Opinion: Bharat Humko Jaan Se Pyaara Hai, but are we talking of the same Bharat?

 I am a patriot. I would blindly pick India over any other country and would probably be very judgemental and nitpicky if I was packed off on a flight to a foreign country. Where are the long lines? Where are the crowds? 

I am proud of how this unlikely country made up of a diverse group of people manages to stay together. How despite the unending list of divisions we stay a fairly united group. A sense of brotherhood that ties us together. What else could keep this amalgamation of people together? Not food, certainly not religion. Language? Lol. Culture? Not really. 

Indian Culture is an interesting thing. No one can agree on what it actually is. Indian culture is a totally different thing for everyone. Its basically the worst game of telephone (or as it is racist(ly) known as Chinese Whispers) ever. I think thats pretty fair though. What exactly is purely an INDIAN thing?

The Indus Valley Civilisation? The Aryans? But claiming to be of Aryan descent is not going to be great for anyone. The Sultanate and the Mughals? The Cholas?

Trying to avoid writing political blogs

But I can't stop myself




I heard someone talk of the Sultanate invading "our country" in 1206 CE. But, was India India then? Whatever India is now is a mix of so many cultures. What is purely Indian? Our past is that of the Dravidians, the Aryans, the Mughals, the Rajputs, the Marathas, the Sultanate, the Cholas and so so many more that not any one of them is INDIAN. India , the country, was formed in 1947. The land whose dwellers have descended from many different groups of people, but who all are rightful citizens of it. No Sultanate invaded our country, the Sultanate made our country a part of what it was. Kings fought all the time, invaded all the time back then and made an impact on the culture.

The point is that our past should not dictate our present. What India is and what it should mean to everyone is that it is everything. It is the cultures of all the rulers this beautiful country has ever had, all the religions it has witnessed, all the languages , all the pain, all the highs. 

So, if you want to be pro-India, you have no choice but to be pro-ALL of India.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cast-e Your Eye Over : Happy Ambedkar Jayanti

Image
This one has been a long time coming. I've hesitated to write this blog for years now. Every time I hear the word 'caste' I get an uneasy feeling. Before, that uneasy feeling used to be fear and embarrassment. Who discusses such things? Today, it's guilt. It's guilt for not expressing my position so far. It's guilt for letting every casteist remark slide. It's guilt for not having the courage to challenge the narrative of our upper-class friends. It's guilt for being quiet. It's guilt for being ashamed.  My first interaction with caste was with my civics textbook. I'd heard the infrequent comment at school. 'Nuvvu Reddy caste aa?' or a 'We are proud Brahmins' was not unheard of. But it felt like everyone knew the history of the caste system. It was something that existed ages ago. In today's society, caste didn't matter. As one of my teacher's put it, today, when you go to eat a meal in a restaurant, do you care what c...
Read more

Over the MUN

Image
I used to scoff at the "MUN kid" stereotype. Obnoxious, bratty, condescending. "You don't know that also aa?"  I was not that kid. I was the kid who aced the tests, who would write an opinionated essay but whose ears would block out when handed a microphone. The one that said 'phew' after getting off stage. Going from that to winning awards at Model United Nations conferences was a plot twist Abbas-Mustan couldn't have predicted. 2023 was just one new experience after the other and I forgot to sit back for a minute and reflect on how much I'd changed. It was when my first grade teacher Kamakshi Aunty commented on a profile photo of me addressing a gathering saying "I'm so glad you finally overcame your fear of public speaking" that I realised that a change had happened at all.  In kindergarten, I was given an important set of lines in a skit for Independence Day. I came to school lines in hand, stuffed into an uncomfortable Nehru co...
Read more

Existential Philosophy : Karim Benammar

Image
 As part of my 'Introspection Summer', I signed up for three courses on Udemy, and completed one. 'Existential Philosophy' by Karim Benammar. It not only provided clarity as to existential crises and purpose, but opened up a whole new world of freedom and choice.  Why are we alive? There are two questions that we seek the answers to. How to make a living and How to give shape to our life. We have answered the first question through careers, and providing for our families. We have a world of abundance, where survival is no longer our primary purpose. We have time and energy to do other things, which brings us to the question 'How do we give shape to our life?' Throughout our lifetime we are simply becoming who we are. We are free to live authentically. We are free to sculpt our life, but that is a responsibility, and newsflash says - 'That's scary!'. Why are you alive? That question can make your life meaningful and enjoyable. The answer is to b...
Read more