has anyone noticed that patriotism is turning into this old maid that you dont know what to say to anymore?
i remember school when you were taught to be proud of your flag and such, and i do remember that i considered myself fiercely patriotic in an unquestioning way. but after a really long time, when i tried to visit that part of my brain again, i felt vaguely embarrassed, like when your re-read drafts from third grade of what was going to be the greatest drama ever. Anyway, i coundn't find it anymore, and i dont seem to care.
i dont mean this in a not-black-therefore-white way - pride in one's culture etc is i think inevitable, part of one's identity, but i cannot remember the last time i thought in terms of india vs.
patriotism seems to be this love-that-reasons-not, a sort of unquestioning acceptance of your country, including it's political performance and decisions.
in that sense at least, i dont think we are patriotic in the same way that our parents were.
a world-citizen mentality, maybe fall out of global village idea? i think it is another of those concepts that is rooted in the counter-culture era that has remained to become more and more mainstream.
post your comments.
8 comments:
San,
Good beginning.
Third time lucky, hopefully.
Karthik.
I used to think so too,but I have noticed that I get very defensive when others comment about us. I can really wring some necks when they talk with that funny accent made famous by the Indian guy from the simpsons. I dont like it when others comment about how India is dirty,poor,....I can,but they cant. It might be true but they still cant. May be its just me. May be this doesnt fall under the same category as patriotism. But If I thought of myself as a global citizen I might not be taking this so personally.
who are the global citizens? i think of them as people who want the best of all the worlds. All the time being analytical about the good from one world to the bad from the other.
Making it a point to wear fab india clothes everytime you meet your indian friends at indian parties, is that being patriotic?
Anu, feeling affronted when one says something bad about your country (culture / tradition or anything at all) is natural, because our sense of identitiy, depending upon the context, extends to everything associated to our roots. For example, you feel affronted when a north indian bad mouths a south indian, and you'll feel similarly affronted if, say, a martian were to bad mouth planet Earth. i know that is a strange thought, but do you get what I mean?
In this case, by patriotism, I mean subscribing to every aspect of your country, and viewing non subscription awws treason of sorts. would you sign up to fight a "war" to unquestioningly defend "your country's cause"? I mean war literally and metaphorically of course.
There used to be a sense of pride in being a soldier who unquestioningly obeyed his leaders (ergo his country - an extended bollywood "maa" sentiment). Do we feel that way still?
you said it right in your note to anu about a soldier's sense of pride and his unquestioning obedience to his leaders. that concludes the whole thing i guess. as long as there is a sense of pride, there is patriotism. it might have been an absurd thing to have cited about the fabindia clothes. but i am proud of the fact that these clothes are hand oven and are of superior quality. it gives me an identity and represents the land i come from. there is a sense of pride. could that be called patriotism? or is it always connected to war? or taking sides for the country?
is it out of patriotism that every indian hopes that his country wins the world cup, however hopeless and pathetic the team plays? is patriotism really passé?
"love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it" - is the definition of patriotism as per sources from the net.
Love of country, ok - sacrifice for it......?? To what extent would we go? Unless there is an imminent danger of nuclear bomb landing from somewhere on our roof, how much would we be willing to 'sacrifice' - not more than buying a 5 re flag stamp for Flag Day I guess.
Well, I would not prefer to associate defending one's nation (I concur with Sandy's view o this) and feeling proud when wearing fabindia or anything similar to 'patriotism'.
What we are willing to sacrifice at the individual level will be a good indicator of what is left of patriotism though looking around, I can say with certainity - "Yes - patriotism is passe."
Or maybe the litmus test would really be when a bomb does fall on our roof and I hope that doesnt come to pass in the next million years - I am in no hurry for the litmus test results - arrey pass me the chips.....zzzz
Patriotism is passe but the usage of patriotism is effectively seen.
Patriotism is a topic which can be used to make some quick bucks which certainly the citizens know.
This is the era of Plastic Money / swiss accounts
No Offence meant gone are the days when people would sacrifice for the country. Certainly NOT ME.
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