Patriotism and its gimmicks!!!

Patriotism, ehem!! I can speak of whole day about it,thats what i felt initially. I consider my self very patriotic and stubborn about the ideologies behind them. A few weeks back this infact was the hot topic for discussion, and guess what??Though all of us were of same nationality our theories were different. After all everyone is influenced by the environement and the surroundings. Mine is militia to say the least. My father, grandfather, uncles most of them part of the defence services in india. For me patriotism is like give your life for your country, the coveted 'param veer chakra' (honorary medal for martyrs in active military), the elevated feeling during 'jana gana mana' and many more. Certain times cricket too gave that effect, it gives great pleasure in cheering for your country. The tri-colur waving across and lot of fellow country men supporting our team.Now as years go by i just see it as a 'bloody sport' and nothing else. A money churning machine is what cricket is to me, and being from kerala my natural inclination towards football.


So working in an alien country (though for an indian firm) makes you question your patriotism once in a while. Yes, sometimes it does pinches you. Are we doing enough for the country that has guarded you with all the aminities, education, infrastructure? May be not. I notice one common thing about people working abroad, they never waste a chance to point a finger at our countries drawbacks. They compare with the likes of US, UK, Australia, Canada and keep going on with typical hysterical tantrums like 'is desh ka kuch nahi hone waala', 'humare desh ko govt or politicians saath milkar loot rahe he'. Most of the time i make my self available for a verbal warfare with these guys. But now i feel i cannot force my beliefs into them. They themselves are not having the courtesy not to pinpoint their own country.

As ever i have lot of faith in our country and the way it functions. Things are changing for good and we are raising the bar everytime. Support and a bit of patience is the buzzword. Remember the proverb 'Rome was not built in a Day'. A country with 100 billion and 40% of them uneducated we are still a long way to go. Before we compare with other countries, think about our limitations and real chances.
Its easy to point finger at others, when you do that your other 4 fingers are pointing at you.