my first comment...infallible evidence that atleast someone has stumbled upon my blog.ofcourse some friends did"i did n't know u blog" but they did nt comment on the blog(maybe out of politeness which is highly out of character of them)The artless blogger has some valid points--"that micro actions(like singing the national anthem) do influence our nature in not very tangible ways.I agree and even admitted to getting that queasy feeling when it plays.Im not for or against it--- i just mentioned it as one of the ways in which we choose to express our patriotism and the incongruity of the situation.BUt my beef with patriotism is it is always invoked against an extenal adversary.Lets forget the inner evils and concentrate on the outer evils.It also suggests that all sections of society have an equal 'stake'in India and gain equally whenever India secures a victory on the international stage.So the billionaires in Malabar hill are Indians first and filthy rich later.A man in the Dharavi slums is Indian first and hungry,wretched,destitute,jobless later.Of course you dont need to be rich to be a 'patriotic' Indian.That's the beauty of it.You can be poor,hungry and homeless and still be patriotic if you are willing to ignore the fact that you are poor, hungry and homeless(and why you are poor,hungry and homeless) and get behind the government.

Enough of the cynism.I have a uncanny feeling that i'm beginning to sound like a bitter,old retired communist which i'm not.So i shall save these tirades for when i reach my father's age(his present age,i mean) i think the most patriotic thing to do is to increase one's social and political consciousness.To figure out how the economic machinery runs and 'for whom the bells toll'. To learn to look at things from other people's perspective. To question old and established beliefs and doctrines.And above all not to take anything for granted.