Off Respect and of National Symbols

At long last I am back posting something on my blog. Has been a long three four months without blogging. Last month I was in India and yeah, half the time I was wondering and surprised at the sea change that Chennai has undergone. Other than that when I was watching the television too, one particular thing that came to notice was the attitude of the current generation - the GEN Y as they want to be called :). Coming to the point, I was watching WE THE PEOPLE on NDTV and the subject for discussion on that particular episode was regarding our country's National symbols and the respect we show for these symbols. There was this young female speaking her mind stating that when she had been to a movie at a theater recently, she did not stand up when the National Anthem was being played at the end of the movie. Well I thought WTF! Out of curiosity I continued watching her ramblings and this is what she said to the exact word. "The respect that we show, if it is true to our heart and if it is honest enough, they why should we demonstrate it by standing up for the anthem?" I was like, hold on dear lady, and just thinking, whatever is happening to developed India. My argument is, in case an elder comes into a room, and if an individual is studying, as a mark of respect we do stand up. Another particular case is consider a funeral ceremony. In a funeral ceremony once the coffin is buried, as a symbol of respect to the deceased, we stay silent and mourn. How would it look like if we say that "I DO RESPECT THE DECEASED, BUT I AM NOT GOING TO STAY SILENT. INSTEAD I WILL BE LAUGHING AND MAKING MERRY IN FRONT OF THE COFFIN AFTER BURIAL." As stupid as it sounds, this is how the female speaking on that particular show sounded to me. I am sorry however lazy an individual is, if there is this national symbol, I believe that the individual should respect the symbol whenever he/she encounters it. So much for the development back home!