The India flavor

There was never a doubt about it, even when I lived in the Gulf; the fact that I am an Indian was never alien to me. I went to an Indian school, took part in Republic day celebrations, Independence Day variety programs and stood up dutifully every time I heard the National Anthem.

When I moved here in the late 90’s thing were different, somehow everyone seems to believe that their culture is fading away, the feeling of being Indian is dying, and we were apparently being culturally colonized.

The older generation, some of them anyway, are of the opinion that because we dress differently and our lifestyle habits are changing we are shelving our Indianness and moving over to something we identify with more, ‘western culture’.

I am willing to bet that it is a person of that opinion in some high position at Inox in India who thought it would be a wise idea to play the national anthem before a movie. I highly doubt that fosters anything but slight irritation.

What the government, who claims that anything remotely western and not in their interest hurts Indian sentiment, needs to realize that just because one may not speak the language fluently or dress in something traditional every day, it doesn’t mean that they are any less patriotic than someone who does.

I am not of the opinion that my Indianness is something forced on me, I love this country for many reasons and am proud to be Indian. Some days it days it might be difficult for me to stand up tall and say I am proud as I have my own little wars with the country. That doesn’t mean I will be the first to raise my arms up and apply for a Portuguese passport and run. If you love something you need to love it inspite of and not because of.

Patriotism to me means different things than participating in a Republic day or standing when the national anthem plays, I believe it goes a little deeper than that. It extends to taking ownership of the country and the situation it is in, not littering on the street, participating in civic movements, being an active citizen and not sitting in a corner and complaining about the government but actually doing something about it.

People say that India is no longer a democracy in the true sense, well that isn’t because things change, it’s because we have changed. If you do not exercise your democratic rights then they cease to exist. People becoming indifferent and giving up of the country is more worrying to me than not attending a flag hoisting ceremony, or listening to English music and wear jeans instead of a sari.

Politicians and other fundamentalists need to stop and dig deeper if they think they can save Indian culture by enforcing a dress code and making regional languages compulsory at schools. The India flavor is something that is rooted in your love for the country and things it means to you. I think there is no way to force that on anyone, you can try but you will fail.

Mark Twain said “India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only”. So fret not, I doubt that anything will be able to take the India flavor out of India.