Vande Matharam

August 15th---
As a child and a school going kid, it meant-
-School holiday in the middle of the week.
-Watching the parade.
-Pinning the miniature Indian flag.
-Hoisting the flag in the morning in school and having sweets with friends..

As a college student , it meant-
-College holiday in the middle of the week.
-Watching the parade in the common room.
-"Dressing up" for the evening canteen and temple session :).
-Watching TV in the evening again :) some "special" movie that would be screened.

As a working adult in foreign nation, it means:-
-No holiday :( !
-Missing the parade :(
-Missing my India and all my Indians
-Trying to do something Indian-- wear a kurtha and a bindhi to work( I wore a green one hehe), going to Thirupathi Bheema's for lunch.

I am not one of those idealists who would go on a rampage on how obsessing over cricket matches is not Nationalism . I would do that and more! I will pray for my Indian team to win and I will bark at anyone(non Indian) who dares to bad mouth my team.
I will talk about our heritage and swell with pride when reading about Indian entrepreneurs making it big in life.I will never talk about the pollution in India- I lived there with the pollution for 21 years and I was pretty happy.I will squirm when I read about corrupt politicians.

All the same- I love my India and nothing can change that.
Happy Independence day , my precious India. Proud to be an Indian !! Always!!

Leaving you with one of Rabindranath Tagore's gems-

Where The Mind is Without Fear
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action--Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
Give Me Strength This is my prayer to thee, my lord---strike, strike at the root of penury in my heart.
Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.
Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.
Give me the strength never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might.
Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily trifles.
And give me the strength to surrender my strength to thy will with love.
-- Rabindranath Tagore (From Geetanjali, 1910)