I watched "Rang De Basanti" last weekend. I loved the movie and the message that it conveyed made me write my thoughts on this topic.
The Republic day was over. That day I wondered "why are we celebrating this day?". What significance does this day have after 55+ years? What constitution are we talking about?
All day patriotic songs were played on Radio Mirchi. And I wondered what the "freedom fighters" had fought for. They had laid down their lives. And our Mother India got freedom. But freedom from what?
I just shrugged off my thoughts... What use it is to think of all this anyway? What difference is it going to make? But I got a holiday from office. That was all that pleased me.
And then I watched Rang De Basanti.
The movie too showed how we, common citizens, crib about all the problems in our country. But we are ready to do nothing. I liked the way Amir and Madhavan debated on this topic. Amir pointed out that we are unable to move ahead as we all are tied to our past. And yet we think about our future and are trying to run somewhere. He said:
"Humara ek paiir past mein hai, aur ek paiir future mein hai...
Isiliye hum aaj mein moot rahe hain!"
How true!
But what Madhavan replied was equally true. He said, "Everyone wants his home to be clean, tidy and perfect. But no one wants to dirty their hands to clean his house!"
And I agreed completely...
We crib that nothing seems to work correctly in India. We curse our systems and opt to run to the US. But the need of today is to wait here and clean the mess that we are in.
We can identify the problems. And we suggest solutions. What we dont do is, try to implement the solutions. Its difficult, I agree. But now we must fight. Fight like how our freedom-fighters fought. They gave up their lives for a cause. We also have a cause. "No country is perfect. We, the youth must come up and take efforts to make our country perfect", said Madhavan.
Our heros of the past cleaned our home for us. They told us "Kar chalein hum fida jaan aur tan saathiyon, ab tumhare hawalein vatan saathiyon". They have handed us the batons. Its our duty now to wake up and take firm steps to better our country.
Today we are more educated, have more exposure to media, have the mind and the right to express our thoughts, our opinions. The fight to clean India should not be as hard as it was before. Let us not wait for another Bhagatsingh to lay down his life to realise " the start of a revolution".
13 comments:
True !!! I wonder when this brain drain will stop..
hi! nice reflection of thoughts! I agree that people should stop running to US. But to do something for our country, you need to have the skills, and experience which "cannot necessarily" be obtained in our country. thx for stopping by my blog. BTW sugar girl cha pan brain drain zalay :P
My my, what an inspired post! You know, everyone keeps saying we should do something, and everyone does want to do something, but no one knows how to go about it! Maybe we need to think of a way... form some organization or support an already existing one (like this one)... I don't know; this'll take some brainstorming! [deleted previous post to correct a spelling mistake]
Everytime someone has a rush of patriotism, he/she wants to do "something". And that something is always something grandiose. People usually cling on to some crappy organization which simply milks them dry. Eventually, they run out of steam and, unfortunately, hope.
"Do your best where you are, and the world will take care of itself."
Keep YOUR home clean, YOU try to live in the present, follow rules YOURSELF and do all the things that YOU feel are "good" or can make a "positive difference". Others may or may not follow your path, but by making a beginning, howsoever small, you'd have made a HUGE difference already. If not to the world, at least to yourself. Think it over.
It's a highly misconceived notion that "brain drain" is bad for the country. Quite the contrary in fact. Before you form a rigid opinion on this, do try to find out more.
Cheers!!!
Rohit.
hi rohit,
this article is not about "brain-drain". it is about "making a start to a revolution".
u shud watch the movie RDB, so that you will realise the reference to "quit india and go to the US" concept...
thanks for your comment...!
Hi Mukta,
Good post... read my post on the same topic at http://tanmay802.blogspot.com
I have already watched the movie 3 times, and each time it posed a different meaning for me..
I agree with Rohit's thoughts and your comment
We have to start small, may the person be in US or may the person be in India.
We have to change things at a micro-level and align it to a grander vision for the whole country.
One of my friends had made a valuable comment, "Revolution happens in a night... Evolution takes years..."
I think by even discussing these issues openly we are slowly evolving... we may know it conciously or not even know it...
It is affecting the general good as we speak...
The next questions are:
1. What can we do?
2. Where can we start?
I do my best where I am. I keep my home clean, I try to live in the present, follow rules myself and do all the things that I feel are "good" or can make a "positive difference".
Yet, I feel it is not enough. Hence the reply.
Nice thoughts!
Even I had written something for RDB in my blog : http://baba_shashank.blogspot.com/2006/01/wake-up-call-for-youth-of-india.html
I hope you would like it.
I liked Tanmay's "Revolution vs Evolution" logic and, looking back, it appears as if evolution is the only sustainable phenomenon possible in India. The things that make India special, by themselves, negate the possibility of a revolution on the lines of the Russian/French ones. For us, "revolution" would most realistically mean a "beginning", no matter how humble. The very fact that people are making movies like RDB, contemplating and exchanging ideas to make a difference, is a beginning in itself. The only thing to guard against is "talk-nationalism". It's not bad to talk, provided that we're gonna walk the talk.
And what does one need to do that? PASSION. Nationalism is on our priority list, no doubt. But it's still not THE priority, meaning that we do not build our lives around it. And nobody can/should force himself to MAKE that happen. It has to happen/evolve over time, and it does. And once nationalism becomes your passion, then, like any other passion, it drives you to do remarkable things. This doesn't happen overnight however. The question then is, "what does one do until then?". Nurture the passion. Whatever streak you have within you, nurture it and help it grow and mature. Start with yourself and stretch yourself to limits you've never known before. Challenge yourself. Believe that things will change and be a harbinger of that change. It will be tough and trying, but, if you're convinced of its sanctity, it'll be worth the effort.
It's not easy to die for a cause. But it's much more difficult to live for it.
All The Best to all of you :-)
Cheers,
Rohit.
Ms Mukta,
Great article or should i say yet another great article. No offense, but this is probably the nth article i have read on how one felt so much for India. In your case when you saw the movie RDB that too on 26th Jan. Whats the big use. Why cant we think about this on a day when we see a poor kid begging on the street. Why cant we think of this when ... i can go on and on with the list.
Look at Shashanks post here. He also wants people to go read what hes written about RDB.
Are were doing anything with it. I am sure everybody will forget about it after a couple of weeks and then go watch another movie and write an article about it. The meaning is lost, everybody goes on his own way.
We should be doing more and talking less. So next time i read a blog i would rather read things like "I helped a kid go to school for a year" and this is how i did it or "I helped clean up the street i live on".
We have to start making a difference and then people will follow. I agree its all about creating awareness but then we just cant wait for someone to take an initiative.
Well theres so much i want to write here but then it would just be another article, someone would come comment on it and that would be the end of it.
Whats the big use ?
Thanks Mr Anonymous for your thoughts... But do you believe that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step?
I believe writing & expressing one's thoughts are the start of a new journey... Hence the title of my blog "A Revolution"... :)
hey girl, this is one of the blogs that i really liked... and the main reason being that like you, i am also a person who was affected by the movie. i have seen this twice and both times, i could not help the tears running down my face at the end... dont get me wrong, they were tears of pride in what the guys did... not due to them being killed... i have always envisioned me dying in support of something that i really believe in... hence, all that i can say is that, i hope that my end comes in a similar fashion to our heros.
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