60 years..

JAI HIND....
i was trying to tell my friends about how why i get all rattled up about terrorism or when somene says something about india and poverty or its population or pollution or whatever. i was trying my hardest to explain, why i got teary eyed when i heard songs from border or bagat singh.
i was trying and trying.. i even told them about lagaan and how i was at the edge of my seat the whole time. i told them about sarfarosh, and now i get all worked up when i hear that one song "sarforshi ke.. something something" .. i tried telling them about incidents like jalliya walla baag and leading revolutionists like bagat singh and subhash chndra bosh. i tried explaining to them what the meaning of the 3 different colors and the wheel on the flag really stands for. i tried.. and they GOT THE FACTS.

they understood that the british ruled over us for over 250 years.. they understood the basic meaning of the TRIANGA and the chakra, they understood the revolution and the partition.

WHAT THEY NEVER WILL EVER UNDERSTAND IS -- why i get teary eyed and ratteled up. why i wanna jump up and fight and argue everytime someone says something about india and how its not a great country. they will never understand my sentiments and my feelings towards my country. they didnt grow up with grandparents who lived in a world ruled by the british or parents who lived through live fire during wars with pakistan. they didnt grow up with terrorism and riots, they didnt grow up with the architecture and the stories.

i cant say its cause they didnt grow up in india, because ure indian no matter whether you grew up in india or not. yes, their sentiments might not be as strong as mine, but they are still there.

they will never understand it because THEY AREN'T indian. they all grew up in a already free america, where freedom wasnt valued, but rather taken granted for. yes, we do also take our freedom for granted, but well we have the constant terrorisms and wars to remind us what it really means to be free.

i am most proud to be indian and have grown up there. i am not one to brag about how proud i am or anything.. but lately ive been hearing alot about how india is just not good. after 60 years - its still poor and the population and corruption and blah blah blah..

yesss.. its got all this, but dear lord.. remember the GREAT depression in america??? lasted for yearss.. people died...economy plumetted blah blah. that was only couple decades after their independence. america only got its rise in income because of the WWI and WWII. we were still fighting for our independence then....

so yes.. i am proud to be an indian. infact, even though im an american citizen, i count my self as indian first and an american later. i barely count my self as an american infact. i was born and raised in india ;)!

so JAI HIND!!!