Patriotism is one word which gives us a deep and emotional feel the moment we read or hear this word!
The simplest meaning of this is to love your country, but over the time, people have added their own meanings to the original one; such as, for some of them, insulting other nations is also a way of showing patriotism.
Now if we talk about India and Pakistan, most of the Indians who are pretty active on social media want India to wage a war against Pakistan and wipe the country from the map of the world.
However, they completely forget that not every Pakistani is trying to infiltrate the border and spread terrorism in India. There are just handfuls of people who are indulging in anti-India activities and they are not doing it for their love of Pakistan but for their own vested interests.
This must be true for the other side as well because what we see on TV, newspapers and social media is just spreading hatred in the minds and hearts of people. One thing is for sure that we Indians should take a tough stand against terrorism but this doesn’t mean that we should hate each and every Pakistani.
This post by an Indian boy on Humans of Bombay will help us understand the true meaning of patriotism. He may not be mature enough to understand the nitty-gritty of cross-border relations but he definitely understands the importance of love among humans.
He has talked about the time when he visits his cousins in Pakistan and the atmosphere over there. This is certainly something you can’t miss to read!!
“Almost every other summer I’ve travelled to Hyderabad in Pakistan to visit my cousins. My mother’s side of the family lives there, so some of the best memories I have had been when my entire family comes together. My cousins and I play outside on the street all day and then run to get some pani puri…but you know didi, their puris are so big, they are like burgers!
Very often when we’re there, a cricket match between India and Pakistan will be going on so we will all sit on one side of the hall and my mother’s side sits on the other side. Everyone is only saying things like ‘oh that was a fluke shot!’ or now you watch ‘next ball is a wicket’ and going crazy cheering. But after everything, when the match is over and every possible comment has been made, we sit together and share our food, laughing about everything under the sun. Sometimes I wish everyone could do that and forget about the differences….I wish it could be like that all the time.”
Here’s the original Facebook post;
What an innocent depiction!
Share your views about this little boy’s perception in the comments section below.