While the golden jubilee celebration are yet fresh in our consciousness, two things stand out: the unabashed commercialisation of patriotism and a fervent hope from noted jurist Nani A Palkhivala that Independence Day will be celebrated in the not too distant future as Indian Interdependence (of States) Day, in the sure knowledge that we are one nation.

In this Golden Jubilee year, music companies have had a field day with new releases on patriotic themes like Lata Mangeshkar's Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon.

Vadilal's came out with a new ice cream dedicated to the Independence spirit. Parry's launched its eponymously named Indian toffee. And on the idiot box, if Star Plus lured viewers with Pamela Rooks's world premiere of Train to Pakistan, Doordarshan went gaga over Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 1942 A Love Story. The fiftieth year of Independence has seen the most extensive and incredible commercialisation of patriotism.

One wonders at the merit of such hoopla. What have we gained, other than selling time, space and products? Was history revisited? Probably not.

Otherwise, how could one talk about banning Arun Shourie's book on Ambedkar when the latter himself was against censorship? Why else was Maharashtra Cultural Affairs Secretary Govind Swaroop given a punishment transfer for clubbing Jinnah with other prominent freedom fighters in a commemorative cassette produced by the Sena-BJP Government? Why would South Indians rather speak in English than in Hindi? Why is a man a Maratha first and an Indian afterwards?

Fifty years after Independence, can India meet the world superpowers on an equal footing? The answer to this was evident at the 35th convocation of IIT, Powai, when that institute once again became a tortured witness to the flight of its best talent abroad. The brain drain is not the issue. It is the lack of attitude, infrastructure and policy, despite liberalisation.

According to the training and placement office in Mumbai's IIT, 50 per cent of this year's new graduates, as in every earlier year, have opted to go abroad. Most of those who stayed behind are seeking jobs in multinationals rather than academia.

Almost all those from the computer science and electrical engineering courses are headed abroad. This, despite prestigious institutes like the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre and the Indian Institute of Science offering better incentives to young scientists and engineers than ever before.

Most of the 19 medal-winners at this year's IIT convocation have already got admission to top US universities and are not in the least apologetic about their preferences.

Even established Indian scientists would rather have their work published in foreign journals. Consequently, Indian journals are relegated to the background in foreign universities. This, in turn, has prompted today's students to take little notice of Indian journals.

As one student gratuitously pointed out to me, ``The students are suitably compensated abroad in terms of better work exposure, greater prestige and better money.'' Little wonder, then, that going abroad and speaking English have become synonymous with status and achievement even in desi films.

There has been too much government and too little administration; too many controls, too little welfare; too many public servants, too little public service, is how Palkhivala pithily described fifty years of Indian Independence.

And it is all because adult franchise, population growth and education have not received adequate attention. Recently, the situation improved to some extent thanks to the initiative of the Election Commission. A lot of people in the cow belt were able to vote for the first time in their lives.

But the other two problems remain unaddressed. Until they are taken in hand, our freedom will remain strictly notional -- except as a window of opportunity for commercial enterprise.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.