Remembering Allama Iqbal:

For the past many days I have been thinking about Iqbal's two famous quotes,
one being:
Kuch baat hai ki hasti mit-tee nahi hamari,
Sadiyon se raha hai dushman daure-zaman hamara.

And then,
Vatan ki fikr kar naadaan museebat aane wali hai,
Teri barbadiyo ke mashwure hain aasmano me,
Na samjhoge to mit jaaoge aye hindostan walon,
Tumhari dastaan bhi naa hogi dastaano me.

I can't solve this dilemma, if our existence can't be erased easily why should we worry, right from Vedic age people came to India, some settled here and enriched it in someway or other. Even those who went back, they too enriched India. Our cultural continuity is intact while all other ancient civilizations are now a part of history. Or is this plain myth created by scholars.

I am no expert in history but as far as I know stiff resistance and use of force have never been a part of our history barring a few exceptions. What we had in plenty was infighting and small kingdoms, all over the country.

When a poet like Iqbal says 'Watan ki fikr kar naadaan' what does it signify, we by default neglect/ignore our nation and nationality, or we simply don't care about it (use of the word 'fikr'), we are so engrossed in our daily lives that a detached perspective is impossible for us. Did it emerge from the frustration and anger of being unable to eliminate the inaction and indifference from fellow citizens. What was it that made him write this?

Is it not something that I can identify with, a part of me says nothing will change, go back enjoy your life but the other part says have patience God takes tests before granting wishes.

Whatever it is, I can't get past this dilemma, which statement is correct or which one carries more weight if both are true.

Am I fooling myself. . . .

I just recalled this point, Even (if I remember correctly) Gandhiji too criticized this independent nature of the little republics (our villages) being a hurdle to socio-religious reforms.

Are we still living in these little republics or have we made the big republic called India by merging these.