Associating oneself with our nation, its flag, its symbols, the anthem, the songs, or the significant days associated with the history of our nation is very integral to our lives. It is so common, so profound, deeply mesmerizing. It is our national identity. It is a socially constructed one, it is embedded in historical, social and political contexts. It is what we grew up with.

In a diverse nation like India, citizens have many identities. We navigate through our National, Religious, Ethnic, Linguistic, Regional identities on a daily basis.  Community and Social Interactions also define “who am I”.  One can be an Indian at heart, but may love Italian food and the beauty of Yosemite Park. A Spanish living in London can learn yoga and practice Ayurveda. Yoga is our national symbol too. A North Indian to like Idli Sambar and a South Indian hogging on Misal Pav is very common. Identity diffusion in the era of powerful technology, globalization and the powerful social media is extremely powerful and dangerous as well .  Identities evolve, converge, develop, diversify based on our exposure and interests.  In few of us no identity is dominant. In a few of us, only one or two may be dominant.  Religion, Nation, Gender being a few important ones.

 What happened on 26th January in Delhi, India is a very powerful example of clash of identities. Instead of converging to fight for common causes, few people create powerful divide due to contempt for a leader, for a political party which has won a thumping majority. Over the past one year, the more worrying aspect is that the nation as a whole is not rallying behind during times of crisis, be it a border crisis, a pandemic, an anti-national protest. These are the times we should and we must rally behind a nation and its leader. A Journalist posts a fake news on a constitutional authority. But there were others who supported him on social media platforms.

Ideological interests often lead to interesting identity changes. We may love communism and socialism; we can love a country that you are not a part of. It is common. Ideology creates political clashes. Add religion to the mix. It creates further divisions. We keep adding multiple layers to our interests, perceptions, prejudices, that finally many of us lose what it is to be an Indian. Add one more layer, a citizen’s position in the Social media platforms. It is so powerful, so alluring, we tend to forget who we are.

A Videshi-Swadeshi connect allegedly hatching conspiracies to attack Yoga, the leader who practices it, attack our flag, the heart of our nation on a day when India honors its constitutional foundation is very unsettling. One can oppose policies, have political and religious differences and still argue about it constructively.

Transcending all our identities is to be an Indian(Nation First), respect a democratically elected leader. Yes, he belongs to BJP and through him and the others leaders of the party, we now have another identity, to be a Bhakt  and most importantly an Indian who is also a Bhakt.

 Imagine if our leader likes Italian food, would the so called international toolkit  said “disrupt pasta, pizza image in general”. It is very Indian to drink Chai after a good session of Yoga. Chai and Yoga are so unique to our culture, if they had a social media account, they will have more followers than the honorable leaders under attack.  Identities can be fluid, can change but being Indian is our primary identity. Nation Always Comes First. It is our National Identity and it should be yours as well.

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