My idle mind fails to understand whether the following examples actually hold true for the objectives they signify.
* The President of India is the supreme Head of State. * But…
Even a no-good complementary Minister of State from an ‘ally’ political party has more clout in the Government than the President can ever dream of.
* India is a Socialist country. (which means, absence of discrimination on the grounds only of caste, colour, creed, sex, religion, or language) * But…
There are hardly any application forms for employment in any sector which don’t ask for the above mentioned specifications. If there is no discrimination, then why ask for such details anyway ?
* India is a Secular country. (which means, equality of all religions and religious tolerance) * But…
Do I even need to mention how tolerant is an individual towards the beliefs of another in the present times ?
* 26th January is celebrated as the Republic Day. * But…
Apart from the people who at least know that such a day exists including those who don’t confuse it with the day India was declared independent, how many Indians actually know what the word Republic means ?
* India’s ‘National Animal’ is the Tiger. * But…
How many people are actually interested in the conditions of the ‘National Animal’ in India’s jungles (apart from throwing stones at the few of them in various zoos) ? They would rather take care of their bullocks, horses or cows, which are an essential part of their businesses.
* India’s ‘National River’ is the Ganges. * But…
Being the ‘holi’ river that it is, people are more concerned about dumping their wastes into it whenever they are not busy immersing ‘idols’ or the leftovers from their prayers into the ‘holi’ waters. It may have been the holiest water body, but now it’s the biggest inland drain.
* India’s ‘National Sport’ is Field Hockey. * But…
One would be expected to know the intricate details of M. S. Dhoni’s pet dog’s favorite food rather than the name of Indian National Hockey Team’s captain. Some would even be bewildered to know that there actually exists a captain of the National Hockey Team.
* Mahatma Gandhi is known as the ‘Father of the Nation’. * But…
In the present times, it is considered cool to abuse the man and ridicule his thoughts. Probably, the only M. K. Gandhi people follow these days is the one printed on bits of blue-green paper called currency notes.
I don’t intend to question the validity of the above examples. I just wish that such things could really represent the thought with which they were initially associated. Not just be depicted as symbols of greatness which have been actually rendered useless.
(Image courtesy : Google Images)
makes sense.
ReplyDeletebt den again, our memory is jus so short term ghajini like dat its pretty impossibl to go all d way baq to wat happend over 60 yrs ago.
ur write up i may say mks for a poignant read tho restrictive to a musing or a rant :)
Sadiya Merchant :
ReplyDelete:-)
We do have a short memory. But the things I pointed out are still used as symbols. I just wanted to emphasize whether there's any use of such symbols if we cannot keep up to what they really symbolize.
Just like the hockey example, what's the use of having it as the National Sport if no one is concerned what's happenning with our hockey ? Can we even compare the status of cricket in India to that of hockey ? My point is, if we really consider hockey to be our premier sport, (as per tradition/history... and I really believe it should) then we should at least treat is as the National Sport.
Hehe. I do rant a lot. Don't I ? :P :D
So true but unfortunate.We say a lot and do a lot on paper...but in reality things are getting from bad to worse.
ReplyDeleteAlka Gurha :
ReplyDeleteYes. But we continue to portray such symbols and refuse to realise the real idea behind them. :-/