When Patriotic Pride Meets Troubling Delusions

We can be proud of many things as a nation. We have achieved much as a civilization through the ages, and since we became a unified nation officially on that fateful day in 1947. I am proud to belong to this country. I would not choose to have been born anywhere else, or at any other time. 

Even more emphatically, I would not choose another family. I am lucky in many ways. But this is not about that.

Recently, I have started noticing in me a subtle delusion. I am sure there are many others, given the extremely flawed and immature human being that I am, but I want to focus on this particular one.

It is about the pride that stems from achievements that I have no direct or indirect claims to. Yes, we as human beings have a sense of community and belonging, and therefore are capable of drawing happiness from the success of any individual from our social groups or nations.

As an Indian though, here I am talking about that characteristic Indian pride for great things that have some connection to India.

When an Indian scientist makes an important discovery, for example, there is ample reason for us patriotic citizens to rejoice in that fact. But when a scientist of Indian ‘origins’, who has chosen another nation as his own, by birth or otherwise, achieves something remarkable – why do we get to claim pride in that?

Does it not seem desperate?

I feel it is. And it bothers me.

It is like the struggling person in life with low self-worth who likes to feel good by reminding people of the fact that a distant relative of theirs, who they have never actually met, became famous. As if that somehow means they have done so themselves and deserve respect for it.

We hail from a great civilization. We have enough and more in us, to make ours a grand nation too. And slowly but steadily, we are getting there.

And that leads me to the second part of this thing that is bugging me.

The pride in the feats and achievements of ancient India.

I feel that when we go for the easy pride in the vague notions and ‘facts’ of ancient Indian greatness, we blind ourselves to the present day problems that we need to face to a certain degree.

I have seen and at times even been complicit in vehement arguments about something ancient India did or is said to have done. Yes, there is a fierce patriotic element in that but I sense now an overwhelming delusional part in it too.

So here are some things many modern Indians are proud of, but with a twist. Let us look at them in context for once, shall we?

We invented the modern number system, and zero.

Can you name five great mathematicians in India today? What have been some recent modern contributions from our nation to the field of mathematics? Are we at the forefront of this area of study? How do we get there?

We had a very advanced system of medicine in ancient India.

What are the current health and medical statistics in India that we need to improve? Where do we rank in the global scale of things as far as our medical institutions go? How much of the population has access to good medical services?

We have a great history of the arts and literature. Mahabharata is still the longest epic ever written.

This is true. But can you name the most critically acclaimed writers of at least two languages in India right now? How many great schools of the arts do we have? How many traditional art forms are fading away in to obscurity? What do we need to do to revive our native arts?

Do you see where I am going with this?

At what point does pride become something that lures us into complacency, and not something positive that is born from the reality we live in?

I say again – I am proud to be an Indian. But I also feel that I would rather be an informed and aware citizen who beams with a little less pride, than a proud and boastful moron, who lives in a manufactured nation of abstract notions and ancient wonders.

What's Your Story?

I like telling stories. No. I love telling stories. It’s so much a part of me that I honestly don’t know who I am without it. I guess, deep down, without these narratives to occupy my world, I feel somewhat hollow.

Any bit of information or news I hear, my mind automatically collects enough bits and pieces to frame a story with it. Inevitably though, I feel the need to communicate these tales to others. It has, however, been brought to my attention that this habit of mine is a bit tedious to handle for those around me.

People don’t always want to hear stories all the time. And I suppose I cannot blame them for this. People like to deal in information. The bare essentials. This I have to say I cannot comprehend fully. I guess I am still that petulant child demanding Grandma to tell me one more story if she needed me to finish eating my meal.

Those are my first memories of it, by the way. Listening to my grandmother tell me tales from the ancient epics as I listened attentively, wide eyed and slack jawed in amazement at the colourful characters and grand adventures full of gods and demons and war.

Did that early childhood mould this trait in me? I cannot be sure of that. Maybe I would always have been this way. I am a bit peculiar, after all.

In the early school days, I remember being in the spotlight, telling stories to audiences small and large. Something I assume, from the number of prizes I gathered in that area, I was quite good at.

I have to say, I don’t think I would be able to do that now. But there is a certain courage that one experiences only by virtue of the naivety of childhood. From the lack of knowing of what the world is, comes a fearlessness to do things before it. To be a performer of a hundred bold voices and a thousand exquisite emotions.

Could I have been a storyteller back then, if I knew what I know now? Could I have stood before an audience and passionately told those fantastic tales, if I knew they were not paying attention maybe? That they were also quite possibly people who dealt in information? The bare essentials of life, their only concern?

Is that what growing up means, I wonder. The process of becoming a person who doesn’t much care for stories any more. At least not all the time…

I guess I will never know for sure. I am what I am. Maybe I can keep my tendencies from weighing heavily on the people in my life, but that would be the extent of it.

I cannot change what I became, or how I want to live. I will always want that next story – petulantly and childishly.

Stories all around me just make living easier, I suppose.

Two Free Apps for Better Android Web Browsing!

Though I still prefer my trusty old laptop for my net browsing, it is very true that most people now have to access the internet on the go. Busy lives require innovations and now most websites are even designed primarily with the smartphone size and format in mind.

Still, most android users, for example, still stick to their stock browser and standard options. While the more proficient users opt for the free or paid custom apps available to get things done smoother and faster.

I am here to give you guys, two apps you really need if you’re working with a medium – low speed internet connection and a moderately powerful android device. Trust me, these two apps might just make your lives a bit easier.

The first app you definitely need to install is,

OPERA MAX

This is NOT a browser from Opera. No, it is a VPN and data saving app. It is free to download and works with very little power consumption on your phone. It basically saves you a lot of data while browsing, and you even have the option of deciding which apps of yours can access the net and which apps need to be streamlined when it comes to net usage. It automatically creates a VPN for you to do all of this.

I have been using this for some time now, and I can genuinely see a change for the better in my android net surfing.

Download Opera Max

After you install this, you need to take care of your browser situation. The stock browser your android gives you is good, but it is just that – good. There are plenty of better alternatives available online for free.

While you will find a lot of browsers which advertise themselves as and sometimes are lighter and faster for surfing, it can be a bit confusing to choose one and not doubt your choice.

Fear no more, for I bring you a little known but better option.

Firstly, you need to install the Google Chrome Beta as your browser, BUT this is not the one you will be surfing the net with.

No, for that you will be using an app called,

CHROMER

Chromer is a privately developed app that basically gives you the option to use just tabs to browse the net.

Confused? Simply put, it draws the features from the installed Chrome browser on your phone, but without opening up the whole browser, it provides you with a light, less data and power consuming interface to browse pages. IF you need the full browser features to interact with the page you have chosen, then it also gives you the option of opening the page in the fully fledged Chrome Browser.

Again, this is an app I have been using for some time and it makes the whole process of surfing a lot faster and it consumes less battery. And that is the main advantage here. It increases your device’s battery life.

 Download Chromer

So there you go. Two small apps that will make your net experience a whole lot easier, as promised.

Don’t wait guys. Try them out now!