Citizen of The World

We celebrated our Independence Day on the 15th of August.  “Independence”, a word that is a synonym in this country for patriotism and freedom struggle. Struggling?? Yes we are who does not? Life is a struggle to the rich, the poor, the humans and the animals and all the other living creatures on this planet.

We are patriotic too, but when asked; there are only handfuls who proclaim themselves as Indians. The others are proud to associate themselves as Kannadigas, Tamilians, Teluguites, Marwaris, Maharashtrians, Gujrathis, The Biharis, and Oh how could I forget this… My own brother who once said I am a Hindu Tamilian Brahmin whose mother tongue is Telugu because my father was a Tamilian, my mother a Teluguite, my father seldom got to speak in the house and the only time he opened his mouth was to yawn. He also went on to further explain that he would not eat in any restaurant where the cook is not a Brahmin but was seen happily eating in a Brahmin joint where the guy serving him food was smelling like a skunk. And I on the other hand was given water to drink by a Muslim owner of a garage when I fainted on the road a few days ago or the first sweets that I ate during the new year was prepared by a Christian during the celebrations of Christmas and New year.  We are patriotic to those religions which we consider as religions and not as methods for a happy living.

Now lets move on to Global Indian Patriotism (read on, you will find the meaning to the new word by the end of the paragraph). We find young Software engineers, the think tanks of our country scattered across the world saying that they are from India eying to obtain a green card in the United States so that they become an Indian by origin and a Citizen of America. Also, I will have to add that they are waiting for the blue card process to begin to proclaim themselves as an Indian, citizens of Europe. Again there are only a handful of Indians, all the others are Hindus, Muslims or Christians and they are Kannadigas, Marathis, Bengalis, Tamilians or Teluguites and the list continues

Coming to Freedom, Struggle, it makes me wonder, whether a bunch of diversified patriots are celebrating Independence or the struggle behind it. A Person recently was not allowed to step into a Hindu temple citing that he was a Christian. Now I ask; where was his freedom to enter a sacred place in the country? Did his forefathers not struggle for Independence?