60 years, but the past still hurts.....

On the eve of the 60th Independence day of the country, I read a totally heart-warming piece in the The Week. Actually, it was the national magazine's cover story. It was on 25 battles/wars/controversies/events that still hurt and haunt us. These included everything from the Kargil War to the Emergency, the Babri Masjid Demolition to Godhra, the Mumbai blasts of 1993 to the Chinese Invasion of 1962.

The magazine printed an excellent image on the opening page of the cover story. An India drawn up in blood. I have never felt more emotion over something sensitive before. But it is evident that the events of the past do relate with us today. Communalism remains at the top of the pile. It has single-handedly disunited the country and led to so much bloodshed, that most of us would prefer a war over the riots that communalism causes.

Terrorism would come second. Government bureaucracy third and so on. I spent upto 2 hours imagining how life could have been without these 25 "wars". And I saw a utopia. A beautiful nation. But since that isn't true, let's do justice to the present by learning what we should from a very dreadful past.....