My kids grew up on a steady diet of fiery
patriotism. Looking back they laugh, "Mama, you used to always get a
patriotic film for us to see on Independence Day, and Republic Day, and play
Manoj Kumar songs to enthuse us with fervour." With time, I began to
discourage them from leaving the country and enhancing another country with
their talents. "India has given you your education. It should be used for
her good." Even as a teacher, I did the same with my students. Aflame with
love of my country, I tried to inculcate as much of a sense of duty to the
nation and a civic sense as I could.
Looking back today, I don't regret a moment of it, but wonder how, in all conscience, I could do the same thing now. The devil's tandav being brazenly performed by people in power has shaken most of us up. Uncomfortable questions-and answers crop up in the mind. A small voice asks me if I would try to dissuade a youngster today from going abroad if he had a chance, and I have no answer, simply a headful of doubts. Apart from the usual second class citizen and so on, there is less to be said against than for the idea.
While on the subject of our so-called 'leaders', it is a subject that could be discussed till they kingdom come, so it is better to simply leave it at that. Where is a nation headed, if it is being 'led'-if you will- by murk and muck? Today, can one tell a child an inspiring story about a recent, or current national leader? The stream dies up some time after the Bangladesh War. Can we truly expect children today to be inspired by any leading figure in politics? Is there anyone with the moral character of a Shastri, a Nehru?
I distinctly recall women parting with their jewelry to help in the war in 1961. Sweaters were knitted, eatables made and canned, blankets and clothes were sent from many a home so that our soldiers could have some basics at a time when we were sorely unprepared. All at one word from the Prime Minister. If today such a call was made, the concerned politician would probably have shoes and sticks rained on him.
What happened, and why? Like they say, 'Yatha Raja, Tatha Praja'. The defiant question is, 'If THEY can, why not WE?'. Respect for public property has never been our strong point. Now hooliganism and vandalism are the rule. There is so much anger and frustration in people, hunger, unemployment, unmet needs, that abstractions like 'patriotism' make no sense to the man on the street. 'Humein kya diya hai desh ne, jo hum uski parwah karein?'.
Try as one may, there is very little to enthuse our children with. They laugh in our faces-perhaps rightly so-when we try to speak about love for the country. What integrity? What service? What returning to the nation?
Do we have the right answers?
It is no wonder that people's icons and role models today are film stars, cricketers, and industrialists -all with fat purses and influence, none particularly rich in ethics. Young people today want to be wealthy and influential. They want to be looked up to in awe. There is paucity of recruitment to the armed forces. Why risk one's life for the corrupt? Surveys show that the services are last on a youngster's preferred career choices. They love the life of glamour. How empty, how hollow our aspirations have become.
To each his own, as the 'Me First' generation is gradually changing to 'Only Me'. Who would blame them? This is not the India of Gandhi-Nehru-Shastri's dreams. This is not the India our martyrs died for. With what moral worth can we point to the nation as an ideal today?
I often quote Yeats to describe the current scenario:
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
The only hope is that this cycle changes, for nothing remains the same.
Looking back today, I don't regret a moment of it, but wonder how, in all conscience, I could do the same thing now. The devil's tandav being brazenly performed by people in power has shaken most of us up. Uncomfortable questions-and answers crop up in the mind. A small voice asks me if I would try to dissuade a youngster today from going abroad if he had a chance, and I have no answer, simply a headful of doubts. Apart from the usual second class citizen and so on, there is less to be said against than for the idea.
While on the subject of our so-called 'leaders', it is a subject that could be discussed till they kingdom come, so it is better to simply leave it at that. Where is a nation headed, if it is being 'led'-if you will- by murk and muck? Today, can one tell a child an inspiring story about a recent, or current national leader? The stream dies up some time after the Bangladesh War. Can we truly expect children today to be inspired by any leading figure in politics? Is there anyone with the moral character of a Shastri, a Nehru?
I distinctly recall women parting with their jewelry to help in the war in 1961. Sweaters were knitted, eatables made and canned, blankets and clothes were sent from many a home so that our soldiers could have some basics at a time when we were sorely unprepared. All at one word from the Prime Minister. If today such a call was made, the concerned politician would probably have shoes and sticks rained on him.
What happened, and why? Like they say, 'Yatha Raja, Tatha Praja'. The defiant question is, 'If THEY can, why not WE?'. Respect for public property has never been our strong point. Now hooliganism and vandalism are the rule. There is so much anger and frustration in people, hunger, unemployment, unmet needs, that abstractions like 'patriotism' make no sense to the man on the street. 'Humein kya diya hai desh ne, jo hum uski parwah karein?'.
Try as one may, there is very little to enthuse our children with. They laugh in our faces-perhaps rightly so-when we try to speak about love for the country. What integrity? What service? What returning to the nation?
Do we have the right answers?
It is no wonder that people's icons and role models today are film stars, cricketers, and industrialists -all with fat purses and influence, none particularly rich in ethics. Young people today want to be wealthy and influential. They want to be looked up to in awe. There is paucity of recruitment to the armed forces. Why risk one's life for the corrupt? Surveys show that the services are last on a youngster's preferred career choices. They love the life of glamour. How empty, how hollow our aspirations have become.
To each his own, as the 'Me First' generation is gradually changing to 'Only Me'. Who would blame them? This is not the India of Gandhi-Nehru-Shastri's dreams. This is not the India our martyrs died for. With what moral worth can we point to the nation as an ideal today?
I often quote Yeats to describe the current scenario:
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
The only hope is that this cycle changes, for nothing remains the same.
No comments:
Post a Comment