She did pinch herself

It was not long back when an ailing nation of more than a billion people rose together. As if somebody had sprinkled half a teaspoon of life on it. A nation half dead with terror attacks, diagnosed of communal disharmony, a nation with regional imbalances, innumerable perspectives clashing everyday, everywhere, a nation burning with hatred. A nation that has lost all hopes of convalescing from fatal ailments, like an ignored patient lying on a stretcher day after day in a government hospital. The stage is such that fatality of the disease has stopped worrying her. She just doesn’t care probably. Probably she knows caring won’t help much. But the same nation rose, almost a year after a handful of her young men got her a world cup. This time it was not even a handful, it was one single guy who helped her stand, stand with a billion on the same side, saluting that one single guy who had put her back in the crowd of countries where she was once forgotten of her existence. Till then her different parts were ready to get rid of each other, expunge various existences. Faith was much more important…everyone was in search of a neverland where nobody else existed. But one fine day she stood up. Somebody gave her a hand to stand up, somebody held her tight and said I’ll hold you when you stand. Your shoulders need not droop. You need not look down, you need not bend in front of your friends. It was an assurance that came in form of an Olympic gold. An Olympic Gold…realising aspiration of a billion Indians. Rich-Poor, Muslim-Hindu, metros-mofussils, Maruti 800-VolksWagen, PSU-Private, Fabindia-Levis…all possible Indians. All Indians…and before she could have the time to bask in the glory…two other men got her some more. This time the metal wasn’t as expensive as gold but on her 61st year of freedom she did make a start to take herself seriously. It’s her time now…let her sit back for with tea in her balcony watching sunset for sometime. Let’s leave her alone for sometime, let her get decked and then step out in open to astonish everybody with her grace. Amen.