Raise your hands those who love your country

What is patriotism and love for your country? To be very frank, I have no answers. To a select few sharing a picture of National Flag and threatening to either share it to 50000 people or face the consequence of being called a traitor is patriotism. To others, singing Vande Mataram is patriotism. What exactly is it? How do you express your love for the country without doing all these flimsy exhibitive actions? 

But what is not patriotism can easily be defined. Provocation is certainly not a sign of love for the country. And we have enough of those which is done under the guise of patriotism. How can Pakistan become the native land of Indian Muslims? How can Israel become native land of Indian Christians and same mantra goes for other religions too. The Indianness comes in being a thoughtful  person far away from divisive ideologies, flimsy and decorative thinking and being a caring human. This is patriotism for me. 

But I dont see this too often. In the recent Mumbai protests, what was the reason to turn violent and destroy public property in a silent march? It is the prerogative of MNS to do that and they have full copyright for any such acts. The biggest insult came in the form of young boys desecrating Amar Jyoti Memorial dedicated to people who sacrificed for our country.  To add insult to injury, there was a Pakistan flag among the protestors. 
It is disgusting to see such acts. Muslims in India are at the receiving end merely for the reason that they are following the methods adopted by people in countries under the occupation of western forces like Afghanistan, Iraq etc. Unable to fathom the atrocities by US and its allies, terrorism was rooted. Let them fight. 

What kind of patriotism are the Indian Muslims subscribing to? I am a firm believer in universal truth that humans have to co-exist, co-educate, co-operate and co-die. To say that miscreants have infiltrated into the Mumbai crowd and vandalised something of national importance is something naive. To say that no one has seen waiving a Pakistan flag in nothing short of a joke. 

No wonder, I see a lot of posting on social networking site and TV discussions asking a certain section of society to prove they are patriots. Unless otherwise proved, they are traitors. I was awestruck when I saw a Malabari Muslim in Kerala wearing a short pyjama and a long kurta replacing the dhoti and shirt they used to wear – replicating the North Indian style of attire. Why should you do this? Why cant a Kerala Muslim live like a Malayali? Why should he follow some one who is fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan or Kashmir? Just to show solidarity?

No. I think the problem is deep rooted here. The culture of a local area or region is the hallmark of a person living in that particular area. Indians have never learnt this. Wherever the Indians are they try to make a short district of their own culture in that area alienating local culture. This happens with every community. Building a place of worship may not be a problem but then putting your morality and bias on that area becomes a problem. Jains do this wherever they live as they try to clean up the area of vendors selling products they dont eat while Sardarjis try to do this by bringing back the same vendors because they are more into eating than anything else. Muslims try to do this in some regions while Christians are also not far behind. 

Part of this goes to the Social Media and the technological environment we live in. Ideas gets generated and circulated and implemented by mobocracy even in democracies. Now take a look at the passion on which the Mumbai story happened.

Read this blog first

In this blog, Faraz Ahmed who describe himself as a tech blogger, Web Designer and Electronics engineer who loves to share his ideas did a research to find out fake pictures are circulated in Social Media to whip up the passion. This is the same method used by Modi Followers to whip up passion for him. The other group just followed.

But again, how can someone not use their brains and do not trust their conscience and instead falls prey to false propaganda in the name of religion. There is something wrong somewhere in our education, our upbringing and our culture that we do not listen to our own minds. 

The moment you listen to your own mind and use your own brain, you will realise the problems around us – in our society, in our community, in our state, in our country. Just have a look at them and think and you will automatically turn a patriot. The real patriot.

When faith and trust of India's youth is a memory for me

I have completely lost faith in this country, its youth and its future. Yes I am referring to the next superpower called India. The way we are moving now – in tandem with all the primitive methods – I am unable to fathom the modernisation and educational levels.

Not that I am better off nor do I represent India's youth the way Chetan Bhagat does that I am expressing my opinion. Not that the India envisaged by Modi and his Free Public Relation fans in social networks that I subscribe nor oppose to. Not the mute and deaf undeterred and stagnant India Congress and BJP envisages that I can ever think of nor do I want to even in my wildest dreams. 

But a country that is run by scoundrels but inhabited by intellectuals. Yes, this is  deliberate and pun is intended. I will explain how. Politics is not a common man's job. If I want to clean up a place, get rid of problems around say half a kilometer radius, it is impossible for me. So how on earth am I going to get into any type of politics. So it will always be run by people who are more capable and smart than me. Let them do it. In the middle of last decade, I thought of a resurgent India where the youths of this country will put apart the riddles of Hinduism, revoke regional chauvinism, create social awareness and march ahead with what Amitabh Bachan shouts on the promos of KBC – Sirf Gyan hi aapko aapka haq dilata hai.

Well, I think he is preaching it at a wrong time. Today these same issues which I thought will be a thing of the past are its peak. People with biggest gyan are flirting with impractical thoughts and even impregnating it within themselves championing activism that can only end with a big Aryabhatta discovery. 

So much have been written about Anna and Ramdev that if I write anything again, Google will stop SEO of these two words for ever. But allow me to put two sentences. These two people are asking for moon is an understatement. I dont understand why the educated youth of this country cant realise that corruption is a human problem deep rooted in culture and not a government issue. Why they subscribe to Anna View that it can be switched off like a television remote is what has put me to deep shame. Second is black money. I scratch my head on this demand without a possible method. There are somethings black money cant buy. For everything else there is Baba and Anna. 

It is more of a joke on this country that precious time and policing energy is wasted on utopia. If I live up to my grand children, I will make sure I tell certainly use this as a sleeping pill for them the way toddlers are made to listen to Ba Ba Black Sheep. Thank you for your patience to read the often repeated things about Anna and Baba. Let's come to the real point now.

I thought, I am odd among the big thinking society but when I shared this with some like minded people, I realised, they have exactly the same way of thinking. I may be wrong because the data that I relied on mostly comprised of Social networking updates where the so called big intellectual minds stay. The villages and people with real intellect may have got missed from my radar for which I am expressing my regret. There could be some hope left in these places, I really dont know.