I discovered recently that Akshay Kumar was a Canadian national. There is nothing wrong in that. But it did kick off a chain of thoughts. Is nationalism and citizen really relevant today? Let me explain.
Why would someone, who was born in India and claims to be proud be of its heritage, culture and values, is stupendously successful in his professional decides to take up another country's citizenship? He professes support for Indian soldiers/police who die in the line of duty. I do not mean to fault Akshay. He is doing good. He is not the only "Indian" who who is a foreign national. And there are European stars and players who move to USA for tax benefits. So is relevance of a nation, and nationalism beyond a legal and perhaps economic frame work dead? It does seem so.
To my mind nationalism is the allegiance and alignment to the nation at legal, cultural and emotional levels to the state that he or she is a citizen off. Citizenship is not only a legal state. When one one becomes a citizen of a country, one professes a emotional and cultural affinity too. Even in today's world where people frequently travel and mix, if one chooses to become a citizen and not a long term resident than he or she must adopt the idea and the value that the nation stands for.
Lets get closer home. If nationalism is subject to economic gain, why are we so fussed about not having economic and sporting relationships with Pakistan? After all India-Pakistan matches are money spinners and economic exchange will benefit both countries. But when it come to relationship with Pakistan many other dimensions, political, emotional distort the picture and a more "nationalist" approach is called for.
Perhaps we live in a era of selective nationalism. when it suits us, we evoke nationalism and when it does not we ignore. The often quoted Sanskrit phrase, "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" is perhaps closer to truth. The world is more similar and the differences are a matter of degree of emphasis. So why try to differentiate and distance.
The urge to differentiate is an inseparable part of human nature. The whole business of marketing is build upon find ways to differentiate. We all want to leave our mark, make an impact and be different. But underneath lies the "sameness" of human beings. Over time different communities have evolved differently because they where subject to different stimuli and they responded differently to them. But the core values and motivation that drives humanity is the same. Skin color, body shape, features eating habits may be different, but the inner motivation is petty much the same.
So where does leave us with nationalism? Use nationalism selectively for political or economic gain even though nationalism may be quite irrelevant in this hugely connected world.
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