Vande Bharatha Mataram
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Last night, while I was gazing through the videos, which I received on WhatsApp, something caught my attention; an English woman wearing an Indian saree was talking something. I increased the volume to hear it, and that was Marykay Carlson, Deputy Chief of Mission at US Embassy in India. She is leaving the country after her tenure of 3 years and that was a short video of her adieu message. She showed some of the treasured items she was taking back home from India which included Ikkat shawl, Kashmiri coat, silk sarees from Chanderi and Kanchipuram, Darjeeling tea, some of her routine Ayurveda products, and handmade silver ornaments which she commented as the handicrafts which we cannot find anywhere else in this world. Having shown “the little bit of India” she is taking back, her adieu video message ends by saying “India hum phir milenge”.
To be frank, I was not aware of this woman, who became so passionate about India during her mission. Having ‘Googled’ her name, I could see variety of her photographs, all draped in majestically beautiful Indian sarees and gorgeous silver-handcrafted ornaments. Her farewell messages reported by Indian press comprised of her words, which says how she enjoyed the cultural heritage of India and its diversity.
The things she listed out were just few examples of Indian excellence. Seeing her take pride in that ‘little bit of India’ she owned, a strange thought came to my mind. As native Indians, do we really know the worth of our country, our traditions, natural resources, geographic and architectural wonders, our extremely rich culture and heritage in its various form, or our academic and scientific excellence that was once vividly sought after by many? Are we sure that our kids are well aware of the fact that those ‘little bit of India’ that DCM Marykay showed in her video is just the tip of a giant iceberg?
As described by Mahakavi Vallathol Narayana Menon, the great Malayalam poet, India is not just a nation, but a gift of nature, blessed with the best of everything and is something to be worshiped and loved as own Mother. He describes our motherland India as the reservoir of many precious things. He says that, India is geographically positioned in such a way that she wore the majestic Himalayas as her crown and her feet are being washed by the waves of ocean.
Having said that, I am reminded of other mighty mountains of our country like Mahendragiri in present day Odisha (famous for its unparalleled biodiversity and presence of medicinal plants), Sahyadri-the Western Ghats, the Girnar mountains in Gujarat (which is mentioned even in our epic Mahabharatha), Vindhyachal of Central India etc.
There was a time, when seven mighty mountains of India, including those mentioned above, were worshiped as ‘Sapta Kula Parvata’ (the 7 sacred mountains) by our ancestors, a thoughtful way to thank nature for safeguarding and providing floral and faunal diversity. Needless to say the value of those rivers originating from these mountains that enrich our motherland along with its tributaries.
Spiritual foundation of India was very strong to withstand the various colonization attempts she faced. Verses from the four Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads, epics like Ramayana and Mahabharatha, the philosophies put forward by Bhagavath Gita, the teachings of Jainism and Buddhism, and the verses of Guru Granth Sahib are all valid and true to its core to deal with any problems in life. Now the whole world even accepts Bhagavad Gita as the most inclusive management text that teaches us to deal life. Studies are being done across the world on Ramayana and Mahabharatha.
The creative wonders seen at temple ‘Gopuras’, associated ponds and other monuments across the country are pure examples of our architectural excellence. Universities like Nalanda and Takshashila would be a dream for the most modern developed nation even now. People used to travel to India from various parts of the world in a quest for knowledge. Whatever be the subject, there was a solution and answer for them here. Indian scientists of the period included Acharya Kanada who told the world about the concept of atom and Sushruta- the great Indian Surgeon. The names to follow in the list could be Charaka, Bhaskaracharya, Varahamihira, Nagarjuna, Bharadwaja, Aryabhatta, Jagdish Chandra Bose, C.V. Raman, Ramanujan and APJ Abdul Kalam.
On an Indian figurative approach, Mother Earth is stated as ‘Ratna Garbha’, one who bears diamonds and precious stones in her womb, indicating the abundance of resources she has given us. As far as Mother India is concerned, those precious stones are not only her natural resources, but also the great minds who were born here for a purpose. They were distinguished in their chosen field of activity.
Saints like Shankaracharya, Buddha, Mahavira, Guru Nanak, Guru Narshi Mehta, Guru Gobind Singh, poetic excellences and philosophers like Tiruvalluvar, Alwar, Madhvacharya, Basava, Kalidasa, Surdas, Bhojaraj, Kabirdas, Tulsidas, Bharathiyar, the great artist and painter Raja Ravi Varma, great musician Purandaradasa, the musical trio Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri, the great scholar and grammarian Panini, the Indian physician Dhanvantari, Patanjali who gifted Yoga to mankind, Chanakya-the master brain; they are all the personal pride of India. The list of names and their area of expertise is a never-ending one. You name it and the world will find a handful of experts from our motherland.
Durgavati, the brave queen who fought against Mughals, Rani Lakshmibai, Ahalya Bai Holkar, Chinnamma, sister Nivedita, Sharada Devi are the names of very few ladies who showed their sway in favor of the country and its people. I have seen kids of this generation enjoying the graphic movies portraying the scripted stories of Iron man and Batman. Instead of these made up stories, why can’t we let our kids grow learning the stories of these great minds and other great warriors like King Rajendra of Chola Dynasty, Ashoka the Great, Pushyamitra, Kharavela of Kalinga, Chandragupta, Vikramaditya, Samudragupta, Harshvardhana, King Shailendra, Yashodharma, Sri Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagar Empire, Maharana Pratap, Chatrapathi Shivaji, the truthful king Harishchandra, and many more? These real life heroes showed to the world what it is to be passionate about ones motherland in their own way. They proclaim the royal valor of our land.
Another independence day is here and as usual, we are reminded of the struggles borne by our great freedom fighters, to free themselves and their generations to follow, from British rule. Apart from the known names, there are many who struggled and tried to destroy looters of India. Unfortunately, we have no traces left of such brave minds. Today, as we celebrate another Independence day let us pay tribute to those unknown brave minds who stood for our country even before all of us were born. Let us salute those unsung heroes of yester years along with our present day heroes. This is also the right time to have a throwback to the golden era of India instead of remembering the bookish knowledge where we are projected just as a poor developing nation.
Let our kids realize our real might and potential. Jai Hind!
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Reshmy Krishnakumar is a freelance Statistician based in India. She was working with Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) as Research Associate. Having done her post-graduation in Statistics, she worked as lecturer at St.Teresa’s College, Ernakulam, until her relocation to Kuwait to join at Statistics Department, Kuwait University, Khaldiya.
As a freelance writer, she is contributing to various magazines, blogs, and websites. Her passion includes classical dance, writing poems in Malayalam and Hindi. While in Kuwait she was an active member of the Writers’ Forum Kuwait, Indian Women In Kuwait (IWIK) and Science International Forum (SIF) Kuwait.
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