Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Independence Day Greetings to all

Independence Day , 15th August  is just a couple of days away
And if I may be allowed an honest expression of what my heart tells me , I dare say , on social networking sites all kind of celebrations and debates begin like a  cloud burst , and rather early too , in a flood like out-pour where everyone is  trying to score quick loyalty points  .... I may be accused of doing the same :-)
Loyalty shows through deeds more than words ... Hence let my words be .... Carry on with your deeds dear friends :-D

Would like to share some interesting things I noticed in the past few days .... we Indians have been offered ways to reiterate and display our Indian-ness for this one special day  ....
Hence there are among other things:
1) A collection of  ring tones playing classic patriotic numbers to choose from,  that will greet everyone we call from our phone on 15th Aug and amply convey how patriotic we are

2) There are also dupattas and stoles in tri-colour, saaris with tri colour borders and pallus and other accessories to wear for Independence Day outings

3) If you choose to send messages instead of calling , there are a handsome number of "Ready-to-use"  quotes and tri-colour images celebrating this sacred National Day  available on the net to wish friends and family

Every celebration is now becoming class-oriented , limiting the reach of joy to a particular class of society ....
It is a  class that can afford mobile phones  and has access to the internet , essentially the moneyed and educated class whose morals are strikingly ironical ...
They may themselves break traffic rules but preach righteousness to others

But there is another class of human beings too who start celebrating  this day well in advance
They are those under-nourished and  malnourished children , who should have ideally been in school , and at least been provided one balanced meal a day , selling  replicas of The Indian National Flag on traffic signals


Ever since I started using messaging and Facebook , I have almost stopped using the phone for its basic purpose i.e calling people for a conversation , hence  the ring tones provided will not put across  my patriotic feeling to any audience
And in my opinion the other options available do convey greetings and best wishes , but  they are not my own words
Therefore I am writing down my feelings ...in my own words

I feel that it will be a much more profound greeting even if the words are few , but are our own and the  feelings come from our heart
The only compliment I like to give myself often  is that I would like to think of myself as  a very grounded person
Usually I buy clothes , food and other requirements from local neighbourhood sellers
Also I prefer Indian  fruits and vegetables , Indian cosmetics , Indian toiletries , Indian tourist destinations etc because I think this is the way we can help our lesser privileged countrymen and  in effect  serve our country a wee bit better

While I wish every Indian across the globe A Very Happy and Proud Independence  Day , I wonder if instead of asking foreign brands to come and  flood our markets , would it not be better for our governments to promote the local artisans and farmers  to improve their products and take that to the foreign market ... ?
Would that not be a more dignified way of  presenting ourselves to the world ?

Let this Independence Day be an opportunity for all of us to reflect a little and to look back a little 
Instead of just a "one day celebration"  let this be a process where we celebrate India every day not with token  ring tones and dupattas and stoles but with a sincere promise ...
Let us promise ourselves to put in our efforts to make India the nation  where our diversity is the strength of the masses ,  not a plaything in the hands of vested interests to exploit and loot us and our Motherland

Happy and Beautiful Independence Day Thoughts and Wishes to All
God Bless

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Jai Hind!

sujata said...

Rightly said Zohra...we need to celebrate Independence Day not on just one day. Actually we need to feel patriotic every second and work towards our motherland.

words-n-motion said...

Ironically, even in the US I end up buying cotton ready-to-wear clothing that are tagged "Made in India". My groceries still include hing, gehoon atta, Basmati rice, moong and kaala and kabuli channa, and green vegetables that are unique to apna desh. Whether or not the government will have initiatives that genuinely promote Indian arts and artisans, there are diehard desis who strive to keep art, language and old Indian values alive. I certainly pride myself as among those. 'Vande Mataram' invariably draws tears from my eyes, no matter when I listen to it; and Jana Gana Mana is ingrained in every pore of my being... none of this is visible though. I do not live in India, hence often accused of having left mere desh ki dharti... ab kya karein, taqdeer can take you kahaan-kahaan kissey pataa rehta hai, kaun jaantaa hai. Your post, Zohra, my friend, makes much sense. ~ pictowrit