For seventeen years, I had witnessed Independence Day come and go behind closed doors back in my hometown of Shillong. Terrorist groups, falling over each other to proclaim their anti-India stand, made sure that the average Northeasterner enjoyed a cosy day at home, come every 15th August or 26th January. So it was refreshing to say the least to breathe open air this particular time.
It would not be far from the truth to say that the true significance of Independence Day is lost on the generations that haven’t actually seen or been brought up on a staple diet of stories of the freedom movement, its heroes and villains. Probably, the only ones who can still feel the true spirit of Freedom are those who are deprived of it either by political reasons, like in conflict areas of the Northeast and Kashmir, or by economic reasons of poverty and exploitative deprivation. Yet, would it be fair or proper to blame a generation for its disdain and indifference to an occasion cherished by its predecessors, simply because of its chronological position in history? I would argue, no.
It is true that 15th August today evokes the variety of jingoism and inflated national pride that can easily be missed come Morning the 16th. To a large extent, one can attribute this sudden outburst of patriotic fervour to a sort of automated conformism; the desire to be part of a shared experience that is larger than us. Or maybe, simply, as Sartre exclaimed in his Nausea, “Good God, how important they consider it to think the same things all together.” And could you really blame anyone for this state of affairs? It’s human nature to flock together, even instinctively. The feeling of belonging has primal connotations of safety inherent in each one of us. Also, personally, the popular idea of Independence means little, because we have never known a day without it. Which, without being too austere on my generation and the preceding one, I suppose is alright.
Yet, Independence Day is not just a holiday. Far from it. In a nation being divided and dissected on every ground imaginable, an occasion like this comes handy to remind us of our piecemeal Oneness. Through all the jingoism, the message of nationalism and patriotism as perceived in the popular sense isn’t entirely lost on the general Indian masses. It may be agreed that the forms of expression may have changed, that fancy SMSes and Facebook statuses may be our way of “doing our bit for the nation”. Today, the reasons which keep the nation united might be superficial, even trivial, but there can be no arguing that without them, we would be heading faster towards a breakdown of national sentiment. Independence Day may not be the kind of emotional ritual it once was to Indians but it still is a day that reminds us of the age when the diversity of the land united to dream the Midnight Dream; a day that reminds us and assures us that the dream is unfulfilled yet attainable. So even though the jingoism will disappear the next morning, a small flicker of nationalism will burn on.
i really liked this writing of u, i became nostalgic when i read it. it reminded me of the story that i heard from my dadi. i asked her what or how u felt when that particular day came or being announced by the "national leaders" as the "independence day" of "India". she said we were very optimist on 14th August, we dreamt that from tomorrow may be the sky will be clear( as it was a rainy day) and may be we all will be permanently settled in a proper place (as they migrated from "Bangladesh" and were staying at a refugee camp near Taherpur, without any job or work to do; still they had foods to eat as it was provided by the the then British administration). but unfortunately the next 2-3 days were also rainy days, and they stayed in those camps for next one and half years. some of my dada's friends again went back to Bangladesh. but my dada and dadi they stayed; and like the British administration, the new "Indian" administration also provided them food through a rationing system. here i quote "indian" administration, because i hardly find it 'Indian' but i see it as administration in India. however why i'm telling u all this, is because my point of disagreement with u comes here that independence is nothing but a holiday. as far as i don't see any change happening with me, my social, political, cultural life( i hope i live broadly under these 3 categories), mere change in the political structure (not also in political life of individual like my dadi, as she got her voter id, as a member or citizen of the 'Indian state' after 6 years) mean nothing but a holiday to me or my dadi. apart from it ur fascinating imagination about the earlier 'people' or our predecessors as celebrating this day as something more than a holiday, raises doubt about the meaning of the category of 'people' you have in ur mind, to me it's elite biased. rather i see the recent generation as upholding 'this day' through these several social networking sites (i doubt how far they are social, as these whole networking is based to an extent on economy, as i can read this blog as i pay rs. 450 per month to the net provider; as it's also becoming political, as the way u are 'imagining the nation'). i would conclude by saying that the structure always exists and these structures are "empty structures", it's only filled by people, now in Indian context political structures existed before 15th August, 1947 as well, but since that day the people in it are so called "Indian", who are elites ( and not my dadi or someone else), who are mostly from urban metro cities and so called elite families (not from Taherpur or not even from West Garo Hills or someplace else). but i really appreciate ur writings and i enjoy reading those. :)
ReplyDeletesorry Waled vai; a lot of mistakes i have done in the above writing, so please read carefully and patiently. i'm pretty bad both in English and this generation's (i hope u say it Generation Z) blog sites. :D
ReplyDeleteMore than the tangible India that's sprawled across the Atlas, it is an emotional sentiment that renders the idea of India in the first place. This emotion is passive to those who can take freedom for granted, and expectantly active to those who were denied the bit of India that the rest enjoy. This emotional nationalistic sentiment can both create stronger ties or break into narrower sentiments. The choice, however is ours.
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