Patriotism

"Jab yahan ki reth nahi tickthi, tho log kya tickhenge" (when even the grains of sand here don't have any cohesion, why would the people here stick together?) said the stranger to me a few months ago, kicking the desert sand in Dubai around with his feet.
The words came back to me suddenly while walking in the city centre this evening watching people go about their lives in the gentle snowfall, insulated against the cold and against each other as well. Make me an Indian everytime dear God!