Today, I am writing after a long time as today was a very special day for me...my best Independence day ever. Today for the first time I can proudly say that I did not miss being in the armed forces of India as while standing at Urdu Park in front of Jama Masjid and at Yamuna Pushta next to a crematorium, when I saw the tricolor flying high on a flimsy bamboo pole surrounded by citizens who did not even have citizen rights yet they all knew "Jan Gana Man"; I had a deep sense of pride and an even deeper sense of mission...a call to arms as I never felt even while in the services.
@ Yamuna Pushta
Yamuna Pushta in Delhi happens to be the largest concentration of drug addicts in Delhi in a single area and maybe in India and the world. Here the homeless and the destitute who have been evicted from their communities due to their addiction to hard drugs spend their lives and take drugs till the time they succumb to their addictions and then they are deposed off in the Yamuna which conveniently takes away their nameless, faceless identities and no one notices. These citizens about 3,000 to 5,000 in Yamuna Pushta and Yamuna Bazaar are not even citizens of this country although some of them have stayed at the same location for 15, 20 and some even for 50 years. YET today, when probably for the first time, they were asked to stand and salute our National Flag, they proudly did so and when asked who were they...they all promptly answered "Hindustani"!
@ Jama Masjid
Later in the day, I went to Jama Masjid which has 10,000 homeless and destitute within a 2 square kilometer area. Here came the proudest moment of my life probably where when I entered one of the homeless shelters which is nothing more than a tin shed, I saw again the tricolor fluttering high against the majestic backdrop of the Jama Masjid. When the national anthem started, then one and all joined in, all sang and ate the ladoos of independence, celebrating the idea of India and for that moment being proud Indians. This made me smile as I realized that my nation lived in their hearts as much as it did in mine but could not fathom how they could be so forgiving when the Indian state had given them nothing, not even recognized them as citizens in 65 years and they always lived in the constant shadow of being called "Bangladeshis", "Thieves", "Terrorists" etc. etc. but an old lady of nearly 70+, there recalls hearing the speeches of Jawahar Lal Nehru from the ramparts of the same red fort many years ago when she was a child and since then the Indian state has given her nothing , "Not eve a balti of pani" but when you ask her if she remembers the National anthem, she sings it loudand clear and even hoisted the National flag today. I salute Jameela di as being a true Indian.
I realized today that my country is special, the idea of India is special as patriotism is not just a middle class phenomenon. It resides in the hearts of every man, woman and child who has been born in this land, especially in the hearts of those who have nothing to gain from being an Indian yet consider themselves as much an Indian as us. I realized that an id card or a passport does not make me an Indian. My India lives in my heart, same as it lives in the heart of fellow citizens whom we easily label as traitors, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis or plain simple fail to register their existence.
I also realized today that India is not a natural country with every state being a country in itself. India is an idea that lives in the heart of every Indian, it is an idea of plurality, of secularism, of tolerance, of humility, of peace, of love and of universal acceptance. I today realized that the only way that my nation will be secure is when the tricolor will fly in the hearts of every maoist, in the heart of every kashmiri, in the heart of every naga, kuki, mizo, bodo and every Indian and for that to happen the tricolor needs to reach out to its citizens NOT through the barrel of a gun but by making them fall in love with this unique idea of a nation called "INDIA".
Happy Independence Day and JAI HIND!!
@ Yamuna Pushta
Yamuna Pushta in Delhi happens to be the largest concentration of drug addicts in Delhi in a single area and maybe in India and the world. Here the homeless and the destitute who have been evicted from their communities due to their addiction to hard drugs spend their lives and take drugs till the time they succumb to their addictions and then they are deposed off in the Yamuna which conveniently takes away their nameless, faceless identities and no one notices. These citizens about 3,000 to 5,000 in Yamuna Pushta and Yamuna Bazaar are not even citizens of this country although some of them have stayed at the same location for 15, 20 and some even for 50 years. YET today, when probably for the first time, they were asked to stand and salute our National Flag, they proudly did so and when asked who were they...they all promptly answered "Hindustani"!
@ Jama Masjid
Later in the day, I went to Jama Masjid which has 10,000 homeless and destitute within a 2 square kilometer area. Here came the proudest moment of my life probably where when I entered one of the homeless shelters which is nothing more than a tin shed, I saw again the tricolor fluttering high against the majestic backdrop of the Jama Masjid. When the national anthem started, then one and all joined in, all sang and ate the ladoos of independence, celebrating the idea of India and for that moment being proud Indians. This made me smile as I realized that my nation lived in their hearts as much as it did in mine but could not fathom how they could be so forgiving when the Indian state had given them nothing, not even recognized them as citizens in 65 years and they always lived in the constant shadow of being called "Bangladeshis", "Thieves", "Terrorists" etc. etc. but an old lady of nearly 70+, there recalls hearing the speeches of Jawahar Lal Nehru from the ramparts of the same red fort many years ago when she was a child and since then the Indian state has given her nothing , "Not eve a balti of pani" but when you ask her if she remembers the National anthem, she sings it loudand clear and even hoisted the National flag today. I salute Jameela di as being a true Indian.
I also realized today that India is not a natural country with every state being a country in itself. India is an idea that lives in the heart of every Indian, it is an idea of plurality, of secularism, of tolerance, of humility, of peace, of love and of universal acceptance. I today realized that the only way that my nation will be secure is when the tricolor will fly in the hearts of every maoist, in the heart of every kashmiri, in the heart of every naga, kuki, mizo, bodo and every Indian and for that to happen the tricolor needs to reach out to its citizens NOT through the barrel of a gun but by making them fall in love with this unique idea of a nation called "INDIA".
Happy Independence Day and JAI HIND!!
:)
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