A nationalist cannot be confused with a patriot in any way. A patriot is defensive and is a hardcore lover of dominance. A patriot cannot hear anything, not in favors of a country.
A nationalist is always longing for power. He always thinks about prestige the respect. A nationalist’s thoughts are always towards the more significant moments in life, such as triumph, victory, defeat, and humiliations. They are more logical in their choices and may not make baseless decisions.
It should not be confused with the certainty of success, but a nationalist always believes in his side being the best or making it worth the win. He believes in serving the right, even if that is bigger than himself or all the other decisions that he needs to make.
Example,
In the movie “Lakshya“, Hrithik Roshan reaches a point where he realizes the futility of war. He has lost a close friend, knowing that war is not the answer. But he fights to put the flag crossing the LOC. He does that because he knows that a considerable amount of prestige, respect, and success comes with this war—not just for himself but the country and all the fellow Indians.
Another example is ” Bhaag Milkha Bhaag” Farhan Akhtar always has flashbacks of his family being driven out of Pakistan during the partition. He knows the pain of leaving a particular place where he has spent his childhood. When called by Jawahar Lal Nehru to run in Pakistan for CWG, he agrees after a while.
He knows what is at hand, the glory, the hall of fame, and again this is not a selfish act. He knows it is for the country. Farhan breaks out of the shackles in the last scene, and his fear is also long gone.
In a world of billions of people, each individual does what makes them happy. Some realize the divide created by various sections of society; some do not. The depth of the matter is that we are human beings before being a patriot or a nationalist. Beings who need to be humble and kind in whatever action we take.
Our efforts decide who we are and have some effect on other people. We are in complete control of the impact we cause and should be very mindful of what we speak and do.
