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
- Rabindranath Tagore's Geetanjali
I remember reading this poem as a school kid...trying to analyze Tagore's depiction of India as a utopia. Well, when I read it in the 8th grade..it din't mean much to me, but now, over the past few days, this poem's been ringing in my head...espply the last few lines.... and I've been thinking a lot about India. I'm not the kinds who appears very patriotic on the outside...infact I'm quite sure none of my friends know that side of me...and I prefer not voicing it out to people....bcos the immediate reaction that ppl give me is..."oh yaa rite...u are sitting there in the US of A...and u talk about patriotism and coming back to India....who u kidding????? "Some are'nt this blatant..but they jus end up smiling to themselves and thinking...."ya here she is...am sure shes gonna get married to sumone there and end up living there the rest of her life!" So I'm pretty much closed up about what I think of India. But today, I really waana pen my thots down...mebbe im a ltl home sick & am jus longing to make a trip to India. Almost always it's only when u dont have sumthing that u've had for a really really long time, that u end up missing it. Its the same thing with staying away from the country... only when u stay far away from it, do u think a lott about it and think of the people there and feel concerned about it too.
During my stay in the USA for the last 2 years, I've had several opportunities to interact with ppl from different nationalities. Some seem to be happy to be out of their motherland and be in the land of opportunities, while there are a few others who want to learn the maximum possible from here so that they can use the experience & exposure when they go back home and work there. Over the last month and a half, I've been working in a Japanese lab and have been in close association with Japanese scientists and researchers. And I've honestly been very impressed and definitely inspired by them. Most of them seem very patriotic and conscientious of their responsiblities to their own country. It actually is a great pleasure to meet and work with people like them. They take real pride in everything thats their own, from cars to reagents and protocols used in the lab. They simply like & trust anything n everything thats Japanese..its quite amazing.
Anyways.. Im not writing this blog to simply pen down how patriotic the Japanese or other nationals are. But what has triggered me to think about this is a simple conversation I had today with a postdoc in the lab. We were talking about airlines and flights and travel deals to go back home...and he was telling me (obviously with a lot of pride) about Japanese airlines.. that they have special deals and their service is classy... And when he asked me about airlines of Indian origin that operate internationally...and why they dont give us the best of deals or why their service isn't of the best quality.. I had very few words to say. All through the dicussion I just wished I could do something about it. Why is it that India lacks a good international airline, despite a large portion of her population flying to/from different countries? That was the smaller picture. On the larger note, I had this raging desire...Why can't our country be the best in something....in anything, but atleastt Something... And well I must point it out here...this desire or thot was NOTT one of accusation about the country...but one of a strong aspiration out of concern. As I said..I reallly wished I could do something about it. I felt as if I should jus go back home to India the very minute and start a world class airline!!!!!
The more I think on the same lines about India... the more I realise that there's soo much one can actually do for her, to make her one of the best. Be it education, science, defense or pharma n bio research...theres soo much that can possibly be done. I think the more important question is how many people are willing to do it and how many CAN do it. Even if most of us , if not all, realise that we owe the country a lottt....considering we've had atleast 21 years of education from her... then that can help us focus better, with respect to our careers and priorities. Offlate, there are a lot of people who have realised that and want to go down to India and do their best with the knowledge they've gained abroad...and Ive learnt that there are some organizations which help such ppl focus too and also give them ideas about what they can do and how they can do it...
Neways...I'm hoping this blog remains as a reminder to my own self, about my ambitions....about those raging desires and aspirations. I shall strive to fulfill it and hopefully I will.
