I was 6 or 7 years old when my class teacher asked us to listen to english news everyday. It was her way of reminding us that we were studying in a convent school. And for once in my whole student life, I obliged my teacher. That was the time when english news was telecasted on DD, daily at 10:00 in the evening. I somehow managed to remain awake till the news. I followed the news very enthusiastically. I mean how many times in your student life you get a sense of finishing homework by watching TV? So, I obediently finished my homework. But, I was stuck at one phrase - Third world country. I asked my mom what is the meaning of that and whether India falls under that category or not. No prizes for guessing what answer I got from my mom.
I'd just been introduced to another India. I mean most of us, the one who's writing this blog and the ones who will read this blog, belong to that strata of society where mentioning a wish is equivalent to getting your wish fulfilled. Since then, that "third world country" tag attached to my country has pinched me. But I'm now used to this tag and I've made a compromise with my mind. But that compromise seems to be severely affected by recent events, particularly the movie - Slumdog Millionaire.
SM is a movie made by a foreigner, for the audience which is foreigner and has won the awards organized by foreigners. No, I'm not taking any credit away from the director. I give my heartiest congratulations to all the people who won the awards but what pinches me is the whole fuss created around and the whole "self-congratulatory" atmosphere. Why do we, as Indians, are more conscious about the western recognition? Its good to get recognition from the world for your talent but this unnecessary beating of drums from roof tops seems to be childish. The film depicted the slums, hindu-muslim riots, underworld and all those things that has already been shown in many Indian movies and believe me, in a much better way (Watch Satya, Company, Bombay if you doubt me!!). And I can say for sure as an ardent Rahman fan that he has given much better songs than Jai Ho!!
It would be unfair to talk about only SM. Certain Sunita Williams, who has never put a foot in India, goes to space and India erupts in joy!! Certain Bobby Jindal, who thought it was necessary to change your religion to succeed in US, wins the election of a governor, and Indian media never gets tired of the headlines and editorials about him. Fine. These are the "individuals" who have been very successful in their respective careers but do we, as a nation, need to congratulate ourselves for these accomplishments which are truly individualistic in nature? What is the contribution of India in their successes? Or, other way round, what these people are going to contribute for India?
My whole point is that we need to stop being silly. We are a third world country and there is no doubt about it. But if some foreigner shows it on the canvas to the foreigners and bags some awards, do we need to enjoy it? I would better enjoy Rahman's and Resul's awards because they are really been given for personal excellence and talent.
One of my professors recently said that we don’t have pride as a nation. This statement never seemed truer before!! We need to understand the psyche of the so called “first world” countries that they are never going to do anything for us. I would love to see the headline " India has decided to do this to Pak" instead of "US acknowledges cross-border terrorism". They just love to see the streets with cows, snake charmers and beggars. And face it. They are the most biased and selfish people you can ever think of. We’ve to fight with all our miseries ourselves. I know its better said than done but at least we can start thinking about doing something for our country. We need to remind ourselves that we can really teach others many great things (I don’t want to mention those things because of paucity of space) which we’ve inherited by the virtue of the fact that we are INDIANS.
ultimate post bhaiyya....i admire your views !!
ReplyDeleteJai Ho !!
Amit Sir, that is an excellent blog. I really appreciate your views. There were few instances where you flirted with emotions of Indians like me who strongly believe that "Third world Country" Tag does not belong to India.
ReplyDeleteEvery country has its own problems and no country is perfect .Dude we have the colossal human capital that is incomparable to any other country in the world. Democracy is the biggest weapon that our country has. Many Indians laugh on our politicians, on our government, on our judiciary and take our fundamental rights for granted. Ask those who don't even know who selected the people ruling their country and what their country’s fate is. Last week I shared a train berth with a Pakistani who came to Europe just because he was not sure whether he will be able to survive and live in that country in future. We Indians go abroad for better future rather than running away from petrified environment. In France too I can see people begging, selling pirated stuff, travelling without tickets in metros, breaking traffic rules and everything that happens in India. I don’t want to compare France with India since these two countries have evolved under different circumstances. Countries like India, China(on top in physical capital and at bottom in human capital), Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka can be comparable and India is far ahead of the lot. I agree a lot needs to be done to make India a perfect country. But still things are really going our way recently when the whole world is drowning in a sea named “Recession”, India is still able to sail. Comparing to Europe and US it’s not that bad in India.
Yup I agree that SM is not a thing to cheer about. SM has painted India as a country full of slums. You know, the perception of foreigners about us has changed after SM. Before that they knew us as only 2nd fastest growing economy. Everyone wanted to come and set up a business in India. You will not believe that people here have now started believing that India is slum based country and everyday there are Hindu Muslim riots, which is definitely not the true picture. Can any country in this world have the courage to give shelter to so many religions under one umbrella? I think people in Europe are more religion centric. They are very much flamboyant in asking your religion and your religion values. All this religion shit starts from this kind of culture. Last month I was travelling with one Muslim and can’t forget the way cops treated him while routine check up. He had a Pakistan passport and he was stripped 3 times in a 9 hour journey. He said “Now I m used to all this. It’s nothing new for me. I am paying the price for being born in a Muslim family and most importantly belonging to an Islamic nation ”.A German who was also with us was carrying Hash in his bag and he offered us too. Nobody checked his baggage. That was a pity.
Sorry bhai..I have deviated a lot from the topic but could not control myself when I see people benchmarking European nations and consider them as first World.
There is nothing first world or second world. Each country is living in its own world and we can’t tag any country with such title.
I am sorry if I have spammed your post but could not control myself.
Punnu Bhai, I would like to thank you for reading, appreciating and finally posting a comment on my blog. I was under the impression that my blogs are never read by people i don't ask to read!! Jokes apart, I respect your views against "third world country" tag attached to India. Do you think any indian would like to accept this fact? But the compromise which I was talking of has not been made overnight. It hurts when they say the levels of malnutrition in India is at par with African countries. It hurts when they say that one-third of poor in the world resides in India. And many more harsh facts are there. Though, there is no denying the fact that India is way ahead of the world in many aspects. Thats why I wrote "I don’t want to mention those things because of paucity of space". Many of those you've mentioned. Other most important one is the family values. And which country can boast, a year ago, of having a Sikh PM, Muslim President and a lady of roman catholic religion ruling a country where majority of population is Hindu?? But its us, the people of India, who will have to act. And we will surely succeed in making India a dream country:)
ReplyDeleteMy whole point was to put in light the unnecessary "brouhaha" created around.
And bro, your comments can never be a spam!!