An appeal
Strength of India, as compared to China, is its
youth. Average age of India is 25 years while
that of China is 33 years. It is the youth, who
will make all the difference in times to come for
India.
I do not like to generalize, but most Indians, who
are 40-plus consider today's youth as “not
patriotic.” Patriotism per-se means love for the
nation, and we youth have no dearth of it.
As youngsters, born in independent India, we
haven't had the opportunity to see how our
people toiled for a century to attain freedom.
Most of us have not witnessed the four wars
that were fought by our Armed forces in 1947,
1962, 1965 and 1971. Thus, we may not feel our
eyes watering we hear Lata Mangeshkar's Aye
Mere Watan Ke Logon, the song that
immortalized the sacrifice of Indian soldiers on
icy Himalayan peaks in 1962 and which brought
tears to the eyes of Jawaharlal Nehru.
Our interest in reading documents about great
freedom fighters and freedom struggle, if any, is
also academic, as our generation fails to really
connect to that era. That, however, does not
mean that we are not mindful of the hard work
of our countrymen, because of whom, we're
living a dream life in a vibrant and growing India,
which has created a niche for itself in the world.
It's just that we do not identify with the spirit of
freedom the way our elders may, because our
relations with that era are not even second hand
but third hand. Merely because of this
disconnect we should not be classified as less
patriotic. It only makes us patriotic in our own
special way: the youth's way.
Had the youth lacked devotion for the nation,
where would the Navy, Army and Air Force have
got their new recruits from? Those, who join the
forces, are ready to give their life and that too
without asking for anything more than a
remuneration to keep their family alive. Mind you,
this remuneration is exactly same as the country
pays to its Babus and Bureaucrats. While the
whole country works only eight hours for that
pay and gets paid overtime for every extra hour,
it is they, who work tirelessly 24 X 7, in adverse
conditions and not even talk of overtime, so that
their countrymen can have a good night's sleep,
day after day. Without the youth, the defense
would have been crippled with only oldies and
vacancies plaguing the Armed forces. Since this
sorrow situation hasn't materialized, one can
safely conclude that the belief that today's youth
is “not patriotic” is nothing but a perception.
What would have happened of Indian culture,
values, tradition and way of life had it not been
due to joint effort of our parents and us
youngsters. Our parents brought us up in a
cultured environment where traditions and
modernism go hand in hand. We the youth have
retailed and nurtured the Culture and Values of
being Indian, while borrowing certain things from
foreign land, which is attributed to our curiosity.
Dressing in western attire, talking in English, and
having McDonalized our diet doesn't eat away
our Indiannesss. Macdonald or not, when it
comes to idli-dosa, chicken tanduri or dal-bati we
are most enthusiastic. You must understand that
McDonalization is part of being hep in the crowd.
Even while we may be living in a foreign land,
working on foreign shores and earning in foreign
currency, our traditions are practiced with same
fervor, if not more. In whatever foreign land we
maybe in, our earnings are sent back to India, to
help our families and also help the Indian
economy grow with this added Forex capital.
Youth isn't selfish, though it may be portrayed
so. We may be more “me driven” but we also
invert the “m” often enough to become “we
driven.” On some planes we're a force that is
hard to beat. Had we not been a collective
bunch, Jessica Lal, Matoo and such other cases
including the quota debate would not have
become a mini uprising. On some other, we can
outwardly look selfish and overtly driven by
success, though it isn't so in reality. We would
prefer to be Indianized in competition, treating
others as peers, but the globalization of Indian
economy forces us to be excessively
competitive; if I may say, competitiveness is
forced on us. Rather than criticizing us, one
should sympathize with us because we are the
victims of circumstances.
We youth don't claim to be saints. We do go
wayward on certain counts, but the older
generation has always been there to steer us
away from them. Without the elders we youth
would be like a “rudderless” boat, just swaying in
turbulent waters. What makes us killers of a sort
is the fact that we're brought up the right way,
as balanced individuals. Add to it the fact that
no matter how low we may fall; our families
would always support us and help us rise, which
is typically an Indian phenomenon. The security
of Indian “family” system gives us the courage
to move ahead and realize our individual dreams
and our dreams for India because we fully well
understand that we have a fall back option - our
family.
The youth also has modern ways of celebrating
Indian achievements. We take pride in cheering
for India in every sports event with tricolor
painted on our faces. We feel exhilaration in
watching Aamir Khan in Rang De, and we feel
the shivers while watching Ajay Devgan in
Bhagat Singh. We feel overwhelmed when any
Indian does genius feats. Our pulse races when
we hear the National Anthem. We're filled with
energy when the song Suno gaur se duniya
walon-buri nazar na hum pe dalo-chahe jitna zor
lagalo-sabse aagey hongey Hindustani…is played.
We keenly track our industry and stock markets.
We do this and so much more. We are patriotic,
just that our ways of expressing it are different
(read modern, perhaps even whacky).
We try to do things differently, we try to
innovate, and we try to show our love in our own
ways. We wish to ask, what more we can do to
prove our patriotism? Do we scream our lungs
out, or do we go out chanting patriotic songs in
Prabhat Pheries (morning marches), tell us what
we can do to get out of our stereotype portrayal
of being “not patriotic”?
We've conquered the air, water and land, but
we're yet to conquer every elderly Indian's heart.
We don't want to be known as a bunch of selfish
people, who're money-minded and just looking
for some fun, but as individuals who're dedicated
to the nation with the same affection that the
generations before us were. Our methods and
ways to make India the shining star (that it was
in the past) may be different, but we share the
same cherished goal and the vision for modern
India with our elders.
We know we're making progress, but sincere
efforts always pay off and the speed of progress
shall become a typhoon in times to come. In the
end Hum Honge Kamyab (we shall succeed) in
this race to balanced progress, and young
Indians are here to make India a winner as much
our elders did in their times. And India shall be a
winner, if you, our elders, put faith in us, support
us in this endeavor and appreciate the efforts
that are being done with due understanding that
we converge for India. The situation isn't as
bleak; there is plenty of light seen at end of this
tunnel to progress.
On behalf of young India, I'd like to end this
appeal with a quote-
A man's feet must be planted in his country, but
his eyes should survey the world. — George
Santayana
Please support us and guide us as we survey the
world, while our hearts beat for India, our blood
is Indian and every drop of our sweat is shed to
do something for India.
