TUM CHALO TO HINDUSTAN CHALE













In today’s Bombay Times, there are these quotes from two of our Bollywood ladies. I am sharing them here:

“When you are patriotic, it comes out in the most subtle ways. So, you don’t have to wait for that one particular day to celebrate it. You can do it all year long. Wearing your patriotism on your sleeve isn’t as important as truly feeling the emotion in your heart.”
-         Alia Bhatt
-          
“One should not be forced to exhibit any sort of patriotism, it has to be organic. We can do a lot of things to show our love for our country, but let’s start from keeping it clean. Treat it like your homes, even when we step out of our houses, we must do that.”
-         Vidya Balan
-          
Today, as we celebrate the 69th Republic Day of our beloved nation, we have to sincerely ask this question: “Are we truly patriotic? Do we truly love our country?”

I have never believed in the chest-thumping ways of either showing how religious I am or how patriotic…Yes, I get goose bumps every time I listen to ‘Jana Gana Mana’, ‘Vande Mataram’, ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram’ and Lata Mangeshkar’s ‘Mere Watan Ke Logo’… I, invariable, get choked up… and cry…

I stand for National Anthem without being asked to… Leave alone ‘forced to’…

I feel the same reverence towards our men and women who serve our nation in the armed forces…

To me, saluting our National Flag is something as fundamental as saluting our own parents. I do it without being prompted to…








As I told you, what I have never believed in – and find it very superficial and ugly – is ‘Showing it off’ by chest-thumping on or two one special days and absolutely ignore those feelings on other days. That’s what Alia Bhatt means when she says, “When you are patriotic, it comes out in the most subtle ways.”

I was terribly disturbed while writing my Blog yesterday. How can some of my fellow countrymen behave so barbarically claiming to be ‘Patriotic’? How can our government look the other way?

So, today, how is the situation different except for saluting our National Flag and singing of National Anthem?

“Tum chalo to Hinustan Chale”… It all boils down to these lines from Gulzar…








Falak pakad ke utho, aur hawa pakad ke chalo,
Tum chalo to hindustan chale,
Lagao haath ke suraj subah nikala karein,
Hatheliyon bhare dhoop aur uchhala karein,
Ufaq pe paav rakho, aur chalo akad ke chalo,
Falak pakad ke utho, aur hawa pakad ke chalo,
Tum chalo, to hindustan chale Hindustan chale...
Chalo!"



I think, if you and I are sincere, we do a great service to our Nation… There are a dozen simple and small ways of showing this sincerity… And, that’s enough to make us feel we are truly patriotic…

Jai Hind… A Happy Republic Day to all.


GERALD D’CUNHA


Pic.: Kamal Kishore Rikhari


Videos: YouTube

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