I love my country. I say that from the bottom of my heart. If I were to be given a chance to choose the country I wish to be born in, I would choose India. Everytime. I love this place. The diversity, the tradition and culture.. every square inch is teeming in the most amazing colors .. there is a new culture, cuisine, climate, language, geography with every mile that you traverse.. Where else can you get so much variety. There is so much to India that I don’t think any one person can see it all or even know it all in his entire lifetime. We can but taste a small piece of it. And savour it for all its worth.
SO many people intelligent, sensitive, caring, helpful, talented, creative…. I salute them.
Imagine what we can do if we all move in the positive direction as a collective whole, rooted in our tradition looking on and embracing modernity. We can change the world. We have. One man born in India has left a bit of humanity in every beating heart. The man of the millennium, our own Mahatma. And so many more.
If you look for dirt you will find it. The question is, are you missing the flowers in the garden, stuck on the weeds? Moaning and complaining instead of going on your knees to pluck them off? You can make a difference. Have you done all that you can?
On this Independence Day, let us be independent from our prejudices and doubts. Let us open our hearts and minds. Let us work hard and sleep well. Let each one of us fulfill our potential. Let us find humanity in every face we see.
Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
John Lennon
2 comments:
K, I am just airing my thoughts, not picking up an argument. You say 'I love my country'. It is the same sense of identity with a geographical area, a sense of possessiveness, isn't it? We all have to be identified - with a country, with a religion, with a community, with a profession - we have to have labels to be identified and to distinguish from the rest. We all want to be different, to be unique. We say we are proud to be Indian, we go on about our culture, our traditions etc. In reality, we have nothing to do with it. We just happen to be born in this particular geographical space, to a particular community, into a particular family, to a particular couple. What is our share to all this? Nothing. It is just a coincidence.
Changing the world? You think Gandhiji changed the world? What is the change you have in mind? Look at the past 60-odd years since he lost his life. Change? All that has happened is due evolution. A change is a fundamental shift in values. Nothing has changed.
But on a positive note, there are individuals undergoing change. In a small way they affect others. Then, birds sing, butterflies dance, trees laugh and rivers run. Change is something one can create in oneself. The pleasure is in watching oneself change...
Listen to Lennon - imagine there is no country, no religion- no artificial barriers amongst us.
I agree. We have nothing to do with it.. and i thank God for the lovely accident! whats wrong in feeling a sense of identity! i am making a comment on people who prefer to settle outside the country. where you are always an outsider.. an immigrant.. you know more about the places in foreign land but not in your own country... you just talk about the trash the dust and the politics here.. and you run away to a distant land... here you are free in that sense..i do feel a sense of belonging even if its out of place... of course taking things philosophically i cannot dispute your argument... Well what Gandhiji taught may not have changed the whole world but it has been the catalyst to many things. Martin luther king was a gandhian and he made a difference to his country. so did nelson mandela... the world is not necessarily a better place today. there are always two forces.. teh good and the evil... and the good will trace back its roots to somethign the great man had to say... :)
yes. i agree about changing yourself.. thats what G did. I admire him for rising above his comman birth to standing for what he believed in.. HE wasn't perfect. But he was brave and had integrity. His was the power of the indiviudual...
your take :)
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