Humans are driven by emotions. It is these emotions, that make us dream, that set the direction for our future. As we complete 75 years of our Independence, the whole country is overwhelmed with patriotic emotions and hence a fitting opportunity to dream and set targets for the onwards journey of the country.   Prime Minister, being the leader of the country, today gave us that dream which is of making “भारत” a developed nation in the “अमृत काल”.

Well, भारत of 2022 is not the same as 1947 and citizens of today and may not necessarily get carried away with emotions. They will evaluate everything with the context of practicality and usefulness for “themselves”. So, does the appeal of our Prime Minister have any utility for the common man for his/her day-to-day life? I think it does.

Be it past history or present times, we have got enough instances to demonstrate, how destiny of people and those of their beloved ones, are so closely interwoven with the fate of the country where they live. Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Ukraine are just few such examples. भारत has greater external threats than any of these countries and we cannot secure ourselves without securing the house where we live – our house- our country. Building a strong country is not possible unless each and every citizen puts in his/her contribution. So, if nation is a building, citizens are its bricks and all bricks collectively make a strong and beautiful building. Even one brick falling apart can make the building weak. Hence, our Prime Minister so aptly spoke about duties of the citizens.

Yes, it is that simple to explain, but yet, apparently, so difficult to live this thought. We hardly have this thought in our minds in our day-to-day life. Because, if we did, we would not have bedsores of corruptions on our roads, we would not have spitted on this holy land whom we so fondly called “भारत माता”, such a large section of this country would not have been forced to live in inhabitable conditions.   If we think we can secure bright future of ourselves and our kids without a safe and secure country, we are only shooting in the dark.

Fortunately, we are not in a colonial era where people needed to die for the country. Today we do not need to die but to live for our country. What does that mean? In my understanding, doing every activity with the sense (भावना) that we are doing it for the nation is good enough. Be it walking on road, driving, doing office work, buying goods, if we keep the country in mind – as foremost- not just the country, our own success will be ensured.

Let no other person decide, whether, what you do serves nation interest or not – decide for yourself. We will still keep on failing in our duties but what is important is to be conscious of this fact- all the time- and keep on making attempts with all sincerity and honesty.

The most common bottleneck is this response- “मेरे अकेले के करने से क्या होगा ?” Now this thought is a vicious cycle which can only be broken by a person of self-belief. Once you are convinced that you are responsible for the fate of the country it is not difficult for a person to come out this cycle.

This is the only “Practical” approach of Nation Building that I can think. Is there any other?

Let us not miss this once in lifetime opportunity to re-establish this great nation to its glory.

Following line of “भारत” song from film Manikarnika duly summarises above feeling:

है मुझे सौगंध भारत, भूलूँ ना एक क्षण तुझे
रक्त की हर बूँद तेरी, है तेरा अर्पण तुझे
देश से है प्यार तो, हरपल यह कहना चाहिए
मैं रहूं या ना रहूं, भारत ये रहना चाहिए