. Not even an iphone. No they have nothing out of these. But yes they have something which we do not have. A huge family to support with a meagre income. And please don't talk about family planning. population control and birth control pills and condoms. I really feel that these concepts are alien to these low income families not because they cannot understand these but because they really need people in their family and they give birth hoping that one person out of all of them would earn and support them. Alas, it doesnt happen that way either.

But it doesnt matter. We have learned to talk about things like these, grieve their existence, curse Indian system for the condition of the underprivileged and then move on with our life and do nothing about it. I dont blame you for this. I too do that. I too get sad when I think about the people but who have to work day and night to make both ends meet. I too shove this thought and move on in my life.

Frankly this is not how I wanted this post to be like. I wanted to talk about my love for India and how patriotic I get at times. I wanted to talk about the Republic day, the Independence day and the like. I wanted to tell you how the patriotic songs like AR Rehman's Vande Matram stirs emotions in me. I wanted to tell you that I like the original "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara" more than I like the newly launched version because it takes me back to the times I have grown up in. 2 days back, I pointed these things out to Ramit. But, today, a different set of emotions took the better of my patriotism.

I love India. Instead of being bothered about the over crowded roads, metros, internet connection, MCD's complaints, we should look beyond our own cities and towns. Peek into those far flung villages and see what life exists there.