In one of the TV serial today evening, came a scene which otherwise could have gone unnoticed. It talked about the Indian Pledge that we all would have taken while we were in schools. I must confess that, after long time I came across this pledge. It was difficult for me to recite the pledge word-to-word as we used to do in the schools. I am sure, today, you will also not remember the exact wordings of the pledge. For benefit of all, the text of pledge is written below.
"1. India is my country and all Indians are my brothers and sisters.
2. I love my country and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage.
3. I shall always strive to be worthy of it.
4. I shall give my parents, teachers and all elders respect and treat everyone with courtesy.
5. To my country and my people, I pledge my devotion. In their well-being and prosperity alone, lies my happiness. "
(Trivia : The Indian national pledge was composed by Pydimarri Venkata Subba Rao. Subbarao, a noted author in Telugu and a bureaucrat, composed the pledge while serving as the District Treasury Officer of Visakhapatnam District in 1962. He presented it to the senior Congress leader Tenneti Viswanadam who forwarded it to the then Education Minister P.V.G. Raju.The Pledge was introduced in many schools in 1963. : Courtsey as usual : Wikipedia )
Now, as I had forgotten the pledge, it gave me a chance to have a fresh look at it again. And it made me ponder, how relevant is it today. Reading it afresh makes you think that the pledge we take, is it taken seriously? Or, it is just another ceremonial recital of text ? The content of pledge and its purpose is beyond doubt and very noble. It is not what is written but what is practiced makes me think hard.
When we were in teens (in school) we generally used to mock the second part of first line of pledge. If all Indians are my brothers and sisters then to whom will marry :-) . But jokes apart, the current scenario in context of Delhi gang rape & other such incidents which highlights a growing disrespect to the sisters and mothers, make us believe that the pledge is forgotten somewhere. A prosperity and maturity of the country can be judged by how decently it treats its women. And probably to remind us and the budding citizens the pledge starts with this line. We need to recognize the importance and priority of the same.
When we say in the pledge, “I love my country and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage.” What do we actually mean? Do we even realize what it is to love one’s country? When we love our country we love all the people who are its citizens irrespective of their caste and color. When we love our country we respect all religions that are followed in country. When we love our country, we treat every citizen equal. I think we all have said this but never realized what we said. I don’t need to quote examples to prove that. If we love our country then why our youth aspires and dreams to be citizens (PRs ) of other countries ? I cannot understand why you will lovingly leave your loved one though you might get ample opportunities here to make an impact and improve. I think it is time to think hard about what pledge we are taking and how serious we are.
Being proud and talking about varied heritage may become a thing of past in coming future because at the rate with which we are modernizing, we will shred the colorful fabric of our nation. I think we all aspire and practice to dress / build / speak like western world and in this craze somewhere we give more importance to pure imitation rather then the delicate balance of our culture and west.
We say that we will strive to be worthy of it (our country). This reminds of a quote that says that don’t ask what nation did for you but ask that what you did for nation. Currently in the plethora of government schemes and subsidies, I think the beneficiary section has taken it for granted that they have right to receive from the nation. Most of us question that should we contribute to the nation where every other day one or other scam and misuse of public has become as norm rather then exception? Such questions arise because somewhere our leaders have forgotten the pledge.
Respect to teachers, parents and elders comes next in the pledge and I think we have done to keep our pledge in this matter. At least we are better than the developed world. But this too has many strayed incidents, where we forget our pledge and bring disrespect to our character by doing so. Mostly in cities. Where the per family earning numbers & (members as well) are growing but the per family number of persons is getting less. The families are getting nuclear and the kids are losing a chance to listen moral stories and epics like Ramayana & Mahabharata which we might have listened from our grandpa & grandma. The last line of pledge emphasize the message of great Indian icon – Swami Vivekanand. Selfless service. In the today’s era of material aspirations, rat races and cut throat competition, the theme to some members of society may look like a joke. But there are many candles weathering the storm of growing individualism.
After going through the above content, I am left with two questions. Have we forgotten the pledge we might have taken thousand times in our school? Or we need to change the pledge and dilute its contents because it doesn't make any sense in today’s world ? The answer may not be simple. I think, idles laid down in pledge are noble and are very much relevant for any country to really become great and prosper. But we need to sensitize our countrymen more towards the concept of a nation (may be vasudhaiv kutumbakam - वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम philosophy of India can be put in context of pledge).
Our citizens(specially youth) should not only speak and read the pledge but they should be made aware about the spirit in which an oath has to be taken. It is the spirit and not the words of the pledge that we need to teach. Instead of being cynical, It is an opportune moment in the journey of our country to take this chance and educate our youth about the spirit of respecting others, treating others equally, being proud of our roots and in the process become a global citizens with proud Indian identity to serve the humanity.
