Being Indian

It is only after a long thought process, have I been able to truly appreciate the feelings I have in me for my country. I had emptied my cup of opinion, and I decided to fill more. I saw that the cup was full again, I emptied it once more. And thus spake Viv :)

If there is one word that describes an Indian, it would be - Confused.

I mean, we talk in high spirits about an "India Shining" era, where Indians are supposedly said to have arrived. What does that mean? Does it mean some IIT geeks have discovered a new way to write code? Does it mean IIM Grads can sell Unilever products better? Does it mean Nuclear technology in India has arrived? Or does it mean that the Sensex is clocking upwards of 20,000 points each day?

It supposedly means all, or perhaps some of that. But, like it or not, that is not India for you. India is not shining. These sectors, these people, and these institutions are shining. And they do not represent India.

India is home to more than 16% of the world's population. Out of such a massive expanse of people, we seek to glorify a few people who have made it big, and project them as the face of our country. That is hypocrisy at its populist worst. Why are we so upset with Mr. Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire? Why get upset with Aravind Adiga for "The White Tiger". Their lurid portrayals of India bespeak a chilling truth, which we find hard to accept! That's all! It does not mean they are wrong. So on one hand, we seek to portray India as a leader of the future, and on the other hand, we seek to criticize people who portray a bigger India, with all its fallacies and problems.

And if this complication was not enough, add to this the fact that we cannot take criticism from anyone. I mean, lets face it. We do NOT like to be criticized, because we come from an ancient civilization that literally WORSHIPS knowledge and considers it sacred. What does the Firang know about intelligence? He is a shrewd businessman who made the world his trading floor! So, it is that bitter juice of arrogance and prejudice that is filling our cup, and preventing us from tasting a sweet drink of realization and determination.

I generally do not like to talk about Politicians in an open space, but I will take this writing forward with Rahul Gandhi's description of "Two Indias". He is right, there are TWO Indias. What he did not say is that the two Indias are not Two HALVES. They are in the proportion of 80:20. The 80% is the India portrayed by Danny Boyle. The 20% is the India which we believe is shining by the day, yes with the upward Sensex and the Nuclear Deals.

So, this is cynical. This is bad. Again, empty your cup.

So when is a country said to Shine? According to me, a country is said to shine when there are good roads to walk on, good water to drink, and where children can study college without fear of being thrown out of the educational institution for want of money. In short, to laugh, pray and be hungry no more - THAT is freedom. And that is growth.

Even today, we find people shit on the road. We cannot expect to get anything, from a passport to a business license, without bribing the entire polity that accompanies it. And the worst part is, we do not care! We want our things to be done, and we are willing to pay a price, shady and unacceptable as it may be. If this is our attitude, how can we shine? And even if we become a developed nation by the mercy of some UN HDI or other indices, what good is such a growth? Can we really be happy by condemning more than 3/4 of our brothers and sisters who are less fortunate?

Inclusive growth is the only form of real growth. We are so obsessed with the Ambanis and Birlas of this country. Why are we not paying any attention to the India which is rotting by the day? When we have shown clearly that we have upwards of Rs 70,000 crore for spending on hosting a one time event, the CWG, do we not have money to help the poor of this country? Are our coffers so empty, that they cannot feed the young children who are dying in Interior Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh every day?

We speak shamelessly of Netas and Babus having net worth of crores, knowing fully well that such money is unacceptably high and has certainly been obtained dubiously. With an INEPT, IMPOTENT bureaucracy, and a Polity reputed for inefficiency, how can we think about a country SHINING? We have infact lost the moral right to call ourselves a united Nation, if we think that we are A SHINING ECONOMY.

Much has been made about Mr. Obama's visit to India. He has supposedly signed deals worth $10b and created over 50k jobs for Americans. Fine. We are happy about such delightful understanding and cooperation. Fine again. But, what irritates me is that we speak about this deal, this visit being the Harbinger of future Indo-US relations! So this will be the subject matter of future Indo-US business talks? Nuclear deals, Software development and Outsourcing? With over 92% of the Indian workforce being unorganized, I must presume that these deals will benefit the 8% - a small part of the total Indian workforce which we claim, yes, is SHINING.

In a "me" only country there is no "we". And only when we celebrate the "We" culture AND realize that the "we" includes the poor of this country, includes the illiterates of this country, includes the differently abled of this country, can we begin to think about how to make India shine. Till then, the nuclear deals will do just fine, thank you...