The Brave Pedestrian

While singing the national anthem and saluting the Indian flag on Republic Day this year, let us stand in solidarity with the lakhs of citizens who are fighting and struggling to protect our Constitution and our citizenship. Those participating in the mass movement against CAA and NRC are not less courageous than our soldiers who fight enemy forces at the borders. The risks of injury, death, imprisonment etc. for those participating are grave -- perhaps physically less so than the hazards endured by soldiers. But they face grave social and political hazards -- the hazards of being singled out and punished with abuse of police powers and judicial machinery. Those of us who aren't braving the cold at Shaheen Bagh or Lucknow's Clock Tower like thousands of our brothers and sisters, must salute their sacrifice while singing the national anthem this year. #CAA #NRC #RepublicDay2020 #NationalAnthem IN SOLIDARITY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229 krish.kkphoto@gmail.c...

India, 26th January, 2017: I am proud and privileged to live in India. I love and embrace this crazy, chaotic nation of ours, and I cherish all its people and systems. I treasure the freedoms that we enjoy, and I don't take it for granted. Our freedom fighters have suffered and died so that we could govern ourselves, and yes, we are governing ourselves in our own crazy, chaotic way. It's a fact that I am proud of. It's a privilege that I hold very dear. Yes, I criticize India's people, systems, traditions etc., but nothing takes away from my love for my beautiful India and all the 1.3 billion people who make it what it is -- a flawed but functioning democracy. If I were to be born again, I would want to be born here. Again and again and again. And when I die, I will be proud and privileged to be part of its dust and its people. I love India and all Indians unconditionally. Absolutely. Without reserve. Warts and all. Jai Hind. ...

Dear friends, January 30, 2012: Yesterday, I saw a movie about a puppy named Bolt, who is conned into believing that he has super-powers that he uses for protecting the little girl who owns him. Midway through the movie, he realizes that he has no super-powers; he is just an ordinary, helpless puppy. He feels crushed by this realization.  So Bolt faces a choice: to quit? Or to believe that he is still a hero, and keep struggling against the forces of evil? The thought that his little girl still needs a hero helps him make the right decision: keep fighting. I think we activists face the same choice. India needs a hero; are you willing to try? Am I willing to try? Yes, we are not cut out to be heroes. Yes, as individuals, we are full of weaknesses and limitations. But India needs heroes now. She cannot wait another 10 years for someone better to emerge. You and I are the only ones currently available. So we will have to say, “My motherland needs a he...