The more than 3.5 million Indians in the Gulf, along with millions of others who live in every other corner of the world, celebrated their country’s 54th Independence Day on Aug. 15. The celebrations were an expression of their happiness and gratitude for the freedom achieved by their motherland.
Back in India, where the expressions of joy were rhetorical and patriotic in turns, the government must have been singularly happy that Independence Day passed off without major incident. In New Delhi, Kashmir and the northeast areas, the security arrangements were successful in negating threats from separatist groups. It also proved a damper for the common man, who took heed of the separatists repeated warnings and on the whole stayed away from the main function at Red Fort. Live broadcast of the event revealed that the area reserved for the public was virtually empty.
India, after attaining freedom in 1947, is straining at the leash in its desire to become a economic powerhouse and join the league of big players. Today it is a nation with an economy that is steadily growing; it is a nuclear power; and it is a rising information technology superpower in its own right, despite being weighed down by a population of over one billion.
Amid this rosy picture, however, the lot of the common man is still bleak. He has not been able to free himself from a host of personal and public problems. His main grouse has been that he has not been able to attain freedom from poverty, atrocious civic services and corruption. For many, India is like moon: from far it glows bright, but go nearer and the ugly craters appear.
Despite this sadder aspect of our post-independence period, across the world millions hoisted the saffron-white-green flag, flew kites and sat through a few films screened on the small screen — all with a nationalistic or patriotic theme.
In an informal chat in Jeddah, people from all generations and all walks of life nevertheless agreed that the celebrations had changed drastically over the years — and so had the reasons to celebrate.
“In the past one could constantly hear nationalist songs playing all around. Now they play jingoistic numbers from Hindi films. It’s not that all of them are bad, but just that they are not quite the same,” said one of the Indians. “We have reasons to be proud of the change. Of course, we celebrate differently. Look at India. We are chic, sophisticated, IT-savvy, glamorous, fashionable and, man, do we have attitude!” added one girl.
“Today we celebrate our national festival with a new confidence. Our fathers and grandfathers used to celebrate because they had won freedom. We celebrate with style because we’ve used that freedom and have prospered,” she added.
The change in celebration was more than audible in 1997-98, when one of the country’s most renowned music composers A. R. Rahman took a patriotic song, “Vande Mataram”, introduced techno keyboard music and made it modern. Purists shrieked, but for the young, sometimes blissfully unaware of their legacy and heritage, it did instill new pride in being an Indian.
The debate on Independence Day celebrations and what it means to India’s very diverse one billion people continues.
No doubt, it’s sad that “made in India” brains are being paid in America and elsewhere.
Lack of proper avenues and appreciation of their talents back home, in most cases, have compelled them to migrate.
On the eve of the Independence Day, for the first time, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee acknowledged the importance and contribution of overseas Indians in the country’s overall development and said “by their sheer energy, enterprise and achievements, Indians overseas have enhanced the country’s image and promoted keener appreciation of its concerns.”
The prime minister appreciated the remittances made to India by NRIs. He said NRIs in Gulf countries send around $4 billion every year to India.
“It is difficult and the government is trying its best. America has had 200 years of independence, at least give us 50 more, then see, we’ll beat the US,” one IT professional commented.
So, despite the many problems plaguing India, not all of us have lost hope. Perhaps this confidence is the main reason that, against the odds and despite all the contradictions, today we have the power, the technology and the manpower to be the best in the world.
And we are getting there.
