We should not think of settling in another country, with better education prospects, better medical facilities and better jobs
You are ‘Anagriks’, they declared. Non-citizens—a burden on the nation, and hence the world at large. Not worthy of life in this great country, or a country that they want to make great, with or without us.
In the imagination of this self-righteous moralistic idealist, the ‘ideal citizen’ brims with a sense of pride on the idea of nationhood and national identity. He doesn’t falter. Ever.
Either inside, or when away.
If it was left to them, and if they could have their way, these hotheads, including my own former more arrogant and ‘hotter’ self, would have made us feel we are not even worth living, forget being the citizens.
‘Yes, you are miserable!’ they dig their pointed fingers at our chest. You don’t pay taxes.
You lack conscience. You don’t have a sense of responsibility towards the country, and you don’t have the required amount of loyalty to qualify to be bestowed the honor of citizenship.
The ideal citizen pays his taxes in advance, voluntarily, in full, and follows every rule. He contributes to the ‘Majestic Goal’ of nation-building physically. He is aware politically, socially and morally, and consciously takes decisions considering the betterment of the society and the national interest, even at the cost of his personal interests.
To do away with euphemisms, in the eyes of this true conscience keeper of the nation, which I truly believed I was until recently, if we love our country we should not think of moving abroad and settling there because there are better job opportunities and a much better lifestyle.
We should not think of settling in another country, with better education prospects, better medical facilities and better job opportunities if we want to question our leaders and crib about the ‘system’ here. No, don’t even think about it. It’s an almost treason.
The ideal citizen of the imagination of this super-nationalistic intellectual is almost a carbon copy of a philosopher-king, without the palace and the harem of course, who strides the public stage with grace. His face shines with the feeling of servitude towards the nation running through his veins. He shows impeccable manners in personal life and his political choices are guided by an inner wisdom. He is a ‘worth-emulating figure’ emitting gentle civility around him.
But there is a small problem with this notion; it is idealistic. And like all idealistic things, it is not simply practical and possible. There never existed a complete nation full of those ‘ideal citizens’, there never will. We have to, sadly, work with what we have. We have to build a nation with who we are—because we, the people, are the nation and not the other way round.
Yes, some countries are better than others, economically. Some societies are seen to be more civilized than others in terms of today’s benchmarks of civilization, but that is because they are better educated and they have developed that sense of awareness through an intense and often painful grooming of centuries.
We, in Nepal, are at a nascent stage in every field of progress. And that’s not the fault of our people.
Sorry sir, but I must say to myself again and again, we are not always worse than we should be. We are all human. We are awesome, like all good natured gentle self-loving humans.
While the mythic idealist notion of a true nationalist can inspire us to do better, I don’t think we will allow you to invoke him to make us feel small. We are not to be blamed for choosing a better college, better job and better hospital. Question those who run them for not making it good enough, not us for discarding that.
We, at worst, are practical about our well-being and hence want a better life. At best, we give a message by going away. Take it. Because we won’t be intimidated by that great ideal citizen, who doesn’t even exist.
We don’t question gravity. And we can’t tag our rivers anti-national, for flowing down south, into India.
Twitter: @dn_ktm
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