I LOVE MY NATION.
Yeah. That’s a familiar line from many fairly acquainted people from the very intimate world around us. What’s a nation? I`ve come across a very interesting definition in the Oxford dictionary. “Nation is a community of people of mainly common descent, language, history or political institutions and sharing one territory and government. Yes, I mean, a nation thus, is just a community of people sharing one territory in short. But one question pops up in my mind which my mind which might seem like totally absurd to many people. But according to me, if the world starts thinking over it, the Earth will inexorably become a better place to live in.
So let the journey begin from centuries ago, in the era of God-Knows-Who. Just a piece of earth divided into two parts by Mother Nature-land and sea. No India, no America or no Greenland. And no Australia, China and United Kingdom for that matter! What I don’t understand is what bad will it do to people if people stop loving only their own country for a second (excuse me, if this idea freaks you out) and start seeing this whole world as their own.
In Sanskrit, there is a saying,
“VASUDEVA KUTUMBAM”
which stands for universal brotherhood, theat is to see the whole world as your own.
To make my point a bit more clear, I would like to ask another question. Its about the patriotism that we celebrate without knowing what it is. I`ve come across few people who have debated with me regarding this, a lot. But I`m not here to debate. I`m here just to write my thoughts because if they have to debate, they can write their own blog, but this is my blog.
And to continue my weird questionnaire, I give you another situation. Every citizen in India knows how many states we all have in India (28 states and seven union territories, in case you forgot). What the Central Government gives us is this “Please don’t fight among you” crap. Now, suppose I declare each state in India as a single independent nation, (not that its ever gonna happen or at least I`m in any position to let that gonna happen), but if that ever happens, then it will clearly mean that a Marathi and a Gujarati belong to different countries and thus should be patriotic only to Maharashtra and Gujarat. They are supposed to love only Maharashtra and Gujarat and not the rest of India. That`s stupid, right?
But I personally think of it this way: If I can divide India, why can’t I think of the whole world as my own home as I was born on Earth and love the whole of earth- all the countries and feel patriotic towards the whole of the world. Where does this “I love my nation” come from then. Because even our nation is a part of that big Earth. I`m not against anyone`s feelings, or I`m here to offend anyone`s. Everyone is free to feel whatever they wish, and so am I.
I did not freak out on reading this but I still want to make a point. Our race existed simultaneously in different parts of the ancient world with little or no interaction with similar humans in other parts of the world. But when habitats grew and became civilisations they interacted and collided with each other. Thats when humans for self preservation defined boundaries. This trait is visible in other animals too. Until and unless we secure ourselves we cannot look beyond. Can two lion families live in harmony in the same jungle? The great white shark hunts down its own siblings. You cant change it this is NATURE's way. But yes we are the most advanced species on this planet and we can choose.
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