Indians are unique. Maybe unique is an understatement; maybe we are special.
You see, there are very few others in this world who have such exposure to diverse communities as we do. We, specially as teenagers, get to live in an open community all day and get back to our usually conservative families at night. Some may think that this is beautiful. But diversity can be a dangerous thing.
Diversity is worth the title only when members of each faction proudly live up to what they have been taught to be right. If feeble minds mix it all up, the convoluted mess that is created is just plain disgusting. Originality is lost and without it, diversity is just a sludge.
Each one of us is a product of years of history. There is a lot more that went into making us the way we are than meets the eye. Every tiny incident in India's glorious and at times tainted past resulted in us being who we are today. That I believe is something to be proud of.
I was personally, happy when Madras became Chennai. I like it when some one who talks very good English pronounces words from their language the way they are meant to be. I like it when people are proud to be who they are and do their roots justice.
I think that respect for their own cultures makes people of other nations proud to be them. The way of life that the television dictates to us is the culture and tradition of some other land. We follow it because the ones we see on TV love it. Maybe if we loved being us just as much as they loved being them, they'd decide to be us in a heart beat.
It disgusts me to watch people listen to music and dream of things that they cannot relate to.
It hurts me to think that I cannot converse in any Indian language as well as I can in English. Makes me question who I am. Makes me ask myself if I am a wanna-be.
I want to see the World. I want to be in all the places that I have been shown or have been told about. I want to see all the good things in the world. But, I like to think that when i become old and withered, I'll see my 100% Indian grandfather when I look at myself in the mirror. That who I will die as was decided with my birth. I want my kid to dump me 6 feet under Indian Soil.
I don't want this post to bring out the Indian in you. If 20 or so years of being you couldn't make you appreciate you, a few of my lousy words will not and it will be foolish of me to hope for them to.
However, if you think this could make sense, look around at the mess we have made of ourselves.
Love what you truly believe is good, not what you've been made to think is nice..
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ReplyDeleteGr8 post! We go to France and the people converse only in French even if they know English same is the case with Germany.. But us? Hell, I even think in English and it's really pathetic..I think we, as Indians try to please people too much.I hate it that Vh1 would probably be the most watched channel on my tv or that the first section i turn to in the Hindu after sports is the International column,or that I can't name all the states in my very own country .I hate that my brother doesn't even know the alphabet of his own mother tongue and no one thinks it's such a big deal.I cringe when my cousin supports the New zealand cricket team b/c he thinks Jesse Ryder looks better than anyone in the Indian team. I consider myself patriotic in the sense that I stand up for the national anthem, support Indians vehemently in all sports, read a lot of Indian history,know my mahabaratha and the Ramayana, can recite a feel solkas(see how i anglicized that word sub consciously!)etc; but when i'm ashamed of the fact that when it comes to, probably the most important decision of my life, I categorically told my mom that she needs to look for possible suitors from anywhere but India, preferably the U.S. I would probably still stand up for the national anthem even if i end up living the "american dream" but damn! I feel like a hypocrite! And it hurts me to know that though I know this for a fact, I still wouldn't even consider changing my mind.. I'm not an altruist after all.
ReplyDeletereally good post, Hari.
ReplyDeletethat's all i'm going to dare to say now because this is not a particularly "i love india" week for me. i guess we all have our days.
:)
I was personally, happy when Madras became Chennai
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what being an Indian has to do with changing the name of a place. This is one of those Indian things that I DON'T like, because it is only we who are insecure about retaining our "culture" and try to make a point by changing the name of a place. Madras, Calcutta and Bombay might be leftovers of the British era, but they have a HISTORY attached to them that is very, very pertinant to our Indian identity today. To wipe off our entire history because we are uncomfortable about Anglacised names and think that we will become "more true to our Indian values" by changing a name, is so silly, it's laughable. Cities have long memories. We owe them some respect. They have lived through things we cannot, will not ever be able to imagine. The least we can do is let them retain the dignity of their past.
It disgusts me to watch people listen to music and dream of things that they cannot relate to.
Don't kid yourself, Hari. People are selfish; no exceptions. No one likes wasting time. If initially they do it because a) they want to look cool or b) they want to impress someone, then it's a phase that everyone goes through. Sooner or later, people find their bearings and stick to what they like. Even if that something is Western culture.
Being Indian is an internal process. It has little to do with our tastes, because the India that we live is diverse in ALL senses of the word; what we are given, we absorb. We are not Indian if we decide to reject pasta in favour of thair-shadam because the latter is an Indian dish. We are Indian if we understand the worth of the latter, but choose to eat the former simply because we like pasta more than thair-shadam. There are values-- honesty, integrity, courage and peace -- that are Indian. There is our history, and the vastness of our eternally unexplored country. There is pain and hurt when something hurts our country, or it's essence. That's what being an Indian is about.
Well-written, I'm with Tina on that one, because only a well-written post could provoke thought.
@harshini:
ReplyDeleteif 20 years didn't do it, ...
@tina:
come back when you have your day.. thoughts are always welcome
@sharanya:
Chennai, Bombay, Calcutta were names that were thrust upon us by the Brits.
The British buildings and stuff can continue being called what they have always been. Chennai still has its Rippon Building.
Those buildings are still the way the Brits left them.. but, the cities have grown. Indians have grown them rather. And for that, these cities deserve an Indian name.
Names are just as much an identity of someone or something's present as of its past.
If someone suddenly changes all the names of all the places, sound the sirens n we'll do something.
Don't hate anything because it is Indian.
If you genuinely like what you want, go ahead and have it.
We are not diverse if we absorb what we are given. We are diverse if each of us have our own tastes and we respect each others' tastes.
Anyway, opinions can differ can't they? just as much as tastes can.. :)
Suddenly, i envy you for being able to write so much.. structuring the thoughts the way u do is an art
;)
Haha, thanks :D You know, you write pretty well yourself.
ReplyDeleteAnd well, I think almost everyone at this age is past the point where they "hate something coz it's Indian". Apart from being completely Juvenile, it's just Wrong. With a capital W.
And of COURSE we can have our own opinions! I just wanted to be sure that you weren't trashing something BECAUSE it wasn't Indian. Which, now I know, you're not :)
(Well, even if you WERE, there's not much I can do about it right?)
heh :) trashing without mentioning what i am hope to trash wouldn't serve the purpose would it?
ReplyDeletei wanna love the world...
"If feeble minds mix it all up, the convoluted mess that is created is just plain disgusting." Well worded,Intense post Hari. Comments make for interesting reading too!
ReplyDeleteReally nice post..I have nothing against those who like something from other cultures but i have no respect for those who pose as someone else because they think it makes them look cool..
ReplyDeleteI too was happy when they changed the name from Madras to Chennai but i wasn't too happy of the fact that it took us 50 years to get the guts to change it..I love being an Indian.I think life in US and most western countries are rather boring though it is attractive coz the standard of living is high.Nothing to beat a bus ride in India or food or anything.
And i don't mind where i die but where ever i go i'll remain 100% Indian.I think its true with everyone.They might pose as someone else and no one can change what you you really are at the core however you try.
ReplyDeletetrue, no matter how hard people try, they will remain who they really are.. but, the fact that they try makes it seems to the billion (or lesser) other people who live the way they were born to live..
ReplyDelete