My emotional connection with India is very deep. It is a core part of my heart and soul, my very being. My blood boils each time I hear about the atrocities committed on Indian masses by the British colonial forces, tears flow down freely from my eyes whenever I hear Indian patriotic songs, and my hands turn into fists each time I read or hear the poems like Khub Ladi Mardani Woh Toh Jhansi waali Rani thi, Woh khoon Kaho kis matlab ka or hear the calls of Tum mujhe khoon do, main tumhe aazaadi doonga. I wish I was born in an era where I could have responded to the call and offered myself as an instrument in that war against oppressive forces.
As they say, you can take the Indian away from India, but can't take the India out of the Indian. India to me represents true grit and determination. The problems are a million, but nothing can keep it down, it just forges its path ahead. People struggle, travel in packed-to-the-brim buses and trains, but their spirit soars high, and they break barriers every single day. Every time anyone has come with the desire to break the Indian spirit, they have either conceded defeat, or gotten immersed in it themselves.
People, kingdoms, kings and more have come to loot away its wealth for thousands of years, but never has India been any poorer, because its true wealth is its spirituality, its people, wealth and jewels are, but transient possessions. Its true wealth is its indomitable spirit! The spirit of India. And the ones who have opened their hearts to it, have only gained riches.
India is the home of Gods. No wonder we have God's Own Country Kerala in the South and Heaven on Earth, Kashmir as the feather in India's cap. India is not just a country or territory, its a feeling, a philosophy, a love for eternity. It is a living example of unity in diversity. People of all communities and backgrounds have moved into India for ages, and amalgamated beautifully into the fabric, that is India.
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| Bhagat Singh |
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| Khudiram Bose |
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| The INA |
I have grown up with the tales of valor of the freedom fighters of India, their tales of brave sacrifice, and single minded dedication to their motherland. How the 23 year old Shaheed Bhagat Singh smilingly accepted the noose around his young neck in the fight for freedom, the 18 year old Khudiram Bose who was the youngest freedom fighter to be hanged to death by the tyrannical East India Company of the UK, at the tender age of 18. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, who went out of India and formed an entire trained army called the Azad Hind Fauj(Indian Natonal Army) single handedly. The man, who had a women's wing in the army, at an age, where women had a tough life everywhere in the world, women's lib was a nascent concept, and here was an entire wing of an army comprised of women. The great visionary leaders, with a sense of complete self sacrifice are many, and I could not name them all, like Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, Veer Savarkar, Chandrashekhar Azaad, Maulana Abdul Kalam Azaad, Dr. Ambedkar and the list goes on and on. And who in the world does not know about the great Gandhi who taught the world, the power of love and peace!
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| My Hero, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose |
I am blessed to be born in the soil of the nation, that produced these stalwarts, the nation, where people fought bravely for the sake of their nation, without looking at their personal interests, even sacrificing their lives gladly, bearing all kinds of torture and atrocities by the British govt and police. From the Jallianwala Bagh massacre (gunning down a peaceful assembly of people in a park, which included women and children)to the Great Famine of Bengal (farmers forced to grow poppy seed crops to produce opium, leading to drying up of all water) the colonial powers proved their cruelty, lack of morals, greed and desperate desire to destroy the strength of India and its people time and again. And all this in addition to all the wealth, jewels and more they openly looted from India. They kept at it for 200 years, working incessantly, but the Indian spirit never broke, and Indians kept fighting for freeing their precious motherland from the clutches of evil forces! And 70 years ago, on this auspicious day, the colonial forces retreated having accepted defeat, with their tail between their legs. India was a lot poorer materially, than what it possessed 200 years ago, but it gained, pride, greater strength, than ever before. And yet in those years, the British men and women who came to India, and opened their heart to it, they could not leave the place, that filled their soul with joy and stayed behind, raising families in India, integrating themselves into the Indian philosophy. And while we are going from strength to strength with each passing day, whether it be space missions, educational milestones, economic growth or equality for women, let us never forget the great sacrifices of these brave soldiers, who fought to give us this free and strong India, without any material incentive, but absolute love for their motherland, and self respect.
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