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The Morning After The War |
| Written by Prithwish | |
| Saturday, 16 August 2008 | |
 The Morning After The War
She stood on the edge of the field, hair billowing in the wind, staring out into the seemingly never-ending horizon. Eyes lost in a thousand-yard stare, she saw everything and nothing.
As if roused from her trance, she suddenly seemed faintly aware of her companion.
“Violet…remind me, if you will. Exactly what are we fighting for? “ Her companion barely looked up from her book. “Who? “ “Everyone! Them, you, me, us….what are we all fighting for? “ “Well, as Papa says, it’s for ‘liberty, justice, and freedom of expression’.”. Carelessly, she spoke out the words, eyes glued to the book all the while.
“Liberty…Justice…Freedom of expression…” she faintly murmured the words, while continuing her stare. Then she repeated them, over and over again, till they had no meaning. Her companion looked at her now, through her thick horn rimmed glasses. “Dearest sister, I don’t think you should worry any more about that.” – she spoke with immense conviction. “Why not?” “The war’s over.” And she went back to her book.
For the first time, something had broken through the girl’s seemingly impenetrable reverie.
“So? “ “So, we forget about some dead soldiers and- “ “Wait. Vi, what do you mean? “ The girl was taken aback by her sister’s sudden reaction, but spoke anyway. “I said - we should stop worrying about the dead soldiers and move on with our own life.”
Her features contorted now, into something resembling disgust. “Vi ! How on earth could you say something like that?” She said. -“Look, I don’t want you worrying your little head over something as complicated as this, that’s all. “ -“Why? “ -“Because you won’t possibly be able to fathom it with your limited wisdom.” “That’s just a fancy way of saying – live a comfortable life, no worries, brainwashed by thoughts of grandeur.....Oblivious of the fact that that grandeur is made available to us by those dead soldiers you spoke about! “ The other girl colored now. “So what are you saying? I’m heartless, I’m unpatriotic, just because I want to look out for me and my family, just because I want to distance myself and my loved ones from the horrors of war? “ -“Yes I am! Should we forget about the sacrifices made by our soldiers? Should we forget their blood, sweat, and tears – which make this country what it is today? Which give us those very things Papa speaks of, Liberty, justice, and freedom of expression? “ -“I’m not saying I forgot their labor! I’m not saying I forgot their sacrifice! I’m just saying that we honour them, pay their dues, and then, forget about whatever bad happened, and move on with our lives, look to the future. One without all that violence. “ -“So, what you mean is, you want to reap all benefits that comes with the sacrifice. Only, you don’t want to make that sacrifice yourself. You want someone else to do it for you, so you could enjoy the perks that come with it? Is that what you mean?”
“Look, patriotism isn’t all about how big a sacrifice you could do for your country. It isn’t all about how easily you would be wiling to lay down your life for your country.” “So what is it according to you anyway? Live a great life, enjoy your freedom, wave flags every Independence Day – wishing “Happy July 4th!” to every one of your neighbors and friends and setting off a few crackers afterwards?” “No it isn’t. Yes Lily – you’re right. Patriotism is about sacrificing for your country. But as I said – it isn’t all that. It’s not all about how hard a thrashing you could give all those who threaten your nation. And it’s sure as hell not about how much you hate countries which oppose your country. “ “What is it then? Out with it already!”
“Well…it’s simply how much you like your country. How much you care for your home team. How much you’d cry if we lost at the games. How much you’d feel bad for your country, every time you saw the news, and saw a meaningless act of violence, by one of our citizens, against another of ours….. Every time you heard or read about racial hatred and mistrust in our country….. Every time you heard or read about political and bureaucratic corruption……….In short, it’s about how bad you’d feel anytime any of these happened. It’s about how badly you’d mean it when you mutter “God save this country.” when you hear these. And then, it’s all about how badly you’d want to help. How badly you’d want to make things right. So that others would look at us as something more than just an ATM machine for the world, morals gone to high hell, egomaniacy and self-supremacy right up to the sky. “
“So you’d run down your own country just to prove your precious point?” Lily asked, seething with anger. Frustration, more like. “Not running down. Constructive criticism. My country…..When right, keep it right. When wrong, make it right.” Violet spoke calmly.
They could have gone on and on with this tirade, but just then, their father arrived. Laughing off their protests and repeated requests to continue, he ushered them into the house.
But before going in himself, he stopped abruptly, turned, and looked at the sky, pondering the question.
“What is patriotism anyway?” he whispered silently to himself.
He smiled, cast his gaze down and walked into the house. He knew the answer.
It isn’t what you do, or how much you do, but how much love you put in the doing. Copyright 2008 Prithwish |
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