Why Calling Yourself a 'Proud Citizen' is Bullshit.

I keep hearing the phrase "I am proud of ..." and "I am proud about ..." so often that it has gotten quite irritating. A while back, while going through this Facebook page named The Idealist out of practice and emotional desperation, I came across a quote by the great George Carlin. This quote immediately got my attention, not because it used the word 'fuck' but mostly because it made sense.
This is what it had to say

“Pride should be reserved for something you achieve or obtain on your own, not something that happens by accident of birth. Being Irish isn't a skill... it's a fucking genetic accident. You wouldn't say I'm proud to be 5'11"; I'm proud to have a pre-disposition for colon cancer.”

- George Carlin

Now, if Carlin had said the same thing in India, there would be bloodshed. Because, to simply put it, we Indians follow more the heart than the head. This is the main reason why there are a million movies with the same damn story being released every freaking week in India. The same story of two lovers, either living happily ever after or crying over love lost, we watch every week, we weep, crave sympathy, and enter the theater the very next week to watch another film with a similar storyline.

In a nation such as this, where every moment is romanticized and every emotion magnified, the pride that is carried in every heart of being born here is immense. It wouldn't be easy to try explaining to the majority of the population, or those who care to listen, why you are just lucky to be an Indian. Not proud. 

There actually is a huge difference between pride and luck. You don't control luck. Luck just happens. Whether you believe in karma or not, none of us can come out and say, "Dude, I make my luck". because we just don't. We could plan on doing this, that and everything else in life, but get run over by a truck the very next day. THAT is luck. You don't control luck.

But pride, well, pride is a different story altogether. You ought to be proud of what you have done. That is the key phrase. What you have done. or achieved. 

Now let us examine our situation, did we choose to be born in India? NO. Neither did God ask us where we wanted to be born, nor did we tell him " India, God, India. "

Did we deserve to be born here, because we had did something in our previous lives? NO. Half of us don't remember our previous lives, and the other half deny the very existence of a life before this. 

So what are you proud about?

The whole idea of being proud about being a citizen of this country or that, is fundamentally flawed. 

You cannot be proud of something you had no idea would happen. You had as much chance of being born in Pakistan or Ghana as you had of being born in India. I know people who say they are proud of being Brahmins. Being a Brahmin myself, I don't see anything to be proud of there, unless you start behaving like one. 

The same goes for all you 'proud citizens of the country'. Most of you have left the country, going West for better opportunities and thus better pay packets. So don't just sit there and tell me that you're proud of this country. Drag your sorry ass back here, fashion a country that is worth living in, and then tell the world that you're proud. Because a country is like an organization. We are proud of our organizations, however bad they are, only because we play a part in making it better. If we don't do that, there is nothing to be proud of. You cannot be proud of the neighbor's Bentley just because you get to see it parked out in the front yard, nice and shining everyday. Get your own damn Bentley, and then tell the world you're proud.

Ah yes, then there are the "I'm proud because my grandfather or my great grandfather's second cousin had fought for our independence" crowd.

Did you do anything, any sacrifice at all? No? So shut up. Thank you.

None of us can either be proud of our forefather's achievements at gaining independence nor revel at it.

Because freedom, whether you are Indian or not, irrespective of even whether you're even human is a basic right for every living thing. the very fact that you've lost yours means you would have to earn it back, They did just that. Nothing more, nothing less. We weren't even born then, so what are you so damn proud about?

Be proud of something you have done. For the country or otherwise. Don't look at capitalizing at others' achievements and gaining some emotional comfort from the same.

Because that, to put very frankly, is both cheap and extremely pathetic.

So, the next time you stand up for your national anthem, whichever country you're from, irrespective of who you are, remember that all you're doing is paying homage out of respect for the dead. 

Be proud only when you have done enough for your country, and understand that enough is never enough.