Indians outside the country? Oh no, they are everything but Indians. They are Marathi's, Gujarati's, Punjabi's, Tamilian's, outside their country. You would think they would find similarities amongst themselves and stick together, far away from their homelands. No siree, this is where the regional identities emerge. I look around me, and what do I see, Marathi associations, Gujarati mandals, Punjabi gatherings, Tamilian brotherhood, where is the Indian? I still hear comments like "Are there any Marwaris in Tampines?" or "can I find a Telugu badminton partner"?
Whoever, thought of India as a Hindu-state is grossly mistaken. India is a state of mixed-regional identities. When a Gujarati goes out into the world, it is not his Hindu or Indian identity that he exposes to the world. It is his dandia-playing, oindhiyo-dhokla self that he carries out into the world. Ask what goes into the rasam and he is lost. Because, according to him rasam belongs to an alien region that he hardly knows anything about. Similarly, ask a Tamilian to do the gidda, and she will be lost for words, coz she comes from a land where its his Tamilian identity that she fiercely guards, not her Indianness.
People, still ask me if I'm a South Indian, due to my Mangalorean origins. But how could I be anything but a Bombayite, who grew up with Pu La Deshpande, and adored Suryakant, Chandrakant,or Ajinkya Deo in later days, who gorges on Bharleli Vangi and jhunka-bhakar, and was quite inspired By Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, at a one point of time in life. My cousins back in Mangalore do not identify with me and do not have the same upbringing as I do. While Marathi friends in Mumbai, do not partake of my festivals, Christmas, Easter, or do not necessarily appreciate my western ways - clothes, dances, etc.
I'm fortunate to have lived in a truly cosmopolitan city, Bombay, where I was able to appreciate, the Punjabi bhangra, the Gujarati oindhiyo, the Keralite avial, the Marathi lezim, all at an early age. Bollywood, also helped to stitch it all together. But them I come to Singapore, a strange land, miles away from home, and at what juncture do I find myself? Tamilians wanting to stick together, and Punjabis wanting to stick together, even to the extent of looking for Punjabi maids. Anybody out there who complains that India is a Hindu-state, take a second look. It definitely is not a religion but a regionalism that prevails.
Me? I was baptised a Catholic