THE PATRIOTS: AN UNTOLD STORY

As India is going to step into its 75th year of Independence, we turn the clock back to see that things have changed a lot in the contemporary world as compared to the past. Our motherland attained freedom after a struggle of almost 2 centuries, due to the relentless efforts of the selfless, patriotic leaders, freedom fighters and social reformers, who have sacrificed a lot for this nation. We ask our conscience if our citizens still hold a sense of patriotism in their lives. Allow me to narrate a story of the 2 brothers: Ram and Shyam and their perspectives about India. 

Ram and Shyam were born to a middle class family in Tamilnadu. They had affectionate and loving parents who imbibed good values in them right from when they were young. Ram was elder to Shyam by 4 years. Their parents worked hard to ensure that they led a comfortable life. Shyam was very obedient and disciplined but Ram was a tad naughty right from his childhood. Shyam was proud of India and acknowledged the role of his motherland in his upbringing. He respected each and every citizen of his country and never discriminated anyone on the basis of their race, ethnicity, looks,etc. Shyam aspired to become a doctor and serve the patients by helping those in dire need of treatment for an affordable cost. He was moved by the actions of his family doctor who saved his mom's life while she was suffering from a myocardial infraction (heart attack) when he was 13. The incident got deeply rooted in his mind.

Ram, on the other hand, got into the influence of bad friends, who badmouthed and bullied others on the basis of their looks and their ethnicity and got into the bad books of his well-wishers. He earnt the wrath of his teachers. His parents were concerned about his future but they were optimistic that he would change for the good.He never cared for his parents and was selfish. One day, Arko Das, a student from Tripura joined Ram's school as his classmate. Instead of making him comfortable with the new environment, Ram proceeded to make racist comments about him and asked if he was an Indian or Chinese, bullying him on the basis of his looks and questioning his nationality. 

Arko Das felt very uncomfortable in his class and started wondering if he was worth living as he could not tolerate the nuances that he had to go through everyday as all his classmates had turned against him. He could not complain about it to his teachers and parents as they had threatened him to beat him to the pulp if he resorted to raise his voice against him. No one came forward for him.

One day, Shyam had to stay back in school for a school project and he found Arko alone in the school premises crying with his head bent down, his cheeks red and his eyes gleaming with fear and helplessness. Shyam approached him and asked him why he was in a state of perpetual sadness and grief. His tone was so soothing and reassuring that Arko Das opened up to him about his problem. Shyam was so shocked his elder brother had resorted to such a mean act and assured him that he would definitely aid him. One of Ram's classmates had been a silent spectator in the school premises and he broke the ice to Ram the next day. Ram was infuriated by his younger brother and threatened him that he would complain to his parents about his usage of unparliamentary words against him even though Shyam had never done such an act. Shyam had no choice but to give in. Meanwhile, Arko became a laughing stock and was subject to bullying. He decided to put an end to this one day and decided to end his life by jumping from the top of the school building. Unfortunately, he succumbed to death and he wasn't saved despite the best efforts of the doctors. Shyam was deeply impacted by this incident though he had interacted with Arko for only a very brief period of time. Ram did not even bother about Arko and was relieved by his absence. 

Ram was excellent in his academics and he cracked the Jee examination to secure a seat in the Computer Science department of IIT Madras. His ambition was to solely earn heaps of money. He was very passionate about programming and burnt the midnight oil to participate in coding competitions. He graduated from IIT with 2 job offers : A domestic job offer from Uber and an international job offer from Google. He was not satisfied with the facilities that India provided and he disregarded the role of the country in shaping him into a successful individual. He decided to migrate to the US in lieu of a higher salary and the facilities provided by the US. He became egoistic and arrogant that it was solely due to his talent that he had got the job and even disregarded the IIT's. He moved to the US and started working in Google as a software developer.

Shyam finished his class 12 when Ram was placed in Google. He missed his elder brother and had respect and affection though Ram had never reciprocated it. He cracked the NEET examination and got admitted into AIIMS Delhi. He worked very hard and was exhausted at times during his hectic internship period. He was confused if he had chosen the right profession as he saw his brother enjoying his life in the US. Whenever he was confused, he used to think of his mom, who was saved by his family doctor, whom he viewed as a demigod. Ram had plans to permanently settle in the US and not come back to India. 

Meanwhile, Shyam finished his PG in the department of General Medicine. His parents wanted him to do private practice and earn a decent amount of money but Shyam had other ideas. He wanted to serve the nation directly and was grateful to the country for whatever it had done for him. He joined the institute of Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) as a doctor where he treated the patients for a nominal cost and treated the injured army men as well. Shyam had immense job satisfaction.

