It's 15th of August again, and we Indians are basking in the glory of having come 53 long years away from the days of British rule in 1947. A Golden Jubilee plus, in terms of the years our freedom has seen, but sadly that's all that remains to be a high point in the country's road towards progress. The question is, are we aware of all that has transpired in the past 50 odd years, or is it that we couldn't care less even if we were.
Bill Clinton so proudly exclaimed yesterday in the Democratic National Convention that "America, in the past eight years, has seen prosperity by choice and not by chance", and I was left to ask myself, will the largest democracy of this world ever have the luxury to enjoy prosperity, even by chance?
I remember having read somewhere that Winston Churchill once remarked (as an opposition candidate) that "Nothing would remain of this great country India, but a mass of warring tribes". He could see it, inspite of being a rank outsider. Alas, the future makers of our country, the men at helm, lacked his foresight. Today, the 'sovereign democratic republic' remains to be in the constitutional verbiage only. We are too busy with our petty regional identities to be able to rise above it and shine. Perhaps independence has found contorted manifestations, where we identify ourselves with fundamentalists. The secularism that we were so proud of dies a thousand deaths every time a Father Staines is burnt to ashes or a city takes to arms collectively against the shooting of a film.
Have we lost out on our sensibilities, or simply redefined them to suit our needs?
We sure can boast of a significant growth in a lot of areas. Our population has reached a billion, the illiteracy rate is growing, and inflation too is on the upside. Sadly much of the growth is in unwanted areas. Why are we, then, proud of another Independence Day? Do we need a prime minister, shouting from the top of Red fort to tell us what have been our achievements? What is it that we have achieved that we can proudly exhibit on another day of our Independence???
It's not that the achievements are non-existent. Only they are few and far. It's not that I have a personal vendetta against a country that I belong to and have spent my entire life in. It's the very fact that I take a lot of pride in it which makes me so bitter about it's shortcomings.
Success is always flaunted, it's the failures that, more often than naught, get missed out. Till the time we do not recognise these failures and make a sincere and conscious effort to uproot them completely, Independence Day will remain just another day for me.
Momentous but uneventful!
Tuesday, August 15, 2000
Friday, April 07, 2000
End of a dream
America to me existed in the songs of Paul Simon, architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and films of Steven Spielberg. I wanted to listen to the sounds that silence made here, meet Mrs. Robinson living next door and watch people playing guitar in the streets.
I found none here or you may say that I was a dreamer..
Little did I know that dreams get over when the night passes away and all that's left of them is a set of hazy images!
I have been in America for a week now, my first. There's a lot of silence but no sounds that excite me, I do not know who lives next door, upto the next mile and have heard no one singing 'Yellow Submarine' even on the radio !!
There's no indian food or should I say that there's no food worth eating, unless ofcourse, you can swear by the taste of a mac burger.
Welcome to the most powerful democracy of the world. Grin and bear it, options are few and far.. (do I sound like Agastya in English August ?)
They tell me (I am still catching up, you know) that Detroit is midwest country and thus there are no Meg Ryans here, nor any Tom Cruises. People weigh as much as a family in India and eat almost as much. A mushroom resembles a potato and a potato, a pumpkin. (thank god I haven't seen a pumpkin as yet) and before anyone sings praises of the agricultural advancements of the place, let me tell you, they all taste weird. Nothing close to what they are supposed to taste like !
There are no STD, PCOs (and believe me they are a gift of India to the world), no buses who stop at the wave of your hand (the closest is an 18 wheeler by Diamler Chryshler corp.) and absolutely no disorder. Infact most of the time I feel that I am in a hospital, the order here is so clinical.
Do I see a smile on the faces of those of you who've 'been here and done that' or are you already reaching for the escape button?
Cricket is a dream, soccer non existant and the american version of both of them, not my cup of tea. (that takes care of my professing to be a sports buff)
I'll will take a break as I need to go to the toilet, oops rest room (see I'm already learning :-)
P.S. I wrote this back in 2000 when I was had just arrived in the US. It makes interesting reading 'cause a lot of this stuff sounds puerile now. Some friends even call it the "rants of a FOB!"
I found none here or you may say that I was a dreamer..
Little did I know that dreams get over when the night passes away and all that's left of them is a set of hazy images!
I have been in America for a week now, my first. There's a lot of silence but no sounds that excite me, I do not know who lives next door, upto the next mile and have heard no one singing 'Yellow Submarine' even on the radio !!
There's no indian food or should I say that there's no food worth eating, unless ofcourse, you can swear by the taste of a mac burger.
Welcome to the most powerful democracy of the world. Grin and bear it, options are few and far.. (do I sound like Agastya in English August ?)
They tell me (I am still catching up, you know) that Detroit is midwest country and thus there are no Meg Ryans here, nor any Tom Cruises. People weigh as much as a family in India and eat almost as much. A mushroom resembles a potato and a potato, a pumpkin. (thank god I haven't seen a pumpkin as yet) and before anyone sings praises of the agricultural advancements of the place, let me tell you, they all taste weird. Nothing close to what they are supposed to taste like !
There are no STD, PCOs (and believe me they are a gift of India to the world), no buses who stop at the wave of your hand (the closest is an 18 wheeler by Diamler Chryshler corp.) and absolutely no disorder. Infact most of the time I feel that I am in a hospital, the order here is so clinical.
Do I see a smile on the faces of those of you who've 'been here and done that' or are you already reaching for the escape button?
Cricket is a dream, soccer non existant and the american version of both of them, not my cup of tea. (that takes care of my professing to be a sports buff)
I'll will take a break as I need to go to the toilet, oops rest room (see I'm already learning :-)
P.S. I wrote this back in 2000 when I was had just arrived in the US. It makes interesting reading 'cause a lot of this stuff sounds puerile now. Some friends even call it the "rants of a FOB!"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)