Patriotism isn’t in displaying the white and green, it is in the heart, and what is in the heart manifests itself through action. Patriotism is caring and doing for the wellbeing of your country, instead of complaining that it’s stuck in a rut, and to do that you don’t have to make million-dollar donations. Every wrapper thrown in the bin instead of being littered on the street is an expression of love for your country and consideration for its wellbeing and that of its people. Every traffic rule you obey is cooperation with the millions that share the roads with you, and concern for the lives that travel its paths. Every time you stop yourself from initiating a poisonous and ever-expanding wave of rumours, you refrain from weakening the social base of your country. Every civil word from your lips moulds the identity of your nation instead of trampling it in the dust.
It is these things, which we consider small and inconsequential, that are the true spirit of patriotism. You might say patriotism is a poison when directed the wrong way, but it is also a driving force when channelled properly. Nobody’s going to do the channelling for you. We all contribute towards directing its flow. Disposing of litter correctly and speaking civilly to your family and friends may not be acts of world-shaking proportions, but they are nation-building acts. What makes it difficult is that we think of these acts as pretty tableside manners, not to be taken seriously, no matter in what form they are presented to us. These are more than the material of parental lectures: this is the stuff of humanity. The same things that build humanity in general build nations in particular. The same drops join to form a stream that join to form a sea.
- By Iqra Asad
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