Did our legendary leaders blunder somewhere during their struggle for freedom? Did they only yearn for freedom and failed to take necessary steps to build a truly independent India? Did they ever wonder, even for a moment, that this nation – proud of its religious, cultural and linguistic diversities, would live in harmony and peace once liberated from the oppressive British rule? Was it a mere show of patriotism and an urge to uphold freedom ignoring what worse situations this nation might have to face after oppression was over and freedom was earned?
Somehow I feel we were better off under the oppressive British rule than we are today in this 'free India'. We might fail to notice it because human beings are highly adaptive to changing socio-economic conditions, but we are living in conditions that are miserable. The rising costs of living, the declining standards of it, the ever spreading corruption, the ever growing feelings of hatred and intolerance, terrorism – from both outside and within, the rife feeling of helplessness. Has anything really changed since 1947?
Yes, we have become a "sovereign, socialist, democratic republic". Or have we? Whatever those words mean, they mean something wonderful and colourful and add to our sense of patriotism, don't they? But what is this thing called 'patriotism'? Sure, we feel great thrill in shouting "Bharat Maata Ki Jai!" and "Vande Maataram!" or in holding and waving the tri-colour flag. But that's it. Patriotism ends there. We go home and pick a fight with a neighbour who belongs to a certain caste or religion, honk incessantly on roads because we need to get somewhere fast, chew tobacco and spit on roads, get drunk and behave like animals, throw garbage on roads or in other people's unused land, pollute wells and rivers, vote for a certain man in elections because he belongs to our caste or religion or to a party to which our family has pledged allegiance, go online and take part in a gross debate over whether it is Hinduism or Islam that is great, say bad things about Pakistan because doing so instantly makes us feel more patriotic, and on the eve of Independence Day, stay awake till midnight to feel the moment of freedom, listen to "Jana Gana Mana" or even sing it at schools and offices in the morning without as much caring about which language it is written in and what the words actually mean.
Democracy doesn't work in India because we lack judgment and discretion and our opinions are either borrowed from others or are a result of stereotyped thinking. It doesn't work in India because religions and languages still rule over people's hearts and minds. It doesn't work in India because we feel content and satisfied by simply arguing over scams and scandals our ministers and bureaucrats commit on a regular basis. Democracy is for people who can dare say and do something against some long standing norms and traditions when those norms and traditions stop making sense.
Unfortunately, this is not the image of just one whole problem but rather a knot in a complex system of problems. As such, there is no single solution to it. We as a nation need to undergo a series of changes and reformations and bring about a renaissance which we then need to sustain for a longer period of time until all mess is cleaned up. Of course, that can't happen overnight. It's a slow process, almost unnoticeable, like evolution. But we need to find a way to start it. We can begin by rethinking "patriotism" and understanding that mere shouting of slogans, blaming of politicians and making fun of a certain country doesn't amount to being patriotic. We should then ask ourselves if we can give up all sentiments of religion, caste and language for the greater good – for one strong, unified "sovereign, socialist democratic republic" and we will know that we can do it if we are truly patriotic.
That will be the beginning of the Indian Renaissance – the onset of a dream coming true, of transforming India into a truly free country where, as envisioned by Tagore, "the mind is without fear and the head is held high, where the world is not broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls, where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit".
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