Indian Republic Day

India our country which is an amalgamation of myriad cultures, numerous languages and varied traditions hosts republic day on the 26th Jan. Year after year we have parades and award distribution that’s aired on national television. But what does the general public do??

Recently in a survey, the Indian public from all the metros were questioned about the significance of this day. The answers really stunned me. Here is the statistics.

The youth today is not bothered about the past nor is it thinking about the present situation. “Well, where is the time?“ is what they say.. Movies and cricket holds their rapt attention. Nothing else really matters.

As for the young generation [aged 25 to 35 years] its another break from their humdrum usual life.. they plan for parties and outings. This day just gets passed for a weekday holiday. The pain of not getting up at 7:00am on a weekday is very enticing for this section.

Then we have the group aged 35 till 50 years who have been though this all their lives and they too seem to hardly take any notice. They just go about running small errands or relaxing with kids.

Finally for the group aged above 50 its all about either getting their monthly health check up done or calling the insurance agents to pay the annual premium.

So here goes our national holiday.. and for those of you who are taking the time to read this article I would like you to pause and think about some of the startling facts about our sovereign nation listed below:

1>Please realize that the India map that we all grew up drawing in our geography class is not the same today. If you try checking in Google maps you will notice how ¾ of our northern national boundary is dotted. This is because they quote it as disputed national boundary.

2>Every nation has its own policies and politician who form the core of that nation. Do realize that there is a certain section which misuses this power. Now we have free trade contracts with other countries. This is hurting our indigenous industries.

3>India today is generally conceived as a developing nation by majority of the people yet in the real sense the whole world is converging. The life expectancy today is close to 65years and the average salary has improved in the last 200 years. Yet this conception of a developing nation has stunted our growth. It has not allowed our country to make independent decisions regarding our national defense. We are always targeted when we go ahead to build our own nuclear artifacts.

There is a lot that we need to do as citizens.. as Abdul Kalam our ex President says don’t think about what the country can do for you… but rather what you can do for the country.

Is there any activity that you were involved in that helped the less fortunate?
Were you part of any fund rising event for cancer or terminally ill patients?
Helped raise awareness about Aids?
Donated to child organizations like CRY?
Helped a girl child study by supporting the same [remember female infanticide is high in India]
Planted trees and made the environment green?
Donated during natural calamities, wars and the like?

I strongly believe that there is a lot of potential in each of us. We are an integral part of our nations tomorrow. I request each of you to think, reflect and do something constructive for the betterment of our dear nation. Remember when your visa’s run out or when war breaks out there is no other place like home.

Sare jahan se acha!!!