National Pride Is Vanishing Fast

Early last week, a senior serving bureaucrat had an interesting, yet sad, tale to tell. And, it is particularly poignant as it is related to us on the eve of the country's Independence Day celebrations. The bureaucrat along with some guests had gone to see the sound and light show at Red Fort. The show, which records a brief history of the Fort also skirts with the freedom movement, before concluding with the national anthem. The shocked bureaucrat found that barring him and his guests, the rest of the people present there "" about 20-odd "" did not stand up in respect to the national anthem. And, this a year after so many soldiers lost their lives defending the sovereignty of the Indian national flag along the borders with Pakistan. Ruing the sad passage of times, the bureaucrat went on to contend that till we had respect for our nation, there was precious little the country could do to blunt the separatist forces in the country. While the bureaucrat's contention may or may not be true, only time will tell. But yet another interesting detail that has come to light on the eve of the country's independence day is that the presence of VIPs at Red Fort is fast coming down. Prima facie investigations reveal that this was not because of any paucity of invitations from the government. Instead, it was because of the usual red tape which had left much to be desired with the usual seating arrangement. And, add to this misplaced vanity. Officials explained that the seating order is determined as per the hierarchy laid down in the "Order of Precedence". Unfortunately, the order which was put in place years ago, is yet to be reorganised keeping in mind the new positions and posts that have been created in the post-reforms phase. Typical examples are the various regulatory bodies, like the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India or the Central Electricity Reforms Commission and so on. Failure to insert them in the right pecking order means that they come up right at the end of the queue. Which in the sweltering heat of Delhi, means that these officials end up behind the joint secretaries "" the first rung in the creme de la creme of babudom "" in government. Unhappy at being seated behind their "juniors", most VIPs have preferred to stay away from the celebrations. In fact, informed sources reveal that it is was this order of precedence which prevented the Reserve Bank of India governor's car from acquiring a red pilot light. It was felt that doing so with interfere with the political pecking order in the state of Maharashtra. It is another matter that it was finally granted, following intervention by the centre. Reacting to the two interesting details, another bureau- crat pointed out that on an average an Indian would be hard pressed to recite their national anthem. They cite the example of a popular TV quiz show, which found that out of nine contestants, only six knew the anthem right to guess the names of the country's regions that were included. Clearly, more than half a century after the country gained independence the attitude towards the national anthem has posed an interesting challenging to the political leadership of the country. Especially, with the northern parts of the country caught in the throes of unprecedented pressure from secessionists. The question that begs to be answered is that how are people exhorted or made aware of the concept of national pride. Imposing statutory punishment for disrespect to the national anthem, is but a short-term measure. Maybe the answer lies in going back to our schools and colleges.