Sometime ago, some people objected to a few of the Himachalis saying: “Jai Himachal“. their argument was to say just: “Jai Hind“.
I think there is nothing wrong in saying “Jai Himachal” and there is nothing wrong in saying Jai Hind. Just that we shouldn’t go to the extent of saying, “Jai Hindu” and “Jai Musulman“.
How many of us remember the song probably we used to sing at school… “Hum ko mann ki shakti dena… mann main jai karein… Doosron ki jaise pehle khud ko jai karein…”
We have to remember that “Doosronn ki jaisse pehle khud ko jai karein.”
Yes, at the larger forum, we do have to say “Jai Hind“. In US, I suppose, people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh are referred as South Asians. At a smaller forum, we do need to have our egos. We do tend to single out people in public. If I see my mother after a long time at a railway station and if she is accompanied by her friends, probably, I will not touch the feet of her friends. But I surely will of my mother. That does not mean, my respect for her friends has diminished.
It is important for us to retain our identities. Shakespeare said “What’s in a name?” I think, he was wrong. We have our own identities and more than any time else, this theory is true today where on the web we are faceless and all are identified by their names or even our User IDs.
I’ll repeat… “Doosron ki jaise pehle khud ko Jai karein.”
So Jai Himachal!
