The on-screen India

I’ve always been a proud Indian, I ‘ve loved India, I still do. Here is something I’ve noticed: every now and then, some video I watch intensifies this love. There’s something about them that gives me a feeling of belongingness to India. An emotional ingredient in such videos inspires me. It makes me glad I belong here. It gives me a sense of pride. It makes me smile to myself in genuine happiness.

It happens all the time; there is this sudden surge of patriotic emotions when I watch one of these Incredible India videos on YouTube. The music that goes with the video, the peace it gives, it is inspiring.

Is it just me, or does looking at India on screen, make it more beautiful?

Reading that India is the biggest democracy and that it’s got the second biggest something or the third biggest something else is not what I’m talking about. Nor is it the claims that, credit goes to India for the first wireless system and the concepts of surgery or the several others of this sort. It’s not such facts or statistics. I’m talking about the essence of life, that you can just feel, watching these videos.

It’s not just such videos. The other day I was cosying on the couch, flipping through the countless tv channels, grumbling about how monotonous the hols had become. I caught a glimpse of something that seemed familiar, I went back to it. It was As I passed Travel and Living- some show featuring the streets ofChennai, hosted by Meera Vasudevan, an actor and model. I went on to watch the show- An Indian Rendezvous- for more than an hour. The show, showed me Chennai in a different perspective, made me see what I see every day, differently. I don’t know why India on screen seems way more awesome, but I did give it some thought.

Some post-tvshow reflection, made me realize I miss out on the li’l, yet beautiful things that the show accentuated on, in real life. Time becomes too important a factor, for any to be left, for the small things that go unnoticed. The time I spent on hindsight told me I don’t take that extra second to look at the street side idli shop, or the throng of li’l kids playing cricket on the roads. I don’t even realize it when the resonant sound of temple bells ringing or the echoes of the evening namaz, fill the air. I’m just too worked up with seemingly important, but in point of fact, trivial things, to perceive the common, minute, but enchanting entities around.

My reasoning might not be perfect, nevertheless, the India I see on screen, is a different one from the one I see everyday.