I love my India... But?

Note: I had written it for myself on one fine day which happened to be 15th August. I kept it in my hard disk as personal notes. But, I thought I should put it here. So I did some minor edits and published. But it is not meant to enlighten anyone and for that matter even myself. It is just an emotional outburst which can happen to anyone, especially people living abroad.

What is Patriotism?
I am not a patriotic guy. I am a common Indian who doesn't get tired of shouting for India when a cricket match is going on. I enjoy seeing good economic numbers and predictions about India. It feels so good people talking about 2020 and 2050 and what India will achieve by that time. Yeah, it feels so good. It feels so good hearing A R Rehman's Maa Tujhe Salaam. It feels so good seeing the tricolor everywhere on 15th August. But I am not patriotic. I somehow do not feel proud about my country. I somehow do not think we are going towards building a great nation. When I am having fun with my friends, I don't mind the jokes like "This is how it happens in India". We have accepted these facts. We have got used to it. Still I love hearing praises about India. I am not able to understand. Is it how we define patriotism?

Why am I thinking like this? What has stirred me today? Maybe it is the effect of staying in a country called South Korea for some time. Incidentally, they share the independence day with India and I got the holiday today here too. And it was just a couple of years ahead of us. This is what makes me think all this. Otherwise, am I bothered? No. I am another common indian trying to make it big for myself. And I am always justifying that whatever I do is also a contribution for the development of our nation.

But I see around me and can't help thinking that what can be done in a span of 60 years. When Japanese left Korea, they didn't leave anything. They even burnt the forests while going and these people were left to die of hunger. But look around now. They have perhaps the best infrastructure in the world. They have more foreign reserves than India (after all the India shining stories). They have a huge list of home grown brands like LG, Samsung, Hyundai, Daewoo, POSCO, which are competing with the biggest guys in US or anywhere in the world. But one can always argue that they are the allies of US and got all the support from them. And India is growing of its own without a godfather. Also, India is a big country with lot of diversity, etc. etc. I am the one who used to talk about the other side all the time, defending India's slow growth as compared to some of the other asian countries.

All that is true. But I am coming to some other point. What I really liked here is the attitude of the people. They really love their country. They do not show it off by celebrating it loudly on liberation day and singing songs all over schools and public ceremonies. They celebrate it everyday. You can feel it in their everyday behavior. They follow some rules/norms as a community which makes you feel that we are all humans and everyone shows respect to fellow humans. Yes, rules are enforced as the fines are big. But it is a part of their everyday life and it seems deep rooted.
And in contrast, we believe that India is a democracy where everyone has the right of doing whatever he wants. We do not feel bad for anything. But it will hurt us if we are suddenly forced to follow these norms. How can you ask for a 1000 bucks fine for littering on the road? How can you ask for a 3000 bucks fine for not stopping for padestrians crossing? How can you fine some car which splashes water on some padestrian? We are a democracy and we have the right to do as we wish. But it is not about enforcement. It is about building a culture. I can talk miles about a Korean national pride and how they really feel about the image of their country. But, I would give just one simple example instead.

It was a cold winter evening. It had snowed last night and in the chilling wind it was even difficult to take your hand out of the leather gloves. Temperature was somewhere around -10 degree celcius. I went to downtown area to pick up a calling card. In a small kiosk, a very old lady was selling the calling cards. I showed her which card I want and paid the money through a small opening and she pushed the card from there. And I removed the wrapper of the card and I was looking around for a trash bin. The old lady opened the window with shivering hands and told me in sign language to hand over the trash to her. I also had a disposable coffee cup crushed after use and she asked me to give her that as well. I was really touched.
A contrasting scene on New Delhi platform. A guy in pretty nice winter clothes (looked like some executive) waiting for Rajdhani express to Mumbai. He goes to a small kiosk for tea. After finishing the tea, he simply marches towards the tracks and throws the cup with great satisfaction. And then when he comes back to his earlier position, I can't help noticing a big trash-bin right next to his luggage.

But I am happy to see that things are changing. When I talk to the younger generation of today, I feel really good about these things. All is not lost. But we have a long way to go. We do not need patriotism with tricolors being waved from every corner of street and people singing vande matram and all kind of patriotic songs unless we have some national pride built into us. I am not even talking about bigger issues of corruption and what not. We have taken certain things for granted as part of our freedom. We have become selfish to the core. Do we ever care for our fellow countrymen? Do we care for how India can be made a better place to live by following simple social norms? On the day of our independence, we need some education on what freedom means.