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#IndianAndProud: 

I am really happy as I see this topic close to the Independence Day. It reminds me of a post which we made last year around the same time : 10 inspiring independence heroes,their message to us. As proud as we were to make this post last year, I feel equally proud as we write about being #IndianAndProud. And when I say this, I try to say it as humbly as possible and at the same time with a lot of pride as well.

Of course I am not going to say that this is the best country in the world and it doesn’t have any comparison at all. I am sure that every citizen feels like that at some point or the other. And to be brutally truthful, we also feel a bit irritated at times to say that as well, esp when we look at things which we are not really proud of. I guess every nation will have that, there is no escaping that and there is no perfect world or place – we have learnt that much atleast over the last few years :).

Now, without much ado, we shall ask you this question as it trends to be one of the most discussed topics of the day – #IndianAndProud. What are the things which you feel proud of being an Indian.

Here are a few which came straight to our mind when we started composing thoughts on #IndianAndProud.

1) Freedom!

Yes! As the independence day nears us, that is the first thing on our mind. A freedom to choose our own religion, a freedom where there is no forced religious training in schools, a freedom of speech which goes up to the extent of mocking in jest even about the most powerful people in the country. A freedom of press, a freedom for equality, a freedom for education. And above all, it is a country where you can actually be yourself. I know that there will be a few people who might disagree to this, but play along please cos even you know that this is true. And none of any freedom comes without strings, but we are also not in a country where our every move is restricted and we are really thankful for that!

2) Diversity

Every 100Kms you travel, the place changes incredibly. Either in geography or climate or food or dressing. Oh God! There is so much of diversity in every nook and corner of the country. At one point we were about 500 odd warring independent states under independent kings who are all brought together under one belt of a secular country not just in the form of religion but also in the form of tolerance for the very diversity we have. We have the deserts, the coast, the frigid Himalayas and also the fertile regions of the ganges. Rightly stated, India surely is many countries in one and I would proudly say #IndianAndProud. for that!

3) Richness

Although this is a slightly underappreciated aspect, we all know how much history we have, the stories which dig right into mythology, the history which keeps getting more and more interesting at every turn and the richness in each of these stories and the depth each one of them provide. We may not call it the most economically forward country in the world but rich – of course yes! Whether you would like to appreciate the complete extent of it or not, we sure are rich in plenty aspects. Vivekananda once said that the west is an extremely rich country in materialism and the east is extremely rich in spiritualism and in this context when we speak of spirituality, we speak of internal development and internal development alone.

Or as Edward Luce says in his book

India is an unbelievably wealthy country because India alone understands the futility of materialism

– Andre

How about that for a little pride – #IndianAndProud

4) Values

It would be wrong of me to compare the ethics of one country to another but I think we can safely say that the value system within the country is something we can be incredibly proud of. Everywhere we look we can see people driven by values and thoughts – sometimes it may very well be the wrong ones too but they still are values. There is very little inane work that happens here or maybe I would like to think so, but there sure is a lot of value to find when you go around looking.

5) People

Enough said and done, it all finally boils down to the one thing that the country has and is described by – its people, their thoughts, ideas and aspirations. And that is what this site has always been about – people inside us and the people around us and the people who make the society and the ones who make us who we are today. And we are incredibly proud –  #IndianAndProud when we say that the journey has been amazing and it has all been because of those wonderful people, the fragments of love and affection we have received all through the years and the promise of plenty more to come.

Cynics may disagree and at times the non cynics do too, including me. But this is a beautiful country. We are not saying it is perfect but we sure are saying that it is extraordinary and we are #IndianAndProud.

What makes you #IndianAndProud?

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