Ram started getting frustrated with the toxic work culture. He had been accustomed to the hot and humid climate of India and adapting to the cold weather of US was a big challenge for him. He started getting tired of coding and he lost his zeal and enthusiasm. He had to hang on there. He had not spoken to his mom, dad and Shyam since the day he moved to US. His efficiency dropped. He missed his traditional meals and was not satisfied with the diet in the US. His palate demanded atleast a square South Indian meal in a day. He felt like not going to the office due to the extremely cold temperature of -20°C but he had no other go than to go to the office. Recession struck. His job was under scrutiny. He became scared of losing his job. His worst fears came true as he was dismissed from his job. He was disappointed. He tried for other jobs in the US but could not find any due to the policy of H1B visas and lack of jobs for non Americans. He didn't possess a green card which would make him a citizen of the US though he had applied for it several times but all his efforts went in vain. He had no other option than return to India. He returned to his hometown and found his family accepting him with both the arms open. He finally felt like a free bird freed from its cage. He realised the value of India and how much he missed his mother land only when he moved away from India. He was still focussed on getting a high package job in India. Due to the recession impacting US projects in Indian based companies, he wasn't able to find a stable job. Besides, he still had the desire to work only in foreign based companies for the higher paycheck offered by them. 

He tried his hand at various jobs but he wasn't able to make both the ends meet. He got depressed and tried various sources of entertainment and meditation too but he wasn't alright. Shyam had come back home on a vacation and tried to console Ram. Ram tried to attempt suicide by piercing his radial artery late at night. Shyam was in the adjacent room and was referring to a clinical case and it's treatment. On hearing Ram scream due to the pain, Shyam was quick to react and used his expertise in medicine to save his elder brother. After Ram was in a normal state, Shyam asked him what made him go for such a wrong decision, Ram narrated what had happened to him in the US.

Ram had faced a lot of discrimination based on his skin colour and how his accent was different from rest of his colleagues. He wasn't able to express his thoughts and talent in the right manner. He wanted to talk to Shyam and his parents, but he hesitated in doing so as he had gone to the US by his choice and was scared of the repercussions that he could have faced and he started sobbing. He told that he lost his job, lost the love and trust of the beautiful family and most importantly, his mental peace.

Shyam listened to Ram patiently and said,"Do you remember the story of Arko Das? You had bullied him so much in school that he decided to end his life. He was not able to tolerate the discrimination that he faced. You had refused to even say a sorry to him and you never bothered about it. You had threatened me too and had refrained me from helping him. Karma is a boomerang, it strikes back. Now, you have been put through a similar situation. I wasn't able to bear the loss of Arko. I might have interacted with him only for a few minutes but the impact that he had left on me is profound. Till date, I have been mourning his loss. Atleast I hope you will change now for the better. Money is not the epitome of the world. Money can't guarantee a happy and a peaceful life. I might be earning lesser than now but I have job satisfaction. I love serving the citizens of our country. It gives me goosebumps to stand up for our national anthem and to think of the progress that our country has made in various fields.I am a proud Indian. You had disregarded the role of our country in our growth. It has given you the opportunity to grow to great heights and you had treated in cheaply. I know how much you would have missed India while you were in US. I hope you feel at home now. I hope that you realise your mistakes and not repeat them."

Ram was so moved by his words that he started feeling guilty and repented for all his mistakes to his family members. They accepted him and were happy that he has reformed for the good. He read about the rich history of our nation and was so inspired and motivated by it. He wanted a chance to correct the wrong. He decided to write the NDA exams and he cracked it successfully with his dedication and hardwork. He trained hard in the grounds and gym, making himself physically fit. He had qualified all the rounds and was fit to join the army. He decided to serve the nation. The first few months were really cumbersome for him as he could not bear the workload. However, his persistence and tenacity prevailed and he continued to train hard and was serving in the hilly mountains and scorching deserts to keep the country safe from invaders. He slowly rose through the ranks and beacme a Colonel.

One day, when he was returning home from Ladakh in a train, he saw a person being bullied and discriminated in a compartment. He immediately went there and stopped the bully. The bully tried to fight him off but using his physical strength, he brought the bully under control. On asking the bully upon he was bullying the other person, he told that he was not looking like an Indian and he was so rude that he tried to tear the national flag. Colonel Ram saved the national flag from being torn and reported him to the railway authorities. The bully asked him why he was becoming so emotional for such a small action of his, he replied, " I am a citizen of India, a Colonel, a proud Indian. I can never let the dignity of our nation go down in any way. India is our motherland and is home to many different kind of cultures and languages. Stop judging others on any grounds. One who respects our country is a patriot. We must respect the diversity of people and stay united." and told " JAI HIND!" with pride and the whole compartment shouted "JAI HIND!" with the utmost passion and pride. This proves that our citizens come together when our country is subjected to any criticism. Patriotism is not just about sacrificing lives for our country, it's about respecting our fellow citizens and treating everyone equally and respecting the diversity and the profound cultures as it is rightly said that India promotes "UNITY IN DIVERSITY".

VANDE MATARAM 🇮🇳