And Today here I am!

August 15th's are a reminder of how little there is that I do for a country I am proud of. Each year I religiously watch the parade with goosebumps, I am literally in tears when I listen to Hari Haran's Bharath Humko, but I know that is not enough.

I feel like a hypocrite for complaining about the system and not being a part of it. Yes! I have complained for too long about everything, right from the powercuts to the safety of women. I still believe that these are issues. I however dont hold 'India' responsible. Realistically our country is huge and governance is difficult. With the population that we are and (breeding, yes!) it is difficult to govern us. (I hold people and politicians responsible). However I still don't see how all our life decisions gone wrong should be a consequence of the politics in this country, although a majority of them are. (Reservations, unrecognized universities, Rape O' clock, Power cuts, black money, bad road rules, horrible justice 'delivery' system etc)

This year it fills me with exceptional amount of disgust that I belong to the kind I hate. Patriotic or not, I think pride is something that should have some amount relevance in our life. I know we are nowhere close to the Utopian idea of Independence, but we still have some amount of freedom that we dont acknowledge (if not thankful for). I know a lot of people who will curse me for thinking we have freedom, when in reality we dont. Yes! I will not forget for a minute that women are raped, abused, gay people are made fun off, people who suffer at the hands of bad cops, people who live BPL, people who have no access to education or electricity. But let me be a little adventurous and say I still am thankful for the 'limited' amount of freedom I do have. The freedom of expression, the freedom to travel (although safety is a lil iffy), the education I get (mostly thanks to my parents), The food I get (my local grocer is never out of food). *I took a stab at sarcasm there*

I write this post in conflict, I am not sure how to feel at the moment, I am more than proud of India. I breathe free and sleep safely. I still have problems with the system when I wake up. Independence Day brings to light how I am not sure about what i really feel. So I look for council.

Then, I realize if I was American I'd have problems with capitalism, If I was Chinese I'd have problems with Communism, if I was from a Sub Saharan region, I would have problems with malnutrition, I would have to deal with things like genocide, if i was Russian I would have to deal with Economic issues, If I was from South Africa may be i would have to deal with apartheid, If I was from middle east I would have to put up with a system that has no scope for freedom(unlike India), If I was Afghani I would have to deal with a bunch of issues, If I was anything but Indian, I would still have problems and yes, I would be expected to respect my motherland nontheless. Me being better off than anybody is not the only reason I should be proud of India. Everybody has problems, some are better off than I am, some are worse. I still feel we owe it to the country we live in. It has been a decent 65 years and we should be mighty proud of it.