Grow Up to be an Indian.....

Regionalism is one of the biggest challenges facing India today. We remember that we are Indians only on the 15th of August or 26th of January each year when we sing loudly and clearly the National Anthem standing in the monsoon showers or the chilly wind of January. On any other day we are Biharis, Gujratis, Bengalis, Keralities etc. All the feeling of oneness and unity disappears!
The challenging task of changing the situation lies on the shoulders of the younger generation. Its high time that we crossed the barrier of region and started thinking of ourselves as being one.
To this extent an important role is being played by the various National Law Universities and the new IITs (not to forget the old institutes) across the country. Most of the new IITs have students from regions other than their own. The presence of students from various backgrounds and different parts of the country lend these institutes a national flavour! One would be surprised to find that students defending their institute in Lucknow or Kanpur may not necessarily be from Uttar Pradesh or Bihar or North India but could well be from Goa or Kerala.
Another area where some change can be seen is matrimony where a girl working in Wipro may say that she is getting married to a an engineer in Infosys (or any other professional/non-professional) instead of saying that she is marrying a Tamiliam or a Marathi. Such trends among the youth of today makes one feel that we may start thinking of ourselves as belonging to one large entity rather than in term of small bordered islands! (Chetan Bhagat's 'Two States')
But a day still has to dawn when all of us are human beings first!

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