Congratulations, our apathy just turned 63, how about bringing a homage wreath to commemorate this! so what did you do on this "holiday", had an independence cocktail?, watched the independence day "special" movie ?, enjoy the extended hours of shopping bliss at the neighbourhood mall offering 80+20% discount on inflated prices ?, or just woke @ 11 rubbing eyes basking under the glory of the "independence" of not having to work on a weekday and prospects of an extended weekend, or enjoy the near customary 15th august rains....... ( why do you have to sit and kvetch the whole day crackatdawn). it is easy for people to cite the vicissitude of life as alibi, some take the easy route, denounce the country talk about political demagoguery and feel exonerated. To begin with the succinct argument for all this is " cut the crap! get real"

This is what people say

Excuse 1: Its about having it in hearts, "i dont believe in showing of! it so kitsch!"

Hell yes! the best subterfuge for all the lassitude associated with this day, it's dil ka maamla afterall, scores of our flicks have justified lame plots on this ground. ( "I don't have to watch the independence day parade to prove my "patriotism", it's in my heart....uh! it hurts") and so right are these people, they are doing their bit! they are part of our burgeoning IT industry, service industry or whatever, and they are bringing greenbacks for "us" oh! i missed that, YOU are building the nation and not doing a JOB!, silly me, its always "others" who are flouting traffic norms, paying bribes when caught without license, rigging electric meters to run 3 ACs 24 hours, enchroaching public land, embezzling money meant for the destitute. Our Indian-ness is worth a kick in ass, as plain as it can be, and the earlier we learn it the better.

Excuse-2: "Yaar! no one is doing anything around me! what difference would it make"

Bingo! no one is doing anything, and one will ever do anything, such narcissists we have become that the only thing that matters to us is " i don't wanna make of fool of myself" by hoisting flag in my backyard, and "embarrass" myself by singing the anthem "alone" while "others" watch..... yeah that's for the octogenarians, they did whatever they wanted, no point in staying rooted to the past anyways,isn't it? and about the difference, we have never made any, all we can do is traduce about everything around us, shrugging off in the end, and walking way satiated! Patriotism has become a night stand for us,or better its like the latest tad of fuck-friend, enjoyment without strings attached... we screw the mistress called "liberty" everyday and the irony is prostitution is illegal.........

Excuse -3: I cannot stand the crap they show on TV or those silly Independence day Dance competitions, karaoke nights

That should have had been good, but turned out to be worse. The mavericks of our generation who lambast procedures and traditions as stifling ,take refuge in something 'liberating' and carry the "hip" tag. while the good thing is that they want to change things, yeah we need it, but what do they do, well......um.......um........um....... nothing...... runaway from reality....... i agree everyone has its own set of preferences choices, but the fact is that we celebrate diwali, holi for whatever reasons we have to, we do it year after year, and when it comes to our identity( yeah we remember our dark blue passports when we are racially abused, profiled at airports)what are we doing? its about doing things, and not just being hypocrite, yeah that's what we are, plain truth!

Excuse-4: There is nothing that will do to change anything lets move on!

and you read through all this! enjoy your slumber, amen for the decadent nation.......

However pessimist i may sound, this is the truth, the everything of our banal existence..... change is however plainly a matter of discretion for those who wish to be caught unnerved when the juggernaut of change rolls in.............

2 comments:

  1. Akhil.... said...

    its always difficult to accept the truth... but all that's written is true to the core. This is evident by the way people are reluctant to stand in the honour of the national anthem, be it a cinema hall or a social gathering.
    There are so many issues which stand very closely related to the topic and require our immediate attention. We need to understand that patriotism is not just about watching cricket matches, or discussing Sharm El Sheikh or exploring the implications of hindutva from every possible angle. There is more to patriotism and the sooner we get it , the better it 'll be for us and the nation.

    This was the kind of stuff that i was waiting to get from you.It was again spot-on in bringing the messege to the foreground.
    There's a request yaar, do come up with more of such issues which concern to the larger section of the society or the nation as a whole....

    great job....  

  2. Pooja Bhat said...

    reflection!