120 years ago, the Indian soil was blessed with the fiercest patriots of the time. The one who waged a genuine aggressive fight against the British through the Azad Hind Fauj and by allying with the Axis powers. Whose contribution to the Indian Struggle is a legend to treasure for times to come and whose spirit of patriotism is to be treasured for centuries.
Over centuries, the conception of patriotism has changed. From the crusades, consolidation of empires, monarchy, conquering territories, rise of feudalism and its collapse, imperialism and colonialism and the fight against them, unification of provinces to democratization, patriotism has come a long way.
The word Patriotism or nationalization still has that cliched connotation of only fluttering flags, bravehearts sacrificing their lives, movement leaders being imprisoned. Though these constitute a great part of the term, patriotism has enveloped a wider area.
This is the era of rapid globalization. Issues of a country are not specific to it but subjects of international deliberation. For instance, in the political sphere, not just the US but the whole world is expressing its apprehensions of the new US President; in the cultural sphere, our putrid and unfair caste system has invited criticism from the world over; almost all nations scorn at Kim Jong Un, et al.
Patriotism in today's time is more associated with making our nation look better, internationally. A nation is identified with the level of happiness of its people, its culture, its economic development, etc and there are structured parameters for evaluating them. The HDI Index, Ease of doing business index, GNH indicator and the like. For those who don't bat an eyelid before starting to blame the administration and government, besides government schemes and programs, there is an enormous lot we can do at our level to improve our performance.
Mundane doings tend to skip our comprehension of an enthusiastic feeling of patriotism like:
-Keeping our streets and neighbourhood clean;
-protecting our cultural heritage;
-not wasting resources like food, water, electricity, etc ;
-doing away with gender-based stereotypes and discrimination
-standing up for those in need
-making the visitors from abroad safer and welcome;
-respecting our indigenous markets, culture and art
-not engaging in corrupt practices
-not indulging in excessive consumption of alcohol, drugs or tobacco
-most importantly, using only merit as a basis of distinction in people
There's a lot to be done but nothing spectacular to be done. Basically, the key to national progress begins with just us being better humans.
Over centuries, the conception of patriotism has changed. From the crusades, consolidation of empires, monarchy, conquering territories, rise of feudalism and its collapse, imperialism and colonialism and the fight against them, unification of provinces to democratization, patriotism has come a long way.
The word Patriotism or nationalization still has that cliched connotation of only fluttering flags, bravehearts sacrificing their lives, movement leaders being imprisoned. Though these constitute a great part of the term, patriotism has enveloped a wider area.
This is the era of rapid globalization. Issues of a country are not specific to it but subjects of international deliberation. For instance, in the political sphere, not just the US but the whole world is expressing its apprehensions of the new US President; in the cultural sphere, our putrid and unfair caste system has invited criticism from the world over; almost all nations scorn at Kim Jong Un, et al.
Patriotism in today's time is more associated with making our nation look better, internationally. A nation is identified with the level of happiness of its people, its culture, its economic development, etc and there are structured parameters for evaluating them. The HDI Index, Ease of doing business index, GNH indicator and the like. For those who don't bat an eyelid before starting to blame the administration and government, besides government schemes and programs, there is an enormous lot we can do at our level to improve our performance.
Mundane doings tend to skip our comprehension of an enthusiastic feeling of patriotism like:
-Keeping our streets and neighbourhood clean;
-protecting our cultural heritage;
-not wasting resources like food, water, electricity, etc ;
-doing away with gender-based stereotypes and discrimination
-standing up for those in need
-making the visitors from abroad safer and welcome;
-respecting our indigenous markets, culture and art
-not engaging in corrupt practices
-not indulging in excessive consumption of alcohol, drugs or tobacco
-most importantly, using only merit as a basis of distinction in people
There's a lot to be done but nothing spectacular to be done. Basically, the key to national progress begins with just us being better humans.
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