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Some
laps back in time I had written about how some
of these movies stir our patriotic zest, be it
even for a short while. Even though
self-realization to serve our country is a
native interlude that only our soul knows best
to croon, often at times it is found dormant
until an idea, a cinematic depiction or a
nationalist wave sweeps us into an awakening.
Short-lived may be yes, but one all the same.
Don’t believe me? Then how about this – this
past Saturday a sea of humanity took to the
streets of Delhi in a protest march that finally
assembled at India Gate, expressing their sense
of remorse and disgust at the recent ruling of
the court where all the 9 accused were acquitted
from the Jessica Lal murder case. Candles were
lit and slogans were mouthed that demanded the
murderer Manu Sharma, a Haryana Minister
offshoot, be brought to justice. How “Rang De
Basanti”-ISH? I heard from an acquaintance of
mine who walked as well and he tells me the
march owed its inspiration to the movie. In the
movie Madhavan plays the victim of an air crash
and his friends, family and well-wishers stage a
protest march to India Gate where they lit
candles in his memories. I salute them all who
participated this Saturday.
For NRIs the theme of Indianness is restrained
but they play their part well. For us there are
occasions when Indianness jumps out when a
“firang” takes a swipe at anything to do with
our motherland. We reason with them and do our
best to defend our country with rhyme and reason
that befits the occasion. Indians living abroad
will concur on this. How many times do we have
to go through the chores of explaining our
“gora” colleagues what India is all about?
Agreed there are things that can improve for
better but then the oneness among Indians is as
good as any other country. Our pristine culture
still set us apart from the rest of the world
and a harmonious co-existence among our “desi”
brethren in a country bloated with polyglots in
a poly-religious society, remains unparalleled.
Mr. Bush on his just concluded trip to India was
moved by the profound impact our country made on
him with its rich ethnicity.
My exalted allegiance towards my motherland
jostles me up with such alacrity that I never
tire to launch loquacious tirades at my fellow
colleagues, relishing this great responsibility
with such fanfare. It is difficult to get them
out of the “land of snake charmers” mentality
but then we need to plonk that front foot
forward and pull their misguided beliefs out of
their mental stadium. Most of the undergrad
breed whom I taught back in school were not even
aware where India was located on the world map,
forget knowing its capital. I make a point to
commit myself on spawning discourses on India’s
ancient philosophical doctrines, the land of
Vivekanand and the Buddha, our struggle for
freedom against imperialism; blended well with
pep talks on religion, family values, the
festivals we celebrate, cricket, IT boom,
hurtling economy that features India in the BRIC
(Brazil, Russia, India, China) alliance as the
latest global investment fad. Everything our
country stands for and is proud of.
It's funny how I made my manager watch the great
India Australia series two years ago down under.
Since then those videos have often found their
way into my other co-workers’ living rooms. And
then we celebrated Diwali last year at work -
bulbs around our cubes were lit, sweets
distributed and a mail sent out wishing
everyone, which also invited ample ears eager to
know the “whys and the hows” of the festival. As
much as music is global in it appeal, it does
not come as a surprise when people here go crazy
on Indian numbers but then it is for us to make
sure their CD inventory does not go out of
stock. And now my colleagues are desperate to
attend an Indian wedding. Tough to beat that!!!!
Cheering our Indian cricket team going hard
against their opponents, or rooting for Sania
when she takes on the big guns at the US Open,
or be it a dose of “The Legend of Bhagat Singh”;
sprinkling these half and quarter notes on the
Grand Staff in such melodic intervals do compose
the Indian “ODE TO JOY” the theme from
Beethoven’s ninth symphony.
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Comments: |
Dear
Siddharth Verma ji, a few months
back I gave a comment on one of your
articles to be complex and abstract.
Well, time has changed and now I
know the real problem is "my poor
English". But since I enjoy your
writing so much that I spent a solid
1 hour reading and understanding
each and every sentence, each and
every word, each and every phrase.
Spreading Indianness and especially
in good part of India is really a
daunting task. And the job becomes a
lot more difficult when you are
talking about a part of India which
is called Bihar.
Although there are many reasons to
believe that India is shining and
improving, sometime it makes me
really sad that ground reality is
still very bitter. Recently a few of
our American colleagues visited
India (Delhi) for some business
reasons. The way they painted India
really gave me so much pain. And
worst thing was they were true! We
still have poor civic sense, roads
are shared by animals even in Delhi;
we still have slave mentality when
we see whites; people still try to
rip a foreigner.
But that does not mean that we
should not spread great Indian image
and values. We must explain good
part of India to people, however, it
is more important that we set a good
example in front of them. -
Kaushal Das - Mar. 10, 2006 |
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