I am not sure why we are this way, but I see a lot if this around me in this country. May be this is prevalent across the world but I don't know about that. I wouldn't since I have travelled nowhere outside of my country. Not even out to many other states within India let alone go out of the country. But that being said I have, yes, have seen this complex. A sort of superiority inbred inferiority complex. Or may be the other way around?! We go around bitching about the country even though we live here, earn our money and not just survive but live here. Some of us who do this may have travelled outside of the country, may have lived there a few years but that doesn't warrant this sort of bitching about the country to foreign nationals in the name of being friendly!!! Why do we do this?! I don't know. It's alright when we do it among ourselves but not to outsiders. Or is it? Is it alright, this basic thought, this shame of belonging to or living in this nation?
I do not believe in taking pride in just the ancient history and keep talking about it all the time to all visitors. Atleast not anymore. But that doesn't mean you say this is one of the worst places to live in.
It is a basic right or rather a responsibility to feel proud of the good things in ones country. Note 'the good things'. Why not?
I have a few around me who travel frequently, extensively and/or regularly to different parts of the world and from all that I have read/heard I know that we are bad in some things but also good in some. As always with any place isn't it?
But I do think it should be ingrained in us to not bitch about the country to others let alone feel proud and share it. It should be one of the morals taught at home along with 'stealing is wrong' or something as basic as that.
I am not saying that we should not involve in intelligent discussion (or even as someone put it armchair debates) but please have a basic sense of patriotism or atleast hospitality. Yes hospitality, for hospitality is not just making the guest comfortable but also feeling a sense of accountability/responsibility and/or pride towards ones place wherein the hospitality is offered.
I wish I had the guts and enough knowledge to make a sane conversation and make this co passenger in my train understand that your fake accent and half baked command over the language and the conformity that you seek by making yourself an outsider from all the bad things in your country is only going to make you be valued at much less and your country even worse (or may be the other way around) than if you behaved a good host and not bitch about your country unnecessarily even when the guest insisted your place was good. Or better keep quiet. I have this strong urge or impulse to show this script to this co passenger but being a young woman traveling alone in train I do not want to risk my safety. Yes I know this is probably making me a coward and may be even as bad as what I just wrote about but could I help it? Probably not! Time will tell. If I act on this impulse will update this blog.
Being friendly and personally showing off (supposedly) as an outsider is an INGNOMINY and NOT a thing of pride!!!