As an Indian, I am tremendously proud of our country; I am not, however, a blind patriot. While I am proud of our culture, our rich heritage, I am aware that India lacks in a lot of respects — be it in the areas of infrastructure or economy or social issues like the safety of women.
Having said that, I also believe that the reason India continues to prosper the way it does is because of the liberalism that is ingrained in the fabric of our country.
Somehow, we seem to have a unique ability to be proud of our local culture and yet celebrate and accept other cultures. That is the secret of our national strength.
A vast majority of Indians believe that it is perfectly alright for people to have different, even opposing, points of view; that is the true definition of liberalism. This doesn’t mean we don’t have debates and arguments. We just don’t kill each other at the end of it. We can see, in the examples of other countries in our neighbourhood, the effect of cultures which refuse to accept diversity.
I believe that every country is made (or unmade) by its people. There is no denying that life in India can be extremely difficult but the beauty of it is that its people somehow make it work, even in the face of all odds. In spite of all the problems, people don’t resort to crazy uncontrolled violence.
Think of it, New York, despite its much quicker justice system, superior infrastructure and a better-equipped police force has about ten times the serious crime rate of Mumbai.
So yes, I am proud of India and its people.
I am proud of our heritage and the knowledge that we’ve inherited from our ancestors who we can look up to, be inspired and be driven to do great things.
I am proud of the energy that is so visible amongst our youth today, our liberalism and our ability to get along with others and find our way through life.
Most of all, I am proud of our founding fathers who realised that gaining Independence from the British was possibly the least of our worries and that it was more important to figure out what sort of country we would become.
Mahatma Gandhi, above anyone else, created a culture that saw stalwarts as diverse as Ambedkar, Patel, Azad, Nehru, Rajagopalachari, Prasad amongst many others come together on a single platform and create one of the finest documents in human history — the Constitution of India.
