Patriotism in daily life!

Hello! I am Alkrie. Like you, I am a patriotic person. But, you see, how do we define patriotism? Many people don't seem to know it and the government is not taking any steps to ensure that people are patriotic.

Is it enough that we hoist the national flag and sing the national anthem in our schools, colleges, offices? Or is it mandatory that we feel patriotic every day, every hour, every minute, every second of our lives?

Okay, great. 

I asked myself this question and I got this answer. I am sharing it with you here.

Let us first try and define the term patriotism. 

Concern for our country, Concern for our people, Abiding by the laws of the country are all indicators of our level of patriotism. Just these are enough. When we put others around us above ourselves, we automatically become patriotic. Are we on the same page?

But this feeling should not just be in our minds; we have to express it out explicitly.

How do we express our Patriotism?

It is not very difficult to express our patriotism. It is rather easy. For example, let us take the traffic lights on our streets. You know there is something called the STOP LINE in traffic signals. What do we do usually? Stop our vehicle after the line. Let us for a moment forget that in many traffic signals, the STOP LINE is faded out and/or missing. After that, we slowly inch forward till we reach the center of the intersection. 

At this point of time, the vehicle coming opposite would have only got amber after green. Now, the moment we get the green, we block the other even before he passes, all the while cursing them for not stopping at red, vroom ahead only to go and stop at the next signal.

Others have the same freedom and rights as us

We forget or refuse to accept that others have the same and equal freedom, rights as we do.

Why do we need a policeman to ensure that we follow the rules. There is a tendency to abide by the rules only when we see a policeman. Otherwise...

The pity is that we have forgotten or have been made to forget that we are a country which taught civilization to the world.

Renowned spiritualists and seers have lived in our country and are still living in spirit in this part of the world.

We should be proud to follow the laws of the country. A statement made by Gandhi now comes into mind; "Be the change that you wish to see in the world".

Someone said a long time ago "Tomorrow never comes". So, let us do it, right now.

Let us, from this moment onward, respect all traffic signals, manned or unmanned. Even if it is midnight or 2am in the morning. Reveal our patriotism and show that we care.

Follow rules. Be a patriotic "ian"

I did not name the country because, this holds good for the entire world. Kaniyan Poongundranaar, the Sangam age tamil philosopher said, "Yaadhum oorae, yaavarum kaelir" which means "every town is mine, everyone my kin" meaning "We are all one. Why all this fighting amongst us?".

There is a reason for me to tell you to follow rules. It will improve our life and improve life for others. Assume for a moment, you are entering a narrow road. When you stop, move to the side and allow the other vehicle to cross, you make him think. You have planted a seed of good thought into his mind. The next time, he may stop at the zebra voluntarily and allow the children to cross. You may argue, on the other hand, "he will only think I am a weakling and not even appreciate the gesture". That is okay. If even one in ten appreciates your action, you have done a good deed to increase the content of the leaking bucket of yours. More on the concept of the leaking bucket here.

This would our first step towards making our country proud, Again.