In Draupadi's 'swayamvar' in the Mahabharat, the test for suitors was to lift and string a bow, and shoot an arrow into the eye of a revolving golden fish on the roof, by looking only at its reflection in a bowl of water. Only Arjun, among all the suitors assembled in the hall, could do that, thanks to his total focus and concentration on the eye of the fish.
Patriotic Indians (and in that term I include Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, as we are really one country, only temporarily and artificially divided by a British swindle in 1947) must become like Arjun. We must see only the eye of that revolving fish, and nothing else. All other thoughts are irrelevant, diversionary, trivial, or at best subordinate issues.
What is that eye? That eye is India becoming a modern industrial giant, like USA or China. On this there can be no compromise. We owe that to our children, grandchildren, and succeeding generations. We want them to have a high standard of living and decent lives.
And to achieve this objective the Indian people will have to wage a historic, protracted, arduous people's struggle, and make a revolution.
Just as Arjun could not see the real eye of the fish, but only its reflection in a bowl of water, patriotic Indians today cannot see the revolutionary situation, as that has not yet developed and is still far away. But India is passing through an ideological revolution, which precedes an actual revolution and is the reflection of the latter.
So our patriots have to shoot their arrows - that is, direct their activities - at the reflection for the time being.
May our great emperors Ashoka and Akbar shower rose petals on our valiant patriots and bless them from the skies.
May our brave fighters in the war of 1857, Rani of Jhansi, Tatya Tope, Nana saheb, Maulvi Liaquat Ali, Kunwar Singh and others inspire us by their heroic deeds.
Let us invoke our great revolutionaries of the 20th century, Bhagat Singh, Surya Sen (Masterda), Chandrashehar Azad, Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Rajguru, Sukhdeo and Khudiram Bose. They were our real freedom fighters, but have been relegated to the footnotes of our history books and painted as mavericks and deviants. They fought to create a just social order in which all Indians would live decent lives, but fell at the hands of British executioners and their agents. May they bestow their blessings on us, their humble disciples. May they steel our will, fortify and kindle our spirit, cheer us, applaud us, inspirit us, ennoble us, exalt and embolden us in our travails and protracted struggle against seemingly insuperable odds.
Justice Markandey Katju retired from the Supreme Court in 2011.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK.