The Jai Ho of Patriotism

Last year, I remember attending a movie on Independence Day, at a PVR cinema hall near me. I don't exactly remember which one, but the rendition of the national anthem screened brought out the patriot within; and, at the end of which there was a natural urge to shout out 'Jai Hind', which I did unabashedly. I guess it takes just one to set off a chain reaction, and what followed was a booming echo created by a large part of the audience. I had a big smile of satisfaction and my accompanying friend a look of disgust. 'This is so embarrassing,' he said. Maybe it was to him, but I would certainly do it again, not that I need to publicly express my patriotism, rather, because it made me happy to express it. Did it make my accompanying friend an anti-national for being embarrassed? Hey! this is a democratic Country and he has an equal right to feeling the way he did or does he...?



The events of the last two months, concerning the "Bharat Mata ki Jai" (BMKJ) row, has made me wonder - what next? So many politicians and so-called leaders have come up with their own versions of what exactly does and does not constitute patriotism is a major source of confusion and embarrassment for me as a citizen of this Nation. Let me lay out a few examples:

A person shouts his or her lungs out to scream whatever constitutes a patriotic slogan but:

1. has engaged in destroying or defacing public property on purpose;
2. has under-reported or evaded taxes or holds undisclosed wealth overseas;
3. has paid bribes to get work done or escape punishment;
4. has taken bribes for doing the work for which that person has accepted wages;
5. has intentionally refused to perform obligated duty;
6. has no sense of civic duties (leave alone know what civic sense means);
7. has profited from a situation of national calamity;
8. has no respect or regard for or the rights of fellow citizens;
9. has participated in activities that are classified as illegal, immoral or unconstitutional;
10. has encouraged hate by any means or created differences between fellow citizens; and much more, but I am sure you get the drift.

Does that person really qualify as a patriot then?

I don't know. So I looked up the definition:

patriotism

ˈpeɪtrɪətɪz(ə)m/

noun

1. the quality of being patriotic; vigorous support for one's country.

   "a highly decorated officer of unquestionable integrity and patriotism"

   synonyms:

   nationalism, patriotic sentiment, allegiance/loyalty to one's country,loyalism; More

anti-national

adjective

1. opposed to national interests or nationalism.

   "an anti-national political agenda"

By that count, the very people who are going around enforcing patriotism may just be guilty of being deemed....

Just before the BMKJ issue erupted, there were a couple of cases where some members of the audience in a movie theater were abused and/or assaulted and/or evicted by fellow patrons for failing to stand up on the screening of the national anthem. Normally, one is expected to follow the custom as a mark of respect even though the law in India does not make it compulsory to do so.

Even before that, back in 2008, India's tennis ace Sania Mirza, the very person who won many honors for this Nation was accused of disrespecting the National Flag when in a TV interview, she was seen sitting with her feet pointing to the flag. Yet, each year, just a day after independence or republic day celebrations, millions of flags, big and small, made of plastic or paper, are thrown away as trash. Disrespectful - yes for sure, anti-national or unpatriotic?

An intellectual debate on the origins of our Nation will be deemed provocative or anti-national by some idiot wanting his or her 10 seconds of fame in any form of media.

I am an Indian and so I ask, where does the word India come from? Is it the Hindi translation of the word "Bharat"? No. The English word India comes from the Persian "Hindiya" (The land of Hindu). What the Persians actually meant was Sindhiya or the land of Sindhu, but the phonetic pronunciation of S in Persian is H. Soon the people in the land of the Sindhu came to be called Hindus. The concept of the land of Bharat comes from the name of a mythical king who at one time ruled over much of what constitutes the Indian sub-continent. In an agrarian and nature grounded civilization, land was addressed as "mother" out of respect for the food, water and all else essential that it provided. So also the rivers, cow and numerous trees were respectfully called mothers. So obviously, the land of Bharat became "Bharat ki Maata" or mother of Bharat. The name Bharat itself is masculine so it is unlikely that the people would have coined a term "Bharat Maata". In the modern context and translated "Mother of Bharat" became "Mother of India" hence "Mother India". At some stage during the freedom struggle, the concept of Mother India was idolized and elevated to a status of a Goddess that accepted people of all faiths as its children.


My interpretation may be questioned and debated and disagreed by others, but what cannot be questioned or debated or disagreed by anyone is that we freed ourselves from foreign occupation in 1947; since then how much better have we become as a civilization been under the rule of our own? If foreigners came to rape, abuse, and pillage "Bharat Maata", how different have her own children been? Worse. Maybe good old Winston had read us well. Each day we hear of one shocking scam after another. We read of the destruction of our resources. We witness blatant disregard for our laws. If we had real respect and patriotism in our blood for the land we live in, this Nation would not have the need for "Swaach Bharat" or "Beti Bachaoo" or "Ganga Bachaoo". If there is a scheme that is needed then it is "Desh Bachaoo" (save the Nation) from its very own people. We are not Indians. We put religion followed by caste followed by a linguistic state before our nationality. So one calls him or herself Hindu - Brahmin - Maharashtrian or a Muslim - Shia - Gujarati so on and so forth, but seldom an Indian.

Then where exactly is India or Bharat Maa in this equation?

Tomorrow is 1st of May. Labour day and  Maharashtra Day. Do I for safety sake end this blog by saying "Jai Maharashtra"?

My embarrassed friend from the first para told me "Dude, just say Jai Ho! Let the other side add the rest".

So a big Jai Ho to whatever.