15^th August, what is the significance of this day? India got her independence on this day, 64 years ago, all of us know that. If you are thinking, this is just another article on the history of this great nation, you are wrong. There are many other sources to get that information from. I am going to write on the other face of the coin.
15^th August is a public holiday. Most of us enjoy, hoist flags and watch shows and movies on patriotism. The nation is painted with the tri-colour. Alright, it is a day to be happy. Some might even listen to what the Prime Minister has to say in his huge speech. Most of us don’t care.
Why is all the patriotic fervor limited only to the two days – 15^th August and 26^th January? Why it is that someone listening to patriotic songs on other days is mocked by others?
How many of us actually remember the sacrifices of the people, who fought to get independence? How many of us actually think about the people who are protecting this freedom in the intense heat of a desert, in the sultry climate of a jungle, in the icy heights of a glacier, far off at sea and high up in the sky?
There would hardly be any hang out spot one hasn’t visited. How many of us have actually visited a memorial made in the remembrance of someone, someone who sacrificed everything for his/her country?
It is a pity to see so many flags in all sorts of sizes strewn across the roads a day or two after these days. One who doesn’t respect the national flag, how can that person claim to respect and love his country?
I agree that there are problems. Every nation has them. Some of them should have been addressed to a long time ago but are still there. There is poverty, corruption, dirty politics and filth. Isn’t it the people who are corrupt? Why does the whole nation have to pay for the ill deeds of a few?
Why do people damage public property in the name of agitations and strikes? Isn’t it their own property that they are destroying? If not today, all of us have to pay taxes in one form or the other, someday. There are other, peaceful ways to get your voice heard, rather than burning buses and damaging trains.
Later in life, when we look back and think “what have I done for my country?” How many of us will have an answer?
These are just some questions an Indian is asking his fellow Indians. Think about it.

15th August

15^th August, what is the significance of this day? India got her independence on this day, 64 years ago, all of us know that. If you are thinking, this is just another article on the history of this great nation, you are wrong. There are many other sources to get that information from. I am going to write on the other face of the coin.
15^th August is a public holiday. Most of us enjoy, hoist flags and watch shows and movies on patriotism. The nation is painted with the tri-colour. Alright, it is a day to be happy. Some might even listen to what the Prime Minister has to say in his huge speech. Most of us don’t care.
Why is all the patriotic fervor limited only to the two days – 15^th August and 26^th January? Why it is that someone listening to patriotic songs on other days is mocked by others?
How many of us actually remember the sacrifices of the people, who fought to get independence? How many of us actually think about the people who are protecting this freedom in the intense heat of a desert, in the sultry climate of a jungle, in the icy heights of a glacier, far off at sea and high up in the sky?
There would hardly be any hang out spot one hasn’t visited. How many of us have actually visited a memorial made in the remembrance of someone, someone who sacrificed everything for his/her country?
It is a pity to see so many flags in all sorts of sizes strewn across the roads a day or two after these days. One who doesn’t respect the national flag, how can that person claim to respect and love his country?
I agree that there are problems. Every nation has them. Some of them should have been addressed to a long time ago but are still there. There is poverty, corruption, dirty politics and filth. Isn’t it the people who are corrupt? Why does the whole nation have to pay for the ill deeds of a few?
Why do people damage public property in the name of agitations and strikes? Isn’t it their own property that they are destroying? If not today, all of us have to pay taxes in one form or the other, someday. There are other, peaceful ways to get your voice heard, rather than burning buses and damaging trains.
Later in life, when we look back and think “what have I done for my country?” How many of us will have an answer?
These are just some questions an Indian is asking his fellow Indians. Think about it.