In 1 line, what's the first thing you think of when you hear 'Independence Day' 🇮🇳

While we complain and whine about all things wrong with our country, which is well within our rights to do so, we also need to acknowledge the cost others paid to get us this freedom. 1. As per British Administration records, about 6000 British died in the Indian Mutiny. The casualty count for Indians is at 800,000. This includes figures for those who died during the mutiny and the subsequent uprising as well as in famines and epidemics that followed in its wake. 2. If we estimate excess mortality from 1891 to 1920, with the average death rate of the 1880s as normal mortality, we find some 50 million people lost their lives under the aegis of British capitalism," they write. "But this estimate must be considered conservative. India's 1880s death rate was already very high by international standards. If we measure excess mortality over England's 16th- and 17th-century average death rate, we find 165 million excess deaths in India between 1880 and 1920. This figure is larger than the combined number of deaths from both World Wars, including the Nazi holocaust. 3. The British colonial regime looted nearly $45 trillion from India from 1765 to 1938. The amount is 15 times the annual GDP of the UK today. Even if it wants, it still can't return India the money it looted to not only build itself as a major global power but also fund much of the development in the today's developed world. 4. The Indian peasantry and workers produced the second largest merchandise export surplus in the world for at least four decades from the 1890s," writes Patnaik. "But India was never permitted to show current account balance, leave alone current account surplus. These enormous exchange earnings, appropriated by the then world capitalist leader, Britain, allowed it to export capital to develop Europe and the regions of European settlement, despite its running large and rising current account deficits with these same regions. The rapid diffusion of capitalism was ensured thereby to what constitutes today's advanced countries. With this amount of human and economic costs paid to attain the freedom that we have, let’s not forget the contributions of those who came before us and let’s not get blinded by party loyalties or religious identities to undermine what we got!

I’ll start first, Within my lifetime, we sent a spacecraft to the moon. We also succeeded in our Mars mission on the first try. There are seldom moments like such that remind us that we are one country. We are a force to be reckoned with, continually working to move the needle of progress. We’ve achieved so much and there’s way more to achieve. But I’m hopeful. We’ve gotten this far and we will go further than ever before.

In two different minds here Of late I have been watching many India glorifying movies/shows - Rocketry, Manikarnika, Rocket Boys. On other hand, riots based on community and religion make me wonder how can people put own country down. Then, I am paying for 2.5 months of salary in tax. But am I benefitting from it? The road outside house has been broken before monsoons, gets even worse now. Also read this tweet in the morning https://twitter.com/Bihar_ke_lala/status/1681715711096541185 and wondered if the love for country just blind.

Whenever I read foreign media outlets, India is the new Asian Tiger that will outpace most emerging economies in growth. But Indian media and Indian people act like India is the worst place to be. The dichotomy is extremely confusing. Why is it that foreign media coverage on our economy is more favourable than our own hopes and aspirations from this country? PS: I am really big on Indian Exceptionalism, the belief that India's economic development and trajectory are unique or exceptional compared to other nations, driven by our large and diverse population, thriving middle class, our entrepreneurial spirit, and the emphasis on technology and innovation. Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-04-07/can-india-overtake-china-as-world-s-growth-engine-it-could-happen-by-2028

Drop plans for the long weekend, hope to get some good ideas for myself!

Question came up because it’s Independence Day 🇮🇳 A lot of us have had the privilege to be able to go abroad, but ended up choosing not to. For me, it was just believing there’s enough growth here in the coming few decades + friends/family Looking to hear if the reduced brain drain is actually true, and what makes people stay.

The date when India said to the world: “We’ll take it from here” 🥰

Kargil Vijay Diwas. 25 years, man. Sitting here, staring at my laptop, trying to give a shit about this quarter's numbers. But my mind's somewhere else today. You know that guy in HR who's always on your case? Or that teammate who stole your idea in the last meeting? Feels like the end of the world sometimes, right? Then I think about those soldiers in Kargil and every other frontier. Guys our age, probably dreaming about normal stuff - girlfriends, bikes, maybe a cool job. Instead, they're dodging bullets, watching their buddies fall, all for what? So we can sit here and argue over who gets the window seat in the office. Makes our "problems" look like a joke, doesn't it? Remember that time you lost sleep over your annual review? Those soldiers lost sleep wondering if they'd see another sunrise. We stress about meeting targets. They had actual targets on their backs. Not saying our issues aren't real. They are. But maybe, just maybe, we could cut each other some slack sometimes? That colleague who messed up your presentation - maybe they're dealing with shit we know nothing about. To those brave souls who never made it back - I don't have the right words. "Thank you" feels hollow, but it's all I've got. Your sacrifice is the reason I can sit here, complain about my boss, and plan my next vacation. To the families left behind - I can't even begin to imagine your pain. Hope you know that your loved ones' courage hasn't been forgotten. And to those still bearing the scars, visible and invisible - you deserve way more than just one day of remembrance. So yeah, next time I'm about to lose it over some office drama or a messed up Excel sheet, I'll try to remember this feeling. Try to be a bit kinder, a bit more patient. Because at the end of the day, we're the lucky ones. We get to be here, doing our 9-to-5, planning our weekends. All thanks to those who put everything on the line. Jai Hind. 🇮🇳 Let's talk about this. What are you guys thinking today?