This morning as I sat in front of the television watching the telecast of the Republic Day parade on Rajpath, I found it as engrossing as the best film I have ever watched. I was literally glued to my chair and even sat upright in ‘savdhan baith’ (at attention) position as the National Anthem was sung. Every contingent, every performance, and every word of the commentator mattered. It was as if I was mesmerised and could actually sense the existence of a bond between me and my country. It was as if our hearts were beating as one, inaudibly but with the confidence that the relationship was as strong as it should be.
I have been noticing this trend for some time now… and I mean this trend of the inaudible language of the heart calling out to my nation and connecting with it in a rather subliminal fashion. This happens as I sit down to write a post on the ‘clean India’ program, or tweet about my confidence in the odd-even plan to reset our pollution levels, or as we get together for a pre-diwali party and talk about the fallacy of fire-works, or watch a film where the hero saves the country from some fictional terror attack, or even as I read a work of fiction where the protagonist fights against those who are indulging in any anti-national activity. The connection with India as my country gets rather strongly expressed at all such moments. This connection is what music is all about.
This wasn’t always the case. I remember the time when I was in college and had just won the All India Inter-Varsity Debate Championship, and was called during the Independence Day celebrations to say a few words. What I said sounds ridiculous now because I talked about all the flaws that I could notice in my country and why they impelled me to wish I was never born here. The truth is that even today there are times when I tell myself and those around me to leave India if they seriously want to do something worthwhile with their lives. But as I have already said, it is times like our republic day when the heart beats strongly in favour of remaining here. These are times when thoughts of leaving the country to fight its battle alone cease to exist. I am one with the country and full of dynamic ideas and plans of how I could do help the country rise to be the best in the world.
The nationalistic feeling is so strong that I find it easy enough to write about the utter uselessness of the flood of Whatsapp messages, Facebook updates, tweets, and SMSes that are nothing but copies that are forwarded. I think this is done by people who are not really emotional about their country but just want the world to know that they are the real patriots. No, they are not. These people are shams who have not even understood what a festival or a celebration or a reason for joy really is. They have not understood the difference between noise and music.
Forwarding messages without having translated those feelings into action is almost like smiling without crow’s feet around your eyes… that is, giving fake smiles. Come on, you need to first start following traffic lights, so to say, before you think that you have the right to announce that you have feelings for the country. If you are the one creating a traffic chaos… if you are the one who offers or gives bribes to get work done… if you are the sort who litter… if you disrespect the elderly… if you have no respect for women… if you shirk work, reach late or skip work… if you vandalise national property… then you’re not the one who has yet understood the music that the inaudible language of the heart creates. You have not understood what it means to shed a tear when the wife of a lance naik walks up to receive the gallantry award for the sacrifice that her husband has made. You are then watching the Republic Day parade as if it was yet another entertainment program produced for your consumption.
All you need to do is to drive yourself to do what will make you qualify to hear the inaudible language of the heart that I have mentioned. The day you hear that music you’ll know that the country is a part of you and you’ll no longer have to shout, ‘I am an Indian.’
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The inaudible language of the heart
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This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.
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Arvind Passey
26 January 2016
