The other day, I was watching "saregamapa-lil champs" with my mom n dad. There was this sweet little girl, hardly 7-8 years old, wearing a cute pink dress n all.
Before her performance, she was introduced by the anchor as "hi itki "deshpremi " ahe mhanun sangu ... ekda hichi mavshi England la challi hoti..tar jatana hi mavshila mhatli=> mavshi, jar tula tikde koni British manus disla tarr tyala jorrat chimta kadh ... tya dushta British lokkanni aplyavar rajya kela na..mala tyanna shiksha karaychiye!! "
The anchor of the program was so impressed by this "brilliant idea" that she said => " pudhchya velela tuzi mavshi England la geli na ki tila sang, mazyakadun pann ek chimta kadhayla!!" And there was a huge round of applause.
Poor kid. Obviously!! She was taught history in school, she was taught that the British ruled our country for so many years, she was taught to believe that British people are cruel, evil. She had mugged up lessons describing "Jallianwala Baug". No wonder she thought British people were monsters. We have not left any other option for her; have we?? Why wasn't she ever taught that there are little kids, who are just as sweet as she is, even there in England?
Right from school, we are taught to say "India is MY country". What does a 5 year old understand by the word "MY" ? Does a 5 year old understand the meaning of "country"?... I doubt even a 50 year old understands that!! We are taught to love our own country, and hate someone else's. We burst crackers when we win against Pakistan, merely because it's not our country, just because it's separated from "our" land by a border that we made ourselves. The border, which is so fiercely guarded by thousands of soldiers.
What is it, that makes them risk their lives? ... and makes them fight against those who are so much like themselves? Can you say that a Pakistani soldier loves his country less than an Indian soldier? ... Both are fighting for the same cause, yet they are fighting against one another.
Why have we never thought about this?...Are we too scared to think about this or we simply don't care?
There are people, who are so much like us, in every country. England, America, China, Pakistan...everywhere!! Every country has students like us ... every country has parents who care for their children ... and every country has their own bunch of criminals, politicians and terrorists too...
We should consider ourselves lucky that we are growing up in peace. We are given a choice not to hate one another. Imagine being born in the 1930s ... well then even I would have been a freedom fighter. But now, in 2008, we use laptops and branded accessories which are imported and yet we pretend to love our country ... yet we hope India makes it big someday...
My question is ... why India? ... why not the world? ... Why can't we all work for the world ... Don't we all have the same two eyes, ears and tiny little brain? :p
So what makes us different? ... skin colour? ... lifestyle? ... religion? ... If it was just that, then why do we have the problem of "north Indians in Mumbai"? We are always searching for differences. We want to live in groups and make our own group better, make our own group win!! While watching cricket, we want "our" team to win just because it's "our team"...(though we know that the other team is probably better :D)
I think this topic is worth a thought...it's all about giving ourselves a chance to choose not to hate someone for nothing...to think twice before saying "India is MY country"...
Can't we all be "Citizens of the World" and just say "India is A country"???...
(Imagine no green cards and visa...:D;)...whoaa)
...relax guyz...its okay...you won't be forced to say "all people of the world are my brothers and sisters" :p:D
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
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