In the recent past, I have had many arguments regarding this that I decided to pen my thoughts about it. I believe that many people in this country live under a false impression that they are patriotic. That does not mean that they are traitors or that they betray their country. There is a third class in which people actually are neither. This issue is not pertinent to our country alone but to all the countries in the world. Confusion primarily arises with how each person relates to patriotism. Uncertainty prevails when people get confused between patriotism and a sense of attachment to one's region. The feeling which arises because of an attachment to a particular region is based on familiarity and comfort.If India is involved in a war tomorrow, I will pray that India wins the
war with least amount of damage possible to its own country. If there is a cricket match between India and Pakistan, I will definitely want India to win with all my heart. But, if there is a cricket match between CSK and MI, the notion of the country breaks down and I will want Hussey to smash Harbajan singh all over the park. This is a feeling I get due to the attachment I have for my region ( India and chennai). Now does this mean that I am patriotic? In my opinion, no.
Of course, patriotism is an abstract feeling which can mean different things to different people. But I think that patriotism is something which is a step ahead than the rest. Your action must be beneficial to the country in some way. It might or might not be a sacrifice on your part. But in most cases, it might end up being a sacrifice on your part. The most obvious people are the army people who put their life at stake for the sake of the country. There are others who fight to make the country a better place. It can be those who volunteer to go to villages to teach and make them educated. But there are also people who do the same things for the sake of a community service on their resume. There are many sincere police officers who join the force the make the country a better place and there are also people who join the force for the bribe money and also people who join without both positive and negative intentions. We have so many researchers who come back to India leaving lucrative jobs abroad to make the research culture flourish here. There are also people who come back home because they want to live with their familes and relatives. Almost all of the people who are working in the governmental jobs do it for the safety and perks and almost no one wants to work for the benefit for the country.
So, we can conclude that its not the profession or the destination but it is the intention of the individual which determines patriotism.Most of the people assume that people abroad are less patriotic than the Indians here. So i ask a fundamental question. What is the difference between a person here and an Indian abroad in terms of patriotism? or rather, what have you done or what are you planning to do extra for the country? The answer I get from most of the people is " I pay taxes to my country. Thus i am benefiting the country". Now taxes , if i can crudely put it, is the rent you pay to use the country's resources. This is analogous to saying " I am a patriotic tenant because i pay my house rent every month". If we assume a hypothetical situation where people are not expected to pay taxes (like the UAE), will you still pay taxes and contribute to the country? No. I am not denying however, that if one lives here and succeeds, there are other indians who are going to benefit out of it. If I successfully start an industry, there are going to be ancillary industries nearby, employment opportunists and the area might develop. But was it my intention to develop the area in the first place? no. I started an industry for my profits and development was a byproduct. Similar to how an airport will develop the nearby areas. One more small instance would be as follows. I want a flight ticket to travel abroad. If Air india and emirates offer similar prices, almost everyone would choose emirates because it offers better comfort. But if everyone chose Air india, wouldnt the state of the airline be much better?
The above examples need not necessarily mean that one is not patriotic. But it certainly does reflect the thinking of most people regarding patriotism. The most important duty one needs to do if he cares about the country is to stop producing children. If our country's population were about half the population now, we would have been in such a better shape. If uttar pradesh was to be a separate country, it would be the fifth most populous country in the world!!... yet, we remain hypocritical about that and we assume that patriotism mean we need to support our country whenever someone criticizes it. I personally think that patriotism is where your country benefits and you do not. If i start an industry here and earn a profit of Rs 8 when i could have been getting Rs 10 elsewhere, i am patriotic.
Now that we have to a certain extent defined what patriotism means according to me, I will say that I am not a patriot. Aspiring to be a researcher, i truly and sincerely wish that India flourishes in all fields and research especially. I also intend to live most of my life in India. But if for India to succeed, i should put my head on the anvil, i am not willing to do so!.... But are you patriotic? only you can decide for yourself...
