Even though the satirical poem in CB’s Jivant Panth column in Gujarat Samachar a couple of weeks ago is presented as a joke and meant for fun, it seems very appropriate for today’s India where corruption and nepotism are rife.
We celebrate India’s Independence Day on 15 August and its Republic Day on 26 January with great pomp and gusto in this country. We pay homage to Bharatmata and its freedom fighters; we praise its virtues and chant how great India is. But then we can’t be more hyprcrites.
If we really think India is so great and and has so much to offer, our forefathers would not have left it for greener pastures elsewhere. We would love to live in India if it can offer us similar lifestyle as here. Many of us enjoying a happy and stressfree life here should stop slagging this country which has given us so much. For a change why don’t we also sing the British National anthem and shout “Jai Britain” and “Long love the Queen” when we gather to celebrate India’s indepencence and its achievement of republic status?
Dinesh Sheth
Newbury Park, Ilford
