India is my country.
All Indians are my brothers and sisters.
Err... Except for
- Sisters leaning on me in buses expecting me to carry their abundant weight, and provide the much needed balance.
- Brothers or sisters not wanting to be Indians.
- Brothers or sisters talking against my parents, Aarti, Rishi or Ashwin.
I love my country,
Err... except when:
- bus windows are mistaken for dust-bins, and hands keep darting outside to throw offensive papers and plastics outside.
- horns are used in abundance to show lane-changes, signal-changes, anger, joy or to intimate the breaking of traffic rules.
- traffic constables use anything from no helmets to smiling while driving to collect pocket-money.
and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage.
Err... except when:
- Trans-sexuals are not allowed inside share-autos by most drivers, with a laughing explanation of "they are gay"!
- any fight on the roads are written off as "they must be muslims"
- any high decibel conversation is written off as "they must be Punjabis"
- A dark-colored person is invariably a South-Indian negro.
I shall always strive to be worthy of it.
Especially when:
- The aut-wallahs give tired ladies lift free of cost.
- A person driving at 30-50 kmph stops to check whats wrong with your bike, and helps you start it if it is not working.
- Men call up blue-cross on seeing a hurt dog on the road, and then sit beside the dog to give him company.
- Men or women give up their hard-earned seats to ladies carrying infants, or to old or pregnant women.
- Kids implicitely take off their shirts and donate them to street kids with a smile on their face.
I shall give my parents, teachers and all elders, respect, and treat everyone with courtesy.
To my country and my people, I pledge my devotion.
In their well being and prosperity alone, lies my happiness
