The Tricolor

I’m not a very patriotic person. I mean I Iove my country and stuff. I’ll respectfully stand for the national anthem before a movie starts in a cinema hall and I won’t bitch about it. But I won’t be first in line ready to lay my life down for the tricolor. I salute and immensely respect the men and women who are ready to do that though.

But seeing the Indian flag flutter in the strong wind that day on the way to the Gurudongmar and Tso Lhamo lakes, something came over me. I don’t know what it was. Maybe it was the altitude messing with my head. Maybe it was the proximity to the volatile border with China. Maybe it was all the army personnel, camps, trucks, jeeps and tanks that I was riding past.

I definitely felt something. If only for a moment. Then I got back down to concentrating on staying upright on my motorcycle. 🙂