Had an interesting conversation with my wife today about why Indians do not explicitly clap or appreciate when they see Indian solders walking beside them in uniforms. Clapping and extending their thank you to the US Marines when they pass by them is one of the nicest things I found in Americans, and we both were really sad and felt bad that we haven’t seen an Indian do it or have done it ourselves to an Indian solder in India. It will be so nice to acknowledge that the sacrifice they make is not gone unnoticed.
It’s not that we do not have any respect for them, I feel so proud/respectful if I come to know of a Brigadier, or a Major, Naval officer, Air force, any NDA graduate, IAS or an IPS officer. But why aren’t we publicly displaying that respect? And that’s when we both realized that, in India there is no public demonstration of emotions anywhere. Although the PDAs are getting popular in cosmopolitan cities, 90% of India is super private when it comes to expressing their emotions and affections. We are actually not rude people, we are little private with our feelings. Now this feels so much better.
But as I mentioned above, it will feel so nice to extend a token of thanks to a person who is sacrificing a lot for your survival. It will make them feel that all the sacrifices they make are not gone unnoticed. If public display of affection can get popularized so can public display of appreciation.
Jai Hind !
