I'm a proud Indian, I feel sad I generalised India

It has been less than 24 hours since my opinion piece "India, stand up for yourself, instead of the national anthem," was posted. 

I felt strongly about the subject.

The words flowed from my soul and filled the screen that dark night.

I wrote with passion and conviction, and I believe in what I stated. But I also wrote with anger, frustration and pain.

And when I read my published piece in the light of day, I was disappointed.

I started my piece with, "Here we go again, India, we are back in the international news again…" and I went on to say," … India… You come across as a bunch of savages and barbarians."

Also read: My country won't stand up against rape, but stand up for national anthem?

I made huge, sweeping generalisations. I took the rowdy, ill-mannered crowd and included the remaining population of the country, with 1.3 billion people, in my statement. That was erroneous and unfair. I should not have done that. Those fringe groups of people do not represent the country.

India, the biggest democracy in the world, is much bigger than this, and the other incidents of "intolerance".

I can explain the baggage that weighted my statement. I am an Indian. I am proud of being one.

My Indian culture, my Indian history and my Indian traditions flow in my blood.

I have the sweetest memories of singing the national anthem and solemnly standing up in public whenever it's sung.

I grew up in West Bengal, where the national anthem takes on a richer significance because it is written by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who is worshipped in the state.

Also read: Tagore would not have stood for this national anthem debate

And it hurts me deeply when it is trivialised by being played at an entertainment venue, when it has become clearly evident that people resent it. I dislike the manner in which it is disrespected. On one level, I understand the anger of the people. But I do not condone the way in which they expressed it.

It also angers me when people are cruel to minorities and accuse them of not being "patriotic enough". That is unnecessary and violates human rights, which is a cause I am particularly devoted to.

I am also equally dedicated to high standards of journalism and I am fanatical about being politically correct. I do not wish to be less than accurate. I want to be dignified and balanced.

I have had many disagreements with Western reporters who cover India and make general statements.

"It's one person or one group or that incident, okay? It's not the whole country," I always tell them.

"We are not all cow worshippers. We do not have snake charmers and elephants on every street."

I scan the news regularly and shake my head when the BBC or some foreign news agency reports, "India is growing increasingly intolerant." Etc, etc.

And now I went and did the same thing.

Also read: Does the media want to start a war in India?

With our stories, we, journalists, demand that everyone, everywhere gets everything right, every single time. We tend to hold our stories to high, exacting standards; why should we be any different?

We, the seekers, the keepers and the reporters of truth, have to be better than them.

India is a sum total of all that is good, bad and ugly. There is so much intelligence, positivity, creativity and achievement contained in all of us.

Indians everywhere, including me, excel in everything we touch. We take pride in our ancient culture and history. But that doesn't mean that we should stop trying to attain the highest standard possible.

When I wrote the article, I was emotional and I let that cloud my judgment. I should have been more objective.

Also read: Think Modi's India, see land of snake charmers and holy cow

PS: No one has spoken to me about the article. No one has corrected or challenged me. I chose to do this because I believe it's the right thing to do.

And I stand by everything I wrote. In fact, I believe I should have mentioned more issues in the list of things that India needs to "stand up" against.

India should also stand up against acid attack victims, for clean drinking water and education.

But I need to articulate my thoughts with perfection and professionalism. If I lose it, there will be little to distinguish myself from the "fringe elements" I write about.

I recall this one time when I was invited to speak at a panel. When I was being introduced to an audience, the speaker mentioned that I had read all of Shakespeare's works.

At the end of the question hour, someone asked me if I could sum up what I had learnt from the Bard. 

I unhesitatingly quoted from Hamlet, "To thy own self be true." 

And I remain committed to that ideal.