In about a month, the Indian tricolour will be splashed across millions of display photos on social media. People will spring to their feet and stand ramrod straight through the national anthem. Pakistan will be abused, Bangladesh condemned, Turkey roasted, China steamed.

Recreational or performative patriotism is important. It makes us take the first step of professing to love our motherland.

But do we?

Do we even know the basic physical and psychological contours of this entity called ‘nation’ that we claim to love?

If we did, why would a 24-year-old from Tripura, Angel Chakma, have to die on the streets of Dehradun for the way he looked or talked? Why would his last, desperate plea to his drunken killers be: “I am Indian"?

At the outset, let us admit that it is not easy as an Indian to love and accept Bharat in its entirety. It is not like Germany or Spain or the US, where the overwhelming majority speaks one language and shares similar racial features.

It is trite to talk about India’s mind-boggling diversity simply........

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