India is my country

The Pledge is ringing in my ears and I long for the smells and sights of my country. I pour my soul out each time Incredible India ad shows up on TV. I draw on the familiar faces and places it shows. It is already 5 months and a few days that I am away from my country... India. Oh India... my India India India India India  I just love saying the name, the very utterance of the word INDIA gives me strength to handle the intensity with which I miss my India... my country.  This longing I experience for it is no different from the urge I have experienced for my man, my mom and all my dear ones when I was away from them. I love my India, The country of nod, namasthe, food and cricket. The country of bollywood bargain and best product for best price... The distance certainly made me grow fonder of my nation along with helping me to get a new perspective on my incessant cribs and complaints. India tosses aside all notions of rights and wrongs to mash them up to cast new light, be it on marriages, family values, societal norms or education or even on religion.  Yesterday India emerged a victor shrugging away the weight of freedom-struggle to mark itself on the globe. India transformed itself from yesterday of being a land of fakirs lying on the beds of nails, snake charmers, house wives to today's lieu of mathematical geniuses home of software engineers and computer wizards. Today's India sees sari clad beautiful women not only ride motorcycles and cars, but enjoy powerful positions, a proof that the glass ceiling can be lifted away at all places. My India today respects it's yesterday's colonizers commanding their respect in return by speaking their language yet retaining the rich traditions and culture intact. I am proud to have born in the nation where generosity is not always the virtue of the privileged. I am proud to be part of that country where each one is unique by their names, religion, castes, languages, facial features, social segmentation and myriad other things that separate one from an other... a country of contrasts, beautifully diversified that joins hands together in least hesitation to stand in unison. My heart expands with delight when I think of my India today, rich with youthful intelligence that understands the potential of it's great resources and strives to speak up for a better tomorrow. My young India today celebrates it's 63 years of Independence... I stand up and salute to you My India from a far away land, singing with pride "Sare Jahan se Acha Hindustan Hamara" No matter where I go my heart is filled with amour-propre for My mother land India. Jai Hind.