I love listening to radio (especially AIR FM Gold) nowadays
because closer to Independence Day they have started playing patriotic songs. Even now I get goosebumps
when I listen to Taqat Watan
Ki Humse Hai, Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyoon or Saare Jahan
Se Acha. In fact I like them so much that I would sing along loudly (very
loudly sometimes) as I drive to work. I am also fond of Manoj Kumar songs like Hai Preet
Jahan Ki Reet Sada and of course, Mere Desh Ki
Dharti.
Sad to notice that as soon as the kid smells anything weirdly
patriotic on television, she would change the channel, except for Jan 26th
parade, which she likes. By the way, she likes the parade because we had the
good fortune of watching and experiencing the actual Parade first hand
two-three years back.
In today's atmosphere of negativity, I find it difficult to
inculcate patriotism. I actually shuddered when she started questioning me
about the functioning of democracy. I think my generation accepted the relevance
of democracy in India without an iota of doubt. We are the largest democratic
nation in the world and my generation was happy with this. After all, what
could be possibly wrong with a `Government of the people, by the people and for
the people.' Not so the coming generation.
An incident which has had huge impact on my kid is the Delhi Gangrape
Case and the subsequent protests. "We protested and the public opinion was
very strong...so what happened, the case is yet to be decided," “What is
the point of democracy if our voice is not heard?”, “What is the relevance of
public opinion when more than half of the country is illiterate?”, “Look, what
is happening to Durga Shakti and you yourself told me that she was just doing
her job…” so on and so forth. Last but not the least was the cruel
statement, “I think we make a big hue and cry about democracy when we should
just accept that it is not working.” Some questions I am able to answer and others
I avoid.
How do I explain to a 12 year old that in spite of goof-ups (horrible,
horrible goof-ups), Indian democracy survives (I can no longer say thrives,
even to myself). Is it not true that we have had a Dalit President, should we
not be proud of the fact that it was public opinion that ensured that Jessica
Lal’s killer is in jail today, is it not commendable that Durga Shakti has
garnered support from every logical mind in this country, should
we not appreciate that a person who started as tea-seller on Ahmedabad Bus
Station (Narendra Modi) is the Prime Ministerial candidate of BJP.
Unfortunately, I do realize that these are but a few instances…the general
consensus is that the democracy is under threat, has been under threat for a
long time. A sentimentalist in me tries
to argue and debate when the writing is on the wall.
Hope by the time she grows up, she would like the patriotic songs
as much as I do and will not give up on the idea of India.
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