Patriotism Isn’t a Jiffy Affair!

Your vehicle comes to a screeching halt as the light turns red at the traffic signal. Even as you fret over the eternal wait, a plastic tri-colour flag is flashed in front of your face. You soon hear a chant of Vande Mataram, Jai Hind from a little boy’s mouth trying to sell you the flag. He has other accessories too – an Independence Day metal badge, plastic lotus, soldier figures etc. Then it dawns upon you that there’s a National holiday ahead. Feeling guilty, you even buy a souvenir to display your patriotism only to throw it into a trash bin after a while. Sounds familiar?

Why this seasonal patriotism?

By Dr Suman Kumar Kasturi | THE HANS INDIA |    Jan 24,2019 , 11:54 PM IST       Why this seasonal patriotism?On the eve of Republic Day celebrations, persistently, the only inquiry that has been disconcerting me is — why do most Indians become patriots during selected few occasions? The crux of patriotism is fully recognising and wilfully participating