Yeh Jo Desh Hai Mera

I have been listening to this song in the movie Swades in the loop... . I have always loved this song from the time I heard it . Somehow this song manages to bring a tear or two in my eyes . There is something so special in the music , in the lyrics that touches your soul . ...Yeh Jo Desh Hai Mera , Swades hai tera..Tujhe Hai Pukaara..Yeh woh bandhan hai jo kabhi toot nahi sakta..Mitti ki hai jo khushboo...tu kaise bhulayega..Tu Chahee Kaheen Jaye...tu laut ke Aayega....
Now what do you say to a song like that especially when you hear it sitting in a country that is not your own . I believe in being a citizen of the world and all that...but yet 'Indianess' is something that is within me , in ever cell of my body , it runs through my viens and flows into my heart , my mind . Gosh ! India , India .
I often sit back and wonder what is it about India , what is Patriotism ? What does it mean to me ? I am still discovering , still exploring ...Let me try to define what India means to me , what this song does to me each time I hear it(And yes I have heard it a lot of times..already!)

The growing up years-Modern School where I studied... introduced me to the world of glam and the style -being modern so to say.Studying in Modern School itself brings a sense of superiority in you .The blue uniform which is so set apart from the white coloured uniforms in other schools. I grew up most of the times thinking that I was 'cool' because I went to Modern School. And then in the last few years in that school...did I realize that all that and more was such bullshit.Being modern, style,attitude had a different meaning now. I realized how my parents,my upbringing still stuck with me .
My family ,my parents introduced me to a different world...the world that is still such an integral part of me . Thank you ma n Pa.
As a teenager...being an Indian only meant to support India during India-Pak matches ,to cheer for India and make sure people heard me too(as I am from a muslim family) to make a point to my friends that I am equally an Indian at heart . And support India whenever there was a tension with Pakistan ...the not so recent Kargil episode. What a sheer waste is what I say to all that now.
India with its myriad colours,cultures ,an amazing history ,such a beautiful heritage and how little do I know of it to understand it fully.
Like Iqbal wrote-
"Sare jahan se acha...Hindustan hamara.
Hum bulbule hain iski..Do gulistaan hamara
gurabat mein ho agar ham, rahataa hai dil vatan me.
n samajho vahii. n hame. n bhii, dil ho jahaa.

Sare jahan se acha...Hindustan hamara.
Hum bulbule hain iski..Do gulistaan hamara
Godii mein khelatii hain, jisakii hazaaron nadiyaan.
gulashan hai jisake dam se, rashk-e-jinaan hamaaraa

Mazhab nahiin sikhaataa, aapas mein bair rakhanaa
Hindii hain ham vatan hain, hindostaan hamaaraa"

Beautiful.
This poem says it all.So much to see and feel in India, to understand it's people,the mindsets , the prejudices and the warmth that is the prized possession of every Indian. Ofcourse with time,years and experience many have developed layers over themselves that this uniqueness about them is no longer felt.Yet it is there.I know it is there in each one of us.
I think an endeavour should be to understand it first ,to feel it from your heart ,to see the real India...to know the history to really feel like an Indian.To feel the pride that every soldier who is defending our country feels , the passion that poets and writers such as Ghalib,Iqbal,Manto felt when they wrote about India or the feeling that Aamir Khan n gang felt when they raised their arms and saluted in front of the India Gate for the movie Rang De Basanti(Oh boy...what a movie! I've seen it 5 times !). It is definitely more than just cheering for your country during a cricket match much of which is played for the greed of money and fame or to support your country when its at war.
It is far beyond all that.
I am still discovering and I have miles to go before I sleep...