Lingering effects of proselytized childhood

“These 'lone wolves,' people like to call them, you've got to look at them not like a lone wolf but an individual operator who's been convinced in their head, brainwashed, whatever, that this is the way to go. And they will carry out their assaults systematically throughout.” - Marcus Luttrell

Aftermath of freedom

In the first fifty years of our freedom two names were blared so hard and so frequently that the echoes were never allowed to die. Nehru and Gandhi names were used almost in every conceivably possible context that as kids born around the two decades of 1950 and 60 were fed on milk, Chacha Nehru and daddy Gandhi. As they say ‘Ghuttee Pilayi gayi’ – no translation of this expression in any other language is possible. Though one died soon after the other prevailed for more than 15 years.

Gandhi and Nehru slithered down the entire being of all generations and appeared to be the only two legs on which India could run, walk or even fly- these legs could become wings. Though thousands died, were tortured and jailed fighting for freedom we were repeatedly told that we got azadi only and only with ‘satyagraha’ peace, nonviolence and charkha driven khadi topi. And, we the people of India believed it. Gandhi cap, famously called ‘Gandhi topi’. Notorious till date.

This song we were made to listen on a regular basis on all radio channels controlled by the government….

दे दी हमें आजादी बिना खडग बिना ढाल
साबरमती के संत तूने कर दिया कमाल

आंधी में भी जलती रही गाँधी तेरी मशाल
साबरमती के संत तूने कर दिया कमाल
दे दी हमें आजादी बिना खडग बिना ढाल
साबरमती के संत तूने कर दिया कमाल

धरती पे लड़ी तूने अजब ढंग की लड़ाई
दागी न कहीं तोप न बंदूक चलाई
दुश्मन के किले पर भी न की तूने चढ़ाई
वाह रे फ़क़ीर खूब करामात दिखाई

चुटकी में दुश्मनों को दिया देश से निकाल

These were demi gods who could do no wrong! Every possible road, airport, slum, hospital, college, lane, stadium, bhawans, markets, government welfare schemes and even currency notes had their names permanently etched on them. All patriotism started and ended with these two names which made them larger than life.’
This is the power of propaganda and those days people were simpler, more gullible and easily fooled- fooled we were. After the assassination of Gandhi – God knows when he became mahatma- it was ‘Gandhi is dead, long live the Gandhis’ and cleverly baton was passed to Nehru clan and two ‘first khandans’ became one. ‘Naam kubool kiya’ was enough to make Indira ‘whatever’ to Indira Gandhi ji. And rest as they say is history.

They were built to last in our tiny heads which never matured.

British who ruled us for 200 years had the names of important people etched in several places like central Delhi Connaught place, Curzon road or Minto bridge to name a few but dozens of these names were pretty well scattered and not only ruled by ‘Laurel and Hardey’ alone. Surprisingly there was no Churchill Bazaar!

Childhood memories can be recalled at will anytime even as you are over the top or over the hill. Danial Goleman the Godfather of Emotional Intelligence argues that human brain develops fastest at six years or so and I tend to agree.

It is also easy to indoctrinate aka brainwash a kid than a fully grown man/woman.

‘On the Psychology of Military Incompetence’ a Book by Norman F. Dixon which I read decades ago also states that anything firmly planted in an army ‘NUT’ is almost impossible to take out.

Therefore, human mind can be manipulated at will and Goebbels was not wrong when he said ‘Repeat a lie thousand times and it becomes the truth’. But there are many ladies and gentlemen – in fact majority-who gradually grow out of the ‘make belief’ half-truths or less than quarter truths as they start listening to a wider discourse and new facts that are presented to them and admit to accepting their gullibility and start accepting the ‘real truth’.

Yet there are several hardboiled eggs who refuse to let go- they are those ‘fast colors’ whose memory refuses to fade

Away.

Those sixty plus blokes

If you refuse to believe then no one can make you change your mind. That has happened to many who openly say ‘Bhai, I refuse to listen to anyone who speaks against Gandhi or Nehru.’ They were so much loved by the whole country according to them that how can some researcher yes researchers dig out facts now and tell us that that they made blunders?

They believed the non-researched stuff – a propaganda -of yester years but are not prepared to believe what a researched stuff in terms of a book is presented to them now.

The impact on national psychology was profound

Since we were made to believe that we got freedom by loving the British and ‘Dharnas and fasting’ not firing even a bullet-we became a soft state- prostate in front of your enemy and one day-yes one day his heart would melt and he will give you what you want.

Those adopted by Gandhi or who adopted his name still talk of ‘mohabbat’ aka deep love.

Audacity of dope

Those who survived, no thrived, on duplicity of name even suggest today that we do not need an army! Our paternal uncle of the nation got us hammered by Chinese in 1962 when he tried same ‘japhee pappi’ tactics with the Chinese with a slogan ‘hindi cheeni bhai bhai’. Later for decades they tried to do ‘I love you and you love me’ with Pakistan which hates us as Arabs hate Israel. We refused to make weapons as we were peace loving and good at ‘white pigeon’ diplomacy. We were flying kites and pigeons when the world was building nukes and aircraft.

Our ‘Atma samman’ hit its lowest as we totally depended on either the West or USSR for defending ourselves.

Stance of a nation

We love singing songs ‘Sarey Jahan se achcha, Hindustan hamara’ is my favourite’. But singing alone will not help. We need to become self-reliant in every which way we can ,food, medicine and weapons are most important for our survival.

For several reasons we starved ourselves for too long, in fact we followed a socialistic pattern and missed on industrialization and manufacturing in a big way. In the last few years there is an emphasis on atma nirbharta- meaning self - reliance now. We have started manufacturing in double quick time and have even started exporting weapons for the first time! Most difficult to change is the mindset of 1.4 billion people- the new generation has understood the new game which we need to change. There will be no game changer wand like thing falling from the sky- it has to be from within -first remove those old foggy cobwebs that we are at the mercy of the world and just loving the world alone will make the world love you.

We live in very harsh times and as we move forward Geopolitics will become murkier by the day.

We didn’t get freedom by ‘fasting and satyagraha’ alone and to remain free fasting alone will not help. Period.

To become a truly inspired Indian and move with current times pic up ‘Inspiring India’ taking India from big to great.

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https://www.amazon.in/Inspiring-India-Taking-Singapore-America/dp/9355627823