My Patriotism - Happy Independence Day

I usually come under fire for criticizing the faults in the government, politics, society and culture of Sri Lanka as "You never see the good side, you are never proud of your country, you think other countries are better". This might be because with whomever I discuss, I spend the time discussing our disagreements. I often play the devil's advocate on every topic. While just agreeing all the time might keep everyone happy, it adds no value to the conversation. ​

I find the following quote from Merl Chandana resonating with my worldview, not just about my country, but about everything that I love: my family, my friends, my university, the department... and so on.​

My patriotism has a very complicated definition" this could have easily been something that came out of me. I feel very much the same. The only way to truly love our country - or love anything, really I guess - is to love it in all its complexity and chaos, but do everything we can to make it the best version of itself. Be accepting of our past, but ruthless about correcting the mistakes we made. Holding yourself and things you love to the highest imaginable standard is one of love's purest forms.​

Happy independence day everyone...

First posted on facebook: facebook.com/abarajithan11/posts/10221749308793442

To add to the original post, here's a message I got from a Brite, the German girl from the Feel Lanka project, after 5 years of visiting Sri Lanka.

And to be honest: I still love the Sri Lankan spirit
The people are always happy and help each other

Her stay wasn't perfect. She actually went through some shit here, but she saw the best in people. We have things to be proud of, and to preserve here ❤️