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Sowing seeds of patriotism

Let us start from our homes by teaching our children the values of self-worth.
Last Updated 06 December 2016, 18:39 IST

“We Indians work on the principle of a rocket – we don’t start our work until our bottom is on fire.” – Really? We Indians are that, we Indians are this…we are good for nothing. I keep getting such jokes and forwards about India and Indians from my very own Indian brethren. I feel saddened by the fact that some of these jokes are callous and not at all in good taste.

It is important to focus on the finer aspects of our Indian temperament and intelligence instead of demeaning our mentality and manners. Let us spread news that speak of our country’s richness in many aspects – let us start from our homes by teaching our children values and thoughts of self-worth.

A 16-year-old from Panipat has entered Google’s Global Science Fair as the only finalist from Asia for developing a device that helps people with developmental disabilities, like Locked-In Syndrome and ALS, communicate using only their breath.

The device, called TALK, uses signals from a person’s breath – picked up by a sensor – via Morse code, and then converts them into speech. The young researcher said the device even allows almost entirely speech impaired and paralysed people to communicate like never before. That is Indian brilliance!

The tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, is known for its posh unaffordable residential/business apartments. But, one Indian businessman owns 22 apartments in that structure. His is a ‘rags to riches’ story. Imagine the kind of hard work it would have required a mechanic-turned-businessman to achieve his dream; that is Indian perseverance and hard work.

One Indian-origin engineer drove for 10,000 km on a solar-powered auto-rickshaw from India to London. “The purpose of this journey is to create awareness about alternative mobility solutions for passenger vehicles in Asian and European countries using renewable energy – a mix of solar and electricity,” he explained. That is Indian R&D brain.

An ex-IIT professor, who once taught our ex-RBI governor, spends his time entirely for the upliftment of tribal people. With a degree in engineering from IIT-Delhi, and a PhD from Houston, he is a man of simple living and high thinking – he owns just three sets of kurtas and a cycle. He distributes quality seeds to the tribals ensuring a good crop and yield and he has planted more than 50,000 trees. He lives with the underprivileged in a region where there is no electricity or proper roads. That is Indian mentality, so full of empathy, simplicity and goodness.

There are innumerable such real life stories that our youth should know and feel proud of as Indians. Patriotism must fill them with great respect and admiration for their country

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(Published 06 December 2016, 18:39 IST)

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