Patriotism - Just Being!

The 66^th Republic Day celebrations this year were special indeed with the world’s most influential person, Mr. Obama, sharing the stage with Mr. Modi, touted to greatly influence India’s destiny as a ‘superpower’. While the visit quite predictably got embroiled in political polemics, it can’t be denied that there seems to be a more cohesive effort in establishing a stronger identity for India and Indians on the world map. We are in midst of a sort of a conscious community awakening working toward this goal which now seems attainable. So yes, we have reasons to be proud. To be an Indian.   

On the other hand we also have various fundamentalists and hardliners, found across the world, who believe that being a patriot is a special prerogative of those who belong to a particular religion or follow certain set values and customs or belong to a particular race/ethnicity. So much so that any divergence from a criteria usually results in misplaced acts of intolerance such as war and terror attacks at an extreme level and crimes based on differences in race, ethnicity and even religion. Perhaps it has to do much with the interconnectedness of patriotism with not just sharing a common culture, history or geographical boundary but also belief systems like religion, customs and ideologies shaped over time by its influential societies and communities. 

Therein lays the conundrum. The word ‘patriotism’ in itself has so many hues that it might heed well to think of what patriotism means to us. It’s since the time of Greeks that such a sense of attachment and purpose could be sewn in within the context of a citizen’s role in a society and nation at large. However, it can also be a tool to propagate exclusivity and preferential treatment. Haven’t many a war been fought under the pretext of love of nation? 

While America justified its ‘War on Terror’ as a necessity to protect the rights and liberties of Americans, rights activists and intelligentsia have criticised the massive destruction in terms of lives and resources it has caused innocent civilians in Iraq while questioning the motive. It isn’t to say of course that patriotism is bad, many wars have been won for just causes due to it but in an increasingly borderless world is patriotism helping bridge the divide or creating a deeper wedge?

The answer of course is subjective and really depends on what we derive from the term. Our association with the emotion. Patriotism grows slowly and is ingrained within us. As an educator, I would like to believe that the foundation is laid in schools. We might not teach patriotism implicitly but when we teach history or when we form early morning assemblies and recite the pledge, celebrate national festivals and independence, represent the country at any sports or other event or do social work or clean our streets we are sowing the seeds of this emotion. It is undoubtedly a powerful, flexible and a great moral sentiment.  

The trick is to propagate its most sincere form. One which doesn’t tear apart rights of one community while seemingly building the ramparts around another community. It is as much in showing respect for a national flag but also respecting another’s just the same; it is not just in shouting slogans and being willing to give life for your country while taking an enemy’s but also to preserve life in all its form and to promote growth; It is as much in cleaning one’s mind of biases as much as it is cleaning our streets. It is about being conscientious, dedicated and giving our 100% to our job. But most importantly, it must also mean we need to respect another being's right to just BE.

Each One Lead ‘OWN’

India is still reeling under its euphoria of bestowing a unified mandate for the formation of a new government – an event that received unparalleled attention, nationally and internationally. With the earlier United Progressive Alliance party having failed to deliver on various critical counts during its decade of uninterrupted rule, it wasn’t surprising that a change in government was in tow. Essentially, the country voted for the promise of ‘development’, their right to be seen, heard, be participants of growth rather than witness it from side lines. The promise for a better tomorrow heralding inclusive development – for each Indian to live among educated, literate, healthy and empowered societies – has been an elusive one since the Constitution was framed in 1950.

While the past few decades have witnessed India grow tremendously backed by rapid industrialisation, strong service sector and growth of agro-based industries, we still have a long way to go. There are belts still perishing due to malnutrition, hunger, sickness. It is about time we had a makeover to transform what drags down inclusive growth – illiteracy and lack of quality education, poor access to quality and affordable healthcare and dearth of employment opportunities. While the genesis and reasons these intertwined issues continue to plague us are myriad and merits a separate debate, the question arises is this - how much of a difference can  leadership account for?

In my experience as an educator, a principal, I have realised the importance of inclusive leadership, which I believe is especially relevant in environments that contain diverse communities. For e.g. the running of a successful school is critically aided by the vision of the management and refined and executed by the principal. However, it is equally important to have every stakeholder from the student, teachers, parents and management involved. It then is a joint responsibility to lead from at whatever level possible – to optimise resources, manage and cultivate talent, engage communities. 

One of the key takeaways from these elections is the people’s belief of the change a strong, dynamic and decisive ‘leader’ (‘from and of the masses’) Narendra Modi would do. While history is replete with examples where the greatest revolutions and changes were first conceived, visualised and driven by an involved and genius of a leader, it is equally evident that the vision will not be set in motion without the ‘cogs in the wheel’ place – here, the citizens in a democracy  – the you and me.

The entire nation had been rooting for a particular politician to come into power, believing that he is the panacea of most of the troubles that plague us – that he will be able to get our child in that preferred school, or let us take a guilt-free overseas trip, or gift our retired parents a chauffeur driven car, or get the prices of the vegetables down or help us spend more time with our family or stop corruption or help us get that promotion. It is in human nature – to seek externally for inspirations or for belief – religion has taught us that! It is ok and humane to be optimistic, to be hopeful, to want to be led, to be participants, to worship, to follow. However, it is equally important to lead, to take initiatives, to learn and educate, to ask questions rather than just seek solutions, to be without biases and hence have an inclusive mindset, to be civil, be vigilant, to speak up – to grow together.

When each one of us takes the responsibility of leading one’s course of actions with the goals of an ideal India as a backdrop is when the winds of change will begin swinging in our direction and elevate us – ALL of us.  For e.g. instead of only complaining about filthy streets or buildings, what if we stopped littering and cleaned our surroundings; instead of just asking what ministers could do for protecting women, how about believing in our daughters and teach them to defend themselves, stand up for themselves and teach our sons to respect a woman – by respecting their mothers; stand up when miscreants break law and harm someone else’s child…there are so many scenarios wherein we are in-charge, leading, perceived as leaders. 

While these are the tenets of what true education should aspire to inculcate within any learner, that we are still placing maximum obligation of being a change agent on just one man is perhaps the most unsettling observation through this election story. Clearly, we have yet to learn our lessons! It is only when we realise the importance of the role each one of us plays to make India the largest, DEVELOPED democracy, will we be able to really live in one. The importance of empowering ourselves and the people around us by being individual agents, leading change across the most basic realms, is a powerful lesson for us including our children. Surely, we must know that just one man cannot change a billion destinies while a billion choose to watch and believe that ‘good days are coming’!