Happy Independence Day India
May all your 1.3 billion dreams come true!
In his famous speech ‘Tryst with Destiny’ Jawaharlal Nehru said: “At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awaken to life and freedom“.
I’m not entirely sure which world he was exactly referring to that was asleep.
It was 8:30 pm in Paris where they must’ve been savoring un verre de vin avec du fromage après le dîner- a glass of wine with some cheese after dinner a much loved French tradition.
7:30 pm in London where the Queen must’ve been eating supper or perhaps drinking her Gin & Tonic.
2:30 pm in New York where a couple would have been taking a break from the bustling Manhattan streets and strolling through Central Park
11:30 am in San Francisco where families must have been making their way to the famous Californian beaches to savor what must’ve been the last few days of the summer.
Apart from this little faux pas of time zones and time differences, Nehru Ji made some compelling arguments in his speech.
He went on to say: “And so we have to labor and to work, and work hard, to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world.”
To say India has been hard work is an understatement. Diversity brings it with diverse opinions and views- you can imagine what happens when you put 1.3 billion people together- total chaos.
When I first set out to do this, I asked myself: What does being Indian mean to me?
And for me, at the core of it- that is what it means to be Indian. In the absolute chaos that India is-yet somehow everything just works.
To me being Indian is appreciation of differences- knowing that we may not always agree or see eye to eye but accepting and celebrating the other person.
To me being Indian is sharing biryani & kheer on Eid while also enjoying jalebi’s and other Indian sweets on Diwali and plum cake on Christmas
To me being Indian is praying at a mosque and then heading straight to serve langar at a gurudwara and ending the day with the Christmas parade at Mount Mary Church in Bandra, Bombay all in the same day.
Being Indian is savoring aloo parathas in Punjab, kebabs in Purani Dili, vada pav at a railway station in Bombay, a million types of sondesh In Calcutta, a croissant and pain du chocolate at a cafe in Pondicherry and masala dosa and filter coffee at our very own Airlines in Bangalore.
Being Indian cannot be reduced to the nationality on one’s passport- kyun ki Hindustan sirf kagaz pe nahi, dil me basta hai.
