What it Means to be an Indian

For some, the thoughts come easily, dripping with patriotism or pure venom. For others, it needs hours of conversation for the words and feelings, usually buried deep or hardly ever considered, to surface. INDIA TODAY presents frank, unguarded thoughts of some of the best known -- and some totally unknown -- people across the nation who make up the fabric of India. After 50 years of Independence, this is the voice of India, a reflection of who we are. It shows how far we have come. And how far we need to go.

Interview by KALLI PURIE
Photograph by BANDEEP SINGH

BAL THACKERAY, Shiv Sena supremo, extreme Hindu nationalist
You spit on the road. You shit on the road. And you take that as your freedom. Is that the freedom you want after 50 years? The balance sheet of the past 50 years of India is bullshit.
The hi-fi society has no pride in this nation. They have no nation, no religion, no nothing. They have their own creed. It is a very costly thing for the nation, this hi-fi. Nobody bothers about this nation. It is there, so it is there.
I'm going to do nothing on August 15. I'm going to sit and see if there is a breeze or not. If there is, the flag is going to fly. If not, it won't. The country is in such a bad state, even the flag doesn't move. And people who are so old they can't stand are going to hoist the flag.
I say this to the traitors of India: 'Le lo, saara jahan le lo, jahannum bhi tumhara, lekin Hindustan hamara (Take it, take the whole world, even hell is all yours, but Hindustan is ours).'

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