Eyes Wide Open: The patriot act

O ver the last few weeks, several things
happened that got me thinking of the true nature of patriotism in
modern India. The first was Republic Day, then came the Mahatma's death
anniversary and finally the ongoing debate about which patriot should
be rewarded with the Bharat Ratna. I had been quite busy at work, so I
never really got around to completing my line of thought. However,
there was a niggling feeling in the back of my mind that something
somewhere was disconnected. When I stepped into my office on Monday, it
was to meet a new client who would bring such thoughts back
centre-stage in my mind.

My client was an aged gentleman who looked like he had
forgotten the struggle for independence had ended decades ago. In his
crumpled khadi clothes, topped off by a Nehru cap, he looked like
someone who had dropped out of the sets of a movie about Gandhi or
Nehru. He introduced himself as Mr De Chowdhury and took out a pair of
cracked reading glasses as he shuffled through some papers in his bag
before he handed them to. The first thing I noticed was a hand-written
letter that looked faded and ancient.

'Son, this is the brief I want you to work on.'

'What's in it and who wrote it?'

'Mahatma Gandhi wrote it.'

That certainly got my attention.

When I probed further, it turned out that my client had been a
young Freedom Fighter who had spent years in jail and sacrificed a
promising career in teaching by throwing himself headlong into the
struggle to secure our independence. During one of those prison
'visits', he had the good fortune of meeting Gandhi, who apparently
impressed by the young man's fervour, had given him a short note of
encouragement. A note that, more than sixty years later, I held in my
hands. He pointed to one line in the note. It said, 'When a nation's
youth embrace patriotism, it becomes unstoppable.'

When I asked him how he thought I could be of help, he told me
that he had re-started his career as a professor after 1947, and after
his retirement some years ago, had formed an NGO to increase national
awareness and consciousness among the youth. Its goal had been, as
Gandhi had instructed him, to recruit youth who would actively work
towards social and political reform. However, it had been tough going,
as he was struggling to find members or to really connect with today's
youth.

'It's as if they don't care of all we had sacrificed to get our
freedom. All they seem to care about is enjoying today, not about
respecting the past or preparing our nation for a better tomorrow. I
want to know how I could recruit more youths to my cause.'

When I asked him what he had tried, he said that he had actively
sought the support of young politicians whom he felt the youth could
relate to, and who may epitomise younger generations taking the plunge
into national service. But even with such 'brand ambassadors' he was
struggling to find new members, especially among the urban, educated
youth he sought. He had also tried to highlight the legacy of the
Freedom Struggle and leaders like Gandhi and Nehru, but with similar
results. He wanted to know what it would take to get the younger
generation more interested in participating in national service.

What began as straightforward exercise in market research ended
up being an exploration of what patriotism really means in today's age
of an increasingly connected and globalised world. Scores of interviews
later, I thought I had some answers as I met Mr De Chowdhury again
after a few days.

'Sir, first of all, I think it would be wrong to conclude that
young people today aren't patriotic. They are, but in a different way.'

'What do you mean?'

I told him that his generation had been shaped by the struggle
to get freedom and the next generation by the struggle to create a
national identity. Today's generation faced a new and different
struggle ? that of finding their, and India's, place in the world.

'So to connect with them, you need three things to work for
you. The first is relatability. They may respect symbols of the Freedom
Struggle, but they can't really relate to them. If you want to connect
with them, you need to find contexts, people and symbols that stand for
the struggle they are facing. So an Infosys or a Tata are great
examples they can relate to of Indians making a mark on the global
arena, and probably better symbols to rally them around.'

'The second is credibility. The problem with our Freedom
Struggle and its leaders is that today's political leaders who lack
much vision, respect or credibility have hijacked their legacy. The
more patriotism is seen as a political exercise, the more today's youth
are turned off by it. Your getting so called young leaders doesn't help
much in appealing to the educated youth, since these leaders in many
ways epitomise all that's wrong with our politics- dynastic politics,
nepotism and a culture where leadership goes to sons and relatives of
leaders and not based on any merit.'

Mr De Chowdhury was nodding along, and asked me what else I had found.

'The final issue is of actionability. Today's generation wants
deeds, not words, and sitting around bemoaning the state of affairs
doesn't appeal to them. The problem is they don't have an outlet to do
it- entering politics isn't an option for most, and once they get
caught up in the rat race of getting a job and progressing in their own
lives, they find themselves increasingly disconnected from broader
national issues. If you want them to rally around national causes, help
provide an outlet for action.'

The old man looked at me thoughtfully and finally said, 'Makes a lot of sense. Any ideas on what I could do?'

The two of us spent the next couple of hours brainstorming, and
I was amazed at the old man's passion, willingness to listen to new
ideas and enthusiasm. The body of the young Freedom Fighter may have
long decayed, but the fire within still burned strong. By the time we
finished, he had a plan to recruit young professionals to his cause,
and create a forum that would have two objectives. First, to inspire
these young professionals to not forget India and to strive to build
Brand India whatever they did and wherever they were, through coaching
by inspirational leaders like Narayana Murthy, APJ Abdul Kalam etc, and
secondly to get them actively immersed in national service in a way
that bypassed the dirty politics they loathed so much. This could take
simple actions like partnering with NGOs in the field of education and
development. For those who didn't have the time to get involved
'hands-on', they could donate to such causes in a centralised and clean
way through Mr De Chowdhury's organisation. It was hardly a panacea for
all problems, but it was a beginning, and already a big burden to be
placed on the frail shoulders of my client.

As I thought more about it, the more I realised that the real
issue in my generation was a fear of commitment. We had grown up to be
a generation of fence sitters, who would analyse every situation with
detached interest, but hesitated to really plunge headlong into
something the way Mr De Chowdhury and his generation had done. We had
gained much education, opportunities and a broader outlook, but had
lost some of the fire in the belly his generation had. It shamed me
that the burden of rousing our generation to shake off its apathy lay
with a man who had fought his battles sixty years ago. If we were to
reclaim our status as the deserving successors of his generation, we
would need to pick and fight our own battles.

So a couple of days later, I met Mr De Chowdhury, volunteering
to join his organisation and saying that a few of friends and I would
help with the operational aspects by using some of our weekends to help
out. He was genuinely touched and thanked me profusely. It was a small
act, but in meeting him I had learned that patriotism lies in doing,
even the smallest of deeds, and not in speeches and talking. As I
walked out of his office, I realised that I didn't really give a damn
which politician or his crony got the Bharat Ratna, real patriots
didn't always sit in Parliament or hog the headlines- they were, like
my client had been, unsung foot-soldiers in the ongoing battle to
rescue our nation from ourselves.