Answer:

Patriotism is an act of courage and valour towards your country. It means keeping the interests of the country before your own personal needs. It makes the nation stronger. We refer to our nation as the ‘motherland’ and love towards it is a must. We must respect our ‘motherland’ and work to make this country a better place for us to live in. There are 3 patriotic days that we celebrate in our ‘motherland’ India – January 26: when the constitution of India was made, August 15: when India was declared a free country and October 2: the birthday of Gandhi Ji.Patriotism helps in building a country with a better future so that people live in harmony with each other. It does not always mean fighting and being violent, it means showing passion and sacrifice towards the nation. Showcasing the love for the country only on occasions such as Republic Day, Independence Day and Gandhi Jayanti is not true patriotism. True patriotism is respecting the country & taking pride while showing love and respect to the country. It also leads to the elimination of selfishness and corruption which will help the country grow and develop faster. The nation does not belong to one person, rather it belongs to all of us so all of us must come together to make our nation the best. Our soldiers stand at the border(s) each and every day to keep this country or us safe.Patriotism doesn’t mean only fighting and shedding blood, showing true love and respect for the country is also patriotism. In the past, India has had a few glorious freedom fighters who fought India’s freedom and sacrificed their lives to help the country become free and flourish. Some of those freedom fighters and greatest patriots were Maulana Azad, Rani Lakshmi Bai and Bhagat Singh. They lost their lives for the love of their country and a true patriot is worshipped even after their death; they become martyrs. The souls of these true martyrs are respected and become immortal. As Shakespeare says “Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never tastes of death once.”Other patriots such as Shivaji, Gandhi Ji and Subhash Chandra Bose are respected and remembered today as well because they fought for their nation and were fearless! Our freedom fighters lead movements to bring a change and make an identity for the country. Remembering and honouring their struggle for independence is an important aspect of patriotism. It is because of their struggles and hard work that we are here today, living in our country safely and with respect.Since these freedom fighters fought so that we could have an identity of our own, we must contribute towards making the society a better place to live in. We can start by implementing good education systems, economic development and just removing the social evils from the society. Equality is an important aspect of patriotism; it includes seeing everyone as equals irrespective of their caste, colour, race and religion. Hence, Voting is very important because it helps the citizens of a nation get better facilities. It can also mean helping those in need such as victims of floods and earthquakes; you can play your part by donating to relief funds to help these people.

Since the youth today have a very opinionated voice, it can be put to very good use by expressing their opinions passionately and speaking up against the evils in society. The youth of a country are the ambassadors of change and they tend to work for the world they wish to live in, so we must respect them and use the power we have to make a change and give back to this nation, which has given everything to us. Our national identity is what drives us to work for change and contribute meaningfully to society. Patriotism in a country like India, which is full of varying views about everything. can be summed up in the word of philosopher Sun Tzu: