How socially responsible are you?

India is my country. All Indians are my brothers and sisters. I love my country and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage.I shall strive to be worthy of it. I shall respect my parents, teachers and all elders and treat everyone with courtesy.To my country and all my people, I pledge my devotion. In their well being and prosperity alone lies my happiness.
If you think you’ve heard this somewhere, yes you are correct; it’s our national pledge we took every day in our school prayer. I should be thankful for your ability to at least feel that you’ve heard it somewhere.
The opportunities to go and study in foreign and settle there has definitely reduced; thanks to the recession, but how many people really prefer to stay back in India because of their attachment to motherland? How many of us really love our motherland? Now this question may hurt the sentiments of many, but the inner truth is what do we do to our dear INDIA?
One of my very close friends doesn’t wear a flag on her attire on 15th august or 26th January. I teased her stating that she was being too stylish and disliked these things; her response was an eye-opener to me. She said the she didn’t want to prove her love and attachment towards India only on these days; she took pride in being an Indian every day, every day, every minute and every second and would continue to be that way till her last breath.
India does not only have a rich cultural heritage and background but a mesmerising and unimaginable history of the Indian Independence. When we speak about our freedom struggle, we think of Gandhiji and Nehruji. Undoubtedly the greatest men the 20th century would have ever seen, but there are untold stories of several fighters; for example Jatin Das who died of hunger that lasted more than 50 days, Va.vu.Chidambaram Pillai (famously known as ‘kappal ottiya tamilan’) a very rich man who last all his property and wealth for the sake of freedom struggle. People were so committed and loyal towards their mother land and gave up all they had including their lives.
There was so much of bloodshed and life loss for our enjoyment today. How effectively are we cherishing this freedom today? Is it by pinning the flag on our shirts on these two days? What do we do to protect our freedom? You may ask me ‘What can I do being an individual?’ But if each of our freedom fighters had though this way, you and I would have never been what we are today.
Every individual can contribute in his own small ways to mother India. I once had a very elderly person who had just returned from the US after staying in his daughter’s house for 6 months. He told me that the US was a heaven, so clean and tidy and felt that he should have stayed back there forever. Now that’s funny; a man who has been in India for more than 55 years says the US is a heaven just by living there for 6 months!!
What is not there in India? Ask yourselves the following:
Before you threw your waste on the streets did it ever occur to you that you should put it in the dustbin?
Before you spit on the roads did it occur to you that you shouldn’t be doing it?
Before you took your car to travel to your office all alone did it occur to you that you should use a two-wheeler instead?
Before you took your two-wheeler to the shop at the street end did it occur to you that you should be walking instead?
Before you threw the used tissue paper from sitting inside your AC car on the road, did it occur to you that you should be disposing it in the dustbin after reaching your destination?
When you saw your children throwing empty chocolates and snacks covers on the roads, did it occur to you that you should be advising them not to do this?
When you wasted time in front of the TV along with your family, did it occur to you that you should instead be teaching your children about India, its richness, heritage, culture and history?
When you wasted your time gossiping with your neighbours or colleagues, did it occur to you that you should be teaching an underprivileged child?
When you disobeyed the traffic rules because there was no traffic policeman standing, did it occur to you that you were setting a bad example to people nearby?
When you took a plastic cover from the shopkeeper to buy day to day provisions and vegetables did it occur to you that you should be carrying your own bag?
When you found somebody teasing a girl on the roads, did it occur to you that “All Indians are my brothers and sisters” and that you should be protecting her?
Think..think..there are so many things which can be added to the above list. I am not talking about big things like tax evasion, bribery and corruption. Whatever I’ve listed are several small things which go unnoticed by many people. When you don’t litter in a foreign country because you fear you would be fined, can’t you have some self policing attitude of not doing it in our country?
It is pathetic to find that many grownups today still exhibit an immature attitude.
Now sincerely take up an oath to do small, small things which you can add to the above list. Take up an oath to propagate the good message to everyone around you, both known and unknown, after all, good things can be learnt from anyone.
Let’s cherish our hard won independence. Let’s enjoy every minute and every second of it. Let’s make India the world’s heaven. LOVE INDIA.