Misdirected patriotism

"India Jeetega" belted out the latest chips ad on TV the other day. And I was reminded of all the times when we suddenly remember our patriotism - on the cricket field in a match against Pakistan and an LOC war with the same guys. Countless number of times I have wondered about the true meaning of patriotism. WHAT EXACTLY IS PATRIOTISM? Is it belching out songs like "Sabse Aage Honge Hindustani" or the famous Govinda hit from the eighties "It happens only in India" with Shilpa Shetty pouting and gyrating to the same song. Honestly these songs make me want to puke let alone pull at my patriotic heartstrings. I just dont see how shouting at the rooftops declaring 'India is the best" will actually make India the best. Or if the objective is to make the average Indian proud by drumming the fact into him, well, they sure are underestimating the IQ of the average. If the objective is to declare it to the world then they better think twice cause we look ridiculous. It will be akin to seeing an Ethiopian or Somalian band singing about plenty in their land. There is a condescending humour in watching a less developed nation making proclamations about their greatness when milllions in the country are dying of hunger and people have become immune to injustice and corruption and inequality is rising by the minute. Obviously the ones having the luxury of singing such nonsense belong to the higher end of the food spectrum. Love for my nation is going to the last thing on my mind when my children are starving and my tin roof is leaking and my brother is contemplating suicide due to inability to meet payments. Or is it singing Sare Jahan Se Accha or Vande Mataram on Republic day against the unfurling of the national flag. Whom am I expressing my love to. Am I expressing my love for the real estate that constitutes India or the people that constitute the inhabitants of the land. If it is the latter, I am finding it extremely difficult to correlate the emotion on people's faces when they hear the national anthem to the actual love if any that they exhibit towards the object of their patriotism. Such apathy and indifference to the injustice happening everywhere and what exactly is making them so proud. Would love to hear from everybody on this.

My first blog

Hmm, so here I am. Having created a blog months back, today I actually got around to try posting an article. So what do I write about. I think I will just go with the flow and not limit myself to any genre ranging from the humorous to the serious. This way I might just find my forte. Just realising I am just penning my thoughts. So hmm, since we jut crossed it, let me write about Valentines day. My earliest memories of Valentines day dates back to Chennai when the Archies shops sprung up all over the place. My sister used to spend little fortunes buying inconsequentials in the name of gifts for all her friends mostly momentoes. I always wondered why isnt that she could not buy something more useful than a 2 inch puffy doggy sitting on a golden chair or a little teddy bear with the I love you sprawled across its chest. She was the pampered in the family. almost like she was born to be cuddled and cooed all her life and the trend continues till date. Ha, dont get me wrong, no sibling rivalry here, cause I was one of the major cuddlers then and now. Anyways, talking about sisters, aint I glad I have one albeit a little selfish but mostly loving one, a little sister cum part daughter, she has a great sense of humour and can light up my most bluish days. I remember driving off with her on my Kinetic (I used to be a little rash in those days with my driving), and she holding on for dear life and us missing a paan spit just as we overtook a bus and her remarking with much valour "Justi missi". Today when I see my daughters I hope they share the same camraderie that I do with my sis. Today she is all grown up and responsible (nah, whom am I kidding) but she is still the same old sis who rushed and hid her face in my dress when I did the dark room, blanket over face and torch below monster.