India is my country ...

As a casual read I was searching for articles and lesser known facts about India. With my mind attendively lingering with the national song vande matharam from Bankim Chandra Chaterjee's "Anandmatt", I was wondering why the personification and when it started. My search started with google and took me to a wiki page where the following was the explanation:

(The first drawn personification of Mother India)

" Bhārat Mātā, Mother India, or Bhāratāmbā is the national personification of India as a mother goddess. She is usually depicted as a woman clad in an orange or saffron sari holding a flag, and sometimes accompanied by a lion. The image of Bharat Mata formed with the Indian independence movement of the late 19th century. A play by Kiran Chandra Bandyopadhyay, Bhārat Mātā, was first performed in 1873. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1882 novel Anandamath introduced the hymn "Vande Mataram" which soon became the song of the emerging freedom movement in India. Abanindranath Tagore, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore's newphew, portrayed Bharat Mata as a four-armed Hindu goddess wearing saffron colored robes, holding a book, sheaves of rice, a mala, and a white cloth.The image of Bharatmatha was an icon to create nationalist feeling in Indians during the freedom struggle."

It was enlightening information that there is a temple dedicated to Bharat Mata.In 1936, a Bharat Mata temple was built in Benaras by Shiv Prashad Gupt and was inaugurated by Mohandas Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi said, "I hope this temple, which will serve as a cosmopolitan platform for people of all religions, castes, and creeds including Harijans, will go a great way in promoting religious unity, peace, and love in the country." A Bharat Mata temple in Haridwar was built by in 1983 by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

All these are things which you can search for but the person who personified India as Bharath Mata seems to be lesser known or not much details about him are available. But lets come to the present day. Will you find her happy as she was portrayed in the picture? Internally we are facing so many issues that we are weakened by them. We read about scams everyday and those we dont read about are happening now. When can we expect her to smile again. The question is a big one.

Starting from the attitude towards our land and its culture to the present day political scenario, we Indians should find a way to make India proud again. A Land which welcomed all alike, a land which gave birth to leaders and visionaries from the start of human history, needs to be given its due importance. On the 61st anniversery / 62nd republic day lets remind ourselves of a country which Gurudev had envisaged.

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action--
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Also I would like to remind every Indian about a pledge that we used to take, when we were in school. Dont know whether we still remind ourselves about the same.

India is my country.

All Indians are my brothers and sisters.
I Love my country.

I am proud of its rich and varied culture.

I shall always strive to be worthy of it.
I shall love and respect my parents, teachers and elders.
To my country and my people I pledge my devotion

Lets remember these lines and prove that we had pledged our devotion to the country. Lets also get to know our national insignia

NATIONAL FLOWER- Lotus
NATIONAL BIRD- Peacock
NATIONAL ANIMAL-Tiger
NATIONAL TREE- Banyan
NATIONAL FRUIT- Mango
NATIONAL GAME- Hockey and not cricket

Till India became a Soverign Republic there has been many important events. Lets run through it together:

2500-1500 B.C :Indus Valley civilization.
1500-200 B.C :Aryan civilization.
2000-1000 B.C :Composition of the Upanishads and the great Epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
600-500 B.C :Mahavir and Buddha lay down the principles of Jainism and Buddhism.
326 B.C  :Alexander, The Great invades India
78A.D  :The Saka era begins.
1498 AD  :Vascodagama lands at Calicut.
1600 A.D  :East India Company formed.
1853 A.D  :First Railway between Bombay and Thana.
1857 A.D  :The Sepoy Mutiny.
1858 A.D  :Government of India passes from East India Company to the British Crown.
1885 A.D  :Indian National Congress born.
1911 A.D  :Capital of India shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.
1931A.D  :Inauguration of New Delhi.
1947 A.D  :India gets freedom. Nehru is India's new Prime Minister.
1948 A.D  :Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated in Delhi.
1950 A.D  :India becomes a Republic.

- vaazhka bharatham -