Published on Thursday, 22 August 2013 16:25 Daily Post, Editorial page
G krishna kumar
What is the opposite of ‘love’? The most straight forward answer is ‘hate’, but ‘indifference’ is an equally correct answer. We (Indians) provide a good example of ‘Indifference’ when it comes to patriotism. Gone are the days when it was mandatory for school children to participate in the Independence day celebrations. Not that the children understood the speeches, but the enthusiasm was palpable. Doordarshan would have grabbed the highest TRP considering people’s interest in watching the Independence Day parade. Now, Independence Day means shopping time with heavy discounts in Malls and retail outlets. Patriotic fervour is limited to hawkers selling plastic flags at traffic signals.
I always wonder why Indians are desperate to live or work abroad even though the standard of living has changed significantly over the past few years. Most embassies in India are crowded as though people are seeking asylum. A cover story in a leading magazine reveals how people spend lakhs of rupees to try to illegally migrate to America. We don’t care about racism, Indians are the number one permanent migrants in many countries. It doesn’t matter if more countries consider us as ‘risky’ and impose bond amount for Visa, we simply are obsessed to live abroad. Even today parents are proudest if their children are abroad. Why are we not as patriotic or proud as Japanese?
We have to shamefully agree that majority of the people including the literate populace in our country do not understand the meaning of our National Anthem. This is indeed unique to India. Perhaps we are in this state due to lack of emphasis on basic aspects of nationalism in the education system. Instead of politics dictating the curriculum, can we inculcate true nationalistic spirit among the children? Can we make it mandatory for every student above 5th standard to understand the meaning and thereby learn to respect the national Anthem?
Military personnel are undoubtedly most patriotic. Can we learn from them? How about implementing mandatory military service for say six months? This will certainly improve respect for the country and make youth far more disciplined. Considering the population it may be a tough ask to implement this. But, can we at least provide an opportunity for every student to interact with military personnel be it Army, Navy or Air Force to understand and appreciate how the armed forces are ensuring a safe India? Such inspiring touch-time programmes may also motivate students to join military service.
G krishna kumar
What is the opposite of ‘love’? The most straight forward answer is ‘hate’, but ‘indifference’ is an equally correct answer. We (Indians) provide a good example of ‘Indifference’ when it comes to patriotism. Gone are the days when it was mandatory for school children to participate in the Independence day celebrations. Not that the children understood the speeches, but the enthusiasm was palpable. Doordarshan would have grabbed the highest TRP considering people’s interest in watching the Independence Day parade. Now, Independence Day means shopping time with heavy discounts in Malls and retail outlets. Patriotic fervour is limited to hawkers selling plastic flags at traffic signals.
I always wonder why Indians are desperate to live or work abroad even though the standard of living has changed significantly over the past few years. Most embassies in India are crowded as though people are seeking asylum. A cover story in a leading magazine reveals how people spend lakhs of rupees to try to illegally migrate to America. We don’t care about racism, Indians are the number one permanent migrants in many countries. It doesn’t matter if more countries consider us as ‘risky’ and impose bond amount for Visa, we simply are obsessed to live abroad. Even today parents are proudest if their children are abroad. Why are we not as patriotic or proud as Japanese?
We have to shamefully agree that majority of the people including the literate populace in our country do not understand the meaning of our National Anthem. This is indeed unique to India. Perhaps we are in this state due to lack of emphasis on basic aspects of nationalism in the education system. Instead of politics dictating the curriculum, can we inculcate true nationalistic spirit among the children? Can we make it mandatory for every student above 5th standard to understand the meaning and thereby learn to respect the national Anthem?
Military personnel are undoubtedly most patriotic. Can we learn from them? How about implementing mandatory military service for say six months? This will certainly improve respect for the country and make youth far more disciplined. Considering the population it may be a tough ask to implement this. But, can we at least provide an opportunity for every student to interact with military personnel be it Army, Navy or Air Force to understand and appreciate how the armed forces are ensuring a safe India? Such inspiring touch-time programmes may also motivate students to join military service.
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