Are we the youth not patriotic? – think again

An appeal by a 20 year old Indian

Strength of India , as compared to China is its youth. Average age of India is 25 years while that of China is 33 years. It is the youth who will make all the difference in times to come for India .

I do not like to generalize, but most Indians who are 40 plus consider today’s youth as ‘not patriotic’. Patriotism per-se means love for the nation, and we youth have no dearth of it.

As youngsters, born in independent India, we haven’t had the opportunity to see how our people toiled for a century to attain freedom. Most of us have not witnessed the four wars that were fought by our Armed forces in 1947, 1962, 1965 and 1971. Thus, we may not feel our eyes watering we hear Lata Mangeshkar’s ‘Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon’, the song that immortalized the sacrifice of Indian soldiers on icy Himalayan peaks in 1962 and which brought tears to the eyes of Pt. Jawahar lal Nehru.

Our interest in reading documents about great freedom fighters and freedom struggle, if any, is also academic, as our generation fails to really connect to that era. That, however, does not mean that we are not mindful of the hard work of our countrymen, because of whom, we’re living a dream life in a vibrant and growing India, which has created a niche for itself in the world.  It’s just that we do not identify with the spirit of freedom the way our elders may, because our relations with that era are not even second hand but third hand. Merely because of this disconnect we should not be classified as less patriotic. It only makes us patriotic in our own special way: the youth’s way.

Had the youth lacked devotion for the nation, where would the Navy, Army and Air Force have got their new recruits from? Those who join the forces are ready to give their life and that too without asking for anything more than a remuneration to keep their family alive. Mind you, this remuneration is exactly same as the country pays to its Babus and Bureaucrats. While the whole country works only eight hours  for that pay and gets paid overtime for every extra hour, it is they who work tirelessly 24 X 7, in adverse conditions and not even talk of overtime, so that their countrymen can have a good night’s sleep, day after day. Without the youth, the defense would have been crippled with only oldies and vacancies plaguing the Armed forces. Since this sorrow situation hasn’t materialized, one can safely conclude that the belief that today’s youth is ‘not patriotic’ is nothing but a perception.

What would have happened of Indian culture, values, tradition and way of life had it not been due to joint effort of our parents and us youngsters. Our parents brought us up in a cultured environment where traditions and modernism go hand in hand. We the youth have retailed and nurtured the Culture and Values of  being Indian, while borrowing  certain things from foreign land which is attributed to our curiosity.

Dressing in western attire, talking in English, and having Mcdonalised our diet doesn’t eat away our indiannesss. Macdonald or not, when it comes to idli-dosa, chicken tanduri or dal-bati we are most enthusiastic. You must understand that Mcdonalisation is part of being hep in the crowd. Even while we may be living in a foreign land, working on foreign shores and earning in foreign currency, our traditions are practiced with same fervor, if not more. In whatever foreign land we maybe in, our earnings are sent back to India, to help our families and also help the Indian economy grow with this added Forex capital.

Youth isn’t selfish, though it may be portrayed so. We may be more ‘me driven’ but we also invert the ‘m’ often enough to become ‘we driven’. On some planes we’re a force that is hard to beat. Had we not been a collective bunch, Jessica Lal, Matoo and such other cases including the quota debate would not have become a mini uprising. On some other, we can outwardly look selfish and overtly driven by success, though it isn’t so in reality. We would prefer to be indianised in competition, treating others as peers, but the globalization of Indian economy forces us to be excessively competitive; if I may say, competitiveness is forced on us. Rather than critcising us, one should sympathise with us because we are the victims of circumstances.

We youth don’t claim to be saints. We do go wayward on certain counts, but the older generation has always been there to steer us away from them. Without the elders we youth would be like a ‘rudderless’ boat, just swaying in turbulent waters. What makes us killers of a sort is the fact that we’re brought up the right way, as balanced individuals. Add to it the fact that no matter how low we may fall; our families would always support us and help us rise, which is typically an Indian phenomenon. The security of Indian ‘family’ system gives us the courage to move ahead and realize our individual dreams and our dreams for India because we fully well understand that we have a fall back option - our family.

The youth also has modern ways of celebrating Indian achievements. We take pride in cheering for India in every sports event with tricolour painted on our faces. We feel exhilaration in watching Aamir Khan in Rang De, and we feel the shivers while watching Ajay Devgan in Bhagat Singh. We feel overwhelmed when any Indian does genius feats. Our pulse races when we hear the National Anthem. We’re filled with energy when the song ‘suno gaur se duniya walon-buri nazar na hum pe dalo-chahe jitna zor lagalo-sabse aagey hongey Hindustani…’is played. We keenly track our industry and stock markets. We do this and so much more. We are patriotic, just that our ways of expressing it are different (read modern, perhaps even whacky).

We try to do things differently, we try to innovate, and we try to show our love in our own ways. We wish to ask, what more we can do to prove our patriotism? Do we scream our lungs out, or do we go out chanting patriotic songs in ‘Prabhat Pheries’ (morning marches), tell us what we can do to get out of our stereotype portrayal of being ‘not patriotic’?

We’ve conquered the air, water and land, but we’re yet to conquer every elderly Indian’s heart. We don’t want to be known as a bunch of selfish people, who’re money-minded and just looking for some fun, but as individuals who’re dedicated to the nation with the same affection that the generations before us were. Our methods and ways to make India the shining star (that it was in the past) may be different, but we share the same cherished goal and the vision for modern India with our elders.

We know we’re making progress, but sincere efforts always pay off and the speed of progress shall become a typhoon in times to come. In the end ‘Hum Honge Kamyab’ (we shall succeed) in this race to balanced progress, and young Indians are here to make India a winner as much our elders did in their times. And India shall be a winner, if you, our elders, put faith in us, support us in this endeavor and appreciate the efforts that are being done with due understanding that we converge for India. The situation isn’t as bleak; there is plenty of light seen at end of this tunnel to progress.

On behalf of young India, I’d like to end this appeal with a quote-

A man's feet must be planted in his country, but his eyes should survey the world.

George Santayana

Please support us and guide us as we survey the world, while our hearts beat for India, our blood is Indian and every drop of our sweat is shed to do something for India.

Koi Shak (any doubts)?

(1345 words)

(15 August 2007)

(Statistics for average age used in opening quote is taken from http://www.fool.co.uk/news/investing/investing-strategy/2006/08/09/china-v-india.aspx)