Jai Hind. Happy Republic Day !!
"1. India is my country and all Indians are my brothers and sisters.
2. I love my country and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage.
3. I shall always strive to be worthy of it.
4. I shall give my parents, teachers and all elders respect and treat everyone with courtesy.
5. To my country and my people, I pledge my devotion. In their well-being and prosperity alone, lies my happiness. "
(Trivia : The Indian national pledge was composed by Pydimarri Venkata Subba Rao. Subbarao, a noted author in Telugu and a bureaucrat, composed the pledge while serving as the District Treasury Officer of Visakhapatnam District in 1962. He presented it to the senior Congress leader Tenneti Viswanadam who forwarded it to the then Education Minister P.V.G. Raju.The Pledge was introduced in many schools in 1963. : Courtsey as usual : Wikipedia )
Now, as I had forgotten the pledge, it gave me a chance to have a fresh look at it again. And it made me ponder, how relevant is it today. Reading it afresh makes you think that the pledge we take, is it taken seriously? Or, it is just another ceremonial recital of text ? The content of pledge and its purpose is beyond doubt and very noble. It is not what is written but what is practiced makes me think hard.
When we were in teens (in school) we generally used to mock the second part of first line of pledge. If all Indians are my brothers and sisters then to whom will marry :-) . But jokes apart, the current scenario in context of Delhi gang rape & other such incidents which highlights a growing disrespect to the sisters and mothers, make us believe that the pledge is forgotten somewhere. A prosperity and maturity of the country can be judged by how decently it treats its women. And probably to remind us and the budding citizens the pledge starts with this line. We need to recognize the importance and priority of the same.
When we say in the pledge, “I love my country and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage.” What do we actually mean? Do we even realize what it is to love one’s country? When we love our country we love all the people who are its citizens irrespective of their caste and color. When we love our country we respect all religions that are followed in country. When we love our country, we treat every citizen equal. I think we all have said this but never realized what we said. I don’t need to quote examples to prove that. If we love our country then why our youth aspires and dreams to be citizens (PRs ) of other countries ? I cannot understand why you will lovingly leave your loved one though you might get ample opportunities here to make an impact and improve. I think it is time to think hard about what pledge we are taking and how serious we are.
Being proud and talking about varied heritage may become a thing of past in coming future because at the rate with which we are modernizing, we will shred the colorful fabric of our nation. I think we all aspire and practice to dress / build / speak like western world and in this craze somewhere we give more importance to pure imitation rather then the delicate balance of our culture and west.
We say that we will strive to be worthy of it (our country). This reminds of a quote that says that don’t ask what nation did for you but ask that what you did for nation. Currently in the plethora of government schemes and subsidies, I think the beneficiary section has taken it for granted that they have right to receive from the nation. Most of us question that should we contribute to the nation where every other day one or other scam and misuse of public has become as norm rather then exception? Such questions arise because somewhere our leaders have forgotten the pledge.
Respect to teachers, parents and elders comes next in the pledge and I think we have done to keep our pledge in this matter. At least we are better than the developed world. But this too has many strayed incidents, where we forget our pledge and bring disrespect to our character by doing so. Mostly in cities. Where the per family earning numbers & (members as well) are growing but the per family number of persons is getting less. The families are getting nuclear and the kids are losing a chance to listen moral stories and epics like Ramayana & Mahabharata which we might have listened from our grandpa & grandma. The last line of pledge emphasize the message of great Indian icon – Swami Vivekanand. Selfless service. In the today’s era of material aspirations, rat races and cut throat competition, the theme to some members of society may look like a joke. But there are many candles weathering the storm of growing individualism.
After going through the above content, I am left with two questions. Have we forgotten the pledge we might have taken thousand times in our school? Or we need to change the pledge and dilute its contents because it doesn't make any sense in today’s world ? The answer may not be simple. I think, idles laid down in pledge are noble and are very much relevant for any country to really become great and prosper. But we need to sensitize our countrymen more towards the concept of a nation (may be vasudhaiv kutumbakam - वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम philosophy of India can be put in context of pledge).
Our citizens(specially youth) should not only speak and read the pledge but they should be made aware about the spirit in which an oath has to be taken. It is the spirit and not the words of the pledge that we need to teach. Instead of being cynical, It is an opportune moment in the journey of our country to take this chance and educate our youth about the spirit of respecting others, treating others equally, being proud of our roots and in the process become a global citizens with proud Indian identity to serve the humanity.
Jai Hind. Happy Republic Day !!