On July 24, 2021 Mirabai Chanu brought silver to India, in weightlifting in Tokyo Olympics 2021. Again on August 1 2021 PV Sindhu brought Bronze to India in Badminton. Again on August 01 2021 Indian Hockey team defeated England by 3-1. Isn't that a proud moment for all Indians. Of course it is.

There are so many facts on which every Indian can be proud. India is rich in historic and cultural heritage. India has many achievements in the fields of sports, science, culture, natural beauty and many more. India has innumerable achievements in defense, in democracy, in dealing with neighborhood problems, helping other small nations, maintaining international relations.

No doubt India is one of the most developing nations, emerging worldwide as a force to reckon with. And we are all very proud of it.

Who doesn't love his country? Of course everyone does.

We celebrate 15th August as our independence day, 26th January as our republic day, 2nd October as Gandhi Jayanti and many more days which are dedicated to the country, to show the feeling of patriotism and love towards our Nation. But is celebrating these festivals the only way to show our patriotism? Or to feel patriotic?

Every year on independence day a huge and long parade marches from Rashtra Pati Bhawan to India Gate in New Delhi, where the President receives the salute from the parade. All the three defence teams Army, Navy and Air Force show it's glory and strength.

Whenever the PM addresses the nation he makes us count on the finger all developments , progress and improvements the nation has done under their government. Everyone in this country either wants to be an IAS, IPS or wants to join the Army, Navy and Air force to serve the nation, to develop the nation. This is where they feel that they are patriots.

Is the circumference of patriotism limited to this point of view? Is this the only thing which makes a person a real patriot?

It is said that criticism forces you to become a better version of yourself. For success, working on our weak points is required. I also believe that when you love someone, you try to figure out it's flaws and weak points and start improving on them because you want to see it become better to be successful.

The above mentioned case is with the nation too. Of course it's true that nobody is perfect and so is the nation. Even the most developed nations may be weak in some fields, but they might not impact the country's development and hence they are a developed nation.

Loving a country, being a patriot doesn't mean that one can ignore it's flaws, one cannot listen to anything against it. One cannot be a patriot by always praising the nation.

A real patriot is one who listens to the criticism and tries to improve the condition such that no one can criticize again. He is the one who points out the flaw, tries to make society aware about it and tries to fix it.

Development happens step by step in an order. The first and foremost fact is that a nation is made up of society. Society is made up of every individual. Hence what's important is the development of the individual which will automatically lead to the development of the nation.

Indian society and Indian culture is weak in many aspects whether Indians and Indian society accepts it or not. It doesn't matter how much India achieved fame and name all over the world, as long as we have poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, poor standard of living, and backward thinking of society.

The ideological disputes, the disputes over religion, discrimination between the sections of society, these are all hurting our nation. Who says "I am an Indian, I have no religion"? Very few people. Everybody takes pride in being an upper class brahman, a devotee of Shiva, a follower of Ambedkar. Everybody is proud of their caste and religion. Does patriotism exist here?

When Manushi Chillar, Sushmita Sen, Priyanka Chopra win the title of Miss world and Miss Universe, everyone becomes a patriot. When Mary Kom, Geeta phogat Mirabai Chanu, Sania Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Vishwanathan Anand bring trophies and medals to the nation, everyone becomes a patriot to take credit. No doubt it's a moment to be proud but you cannot be a true patriot if you can't see other factors in which the nation is weak.

It's not easy to be a real patriot by looking at the shortcomings of a nation, and working on it. It's easy to be a patriot but it's not that easy to be a real and genuine patriot. Patriotism doesn't mean only appreciation of the nation in front of others. It's the one that determines how much you accept the real situation of the country and how much evil you can remove from its roots.