Today is Republic Day in India. Whilst everybody in India is aware that today is 26th January and a holiday missed this year, because its a Sunday, not many know what exactly we are celebrating.
In fact my daughter Freia sent me a link that conducted a survey amongst a few sample youth in the 2 major cities of Mumbai and Delhi on basic questions relating to the country and as is to be expected nit many knew the answer. Have a look.
Its my opinion that this is not something of major concern. I'm reasonably certain that similar surveys conducted across the world on similar lines is likely to yield very similar results. In fact similar questions have yielded similar results in the US on clips aired on late night shows around events like the US Independence day.
The more relevant question in my mind is whether a nation's people are patriotic or at the very least proud to be citizens of their country.
This is an area of concern. I must clarify that there's nothing scientific about my conclusions and that these are based on limited interactions with people across countries and my interpretation of these encounters. It seems to me that whilst the Americans are proud to be Americans, we are not nearly as proud to be Indians.
If we as Indians are able to somehow inspire our youth to be as proud to be Indian as the Americans are proud to be American, I believe that this could lead to major change and growth, both economic and political.
The question that this raises is "What's the connection ?". Whilst I'm sure that historians and economists have very good reasons for this co-relation I guess the simple answer is one of self confidence. Just as when an individual feels good about something, he begins doing well, my guess is that is applies equally to larger institutions including countries.
And so, here's wishing you'll a Happy Republic Day, with this parting thought. Lets make a difference. With what we say. And what we do.
In fact my daughter Freia sent me a link that conducted a survey amongst a few sample youth in the 2 major cities of Mumbai and Delhi on basic questions relating to the country and as is to be expected nit many knew the answer. Have a look.
Its my opinion that this is not something of major concern. I'm reasonably certain that similar surveys conducted across the world on similar lines is likely to yield very similar results. In fact similar questions have yielded similar results in the US on clips aired on late night shows around events like the US Independence day.
The more relevant question in my mind is whether a nation's people are patriotic or at the very least proud to be citizens of their country.
This is an area of concern. I must clarify that there's nothing scientific about my conclusions and that these are based on limited interactions with people across countries and my interpretation of these encounters. It seems to me that whilst the Americans are proud to be Americans, we are not nearly as proud to be Indians.
If we as Indians are able to somehow inspire our youth to be as proud to be Indian as the Americans are proud to be American, I believe that this could lead to major change and growth, both economic and political.
The question that this raises is "What's the connection ?". Whilst I'm sure that historians and economists have very good reasons for this co-relation I guess the simple answer is one of self confidence. Just as when an individual feels good about something, he begins doing well, my guess is that is applies equally to larger institutions including countries.
And so, here's wishing you'll a Happy Republic Day, with this parting thought. Lets make a difference. With what we say. And what we do.
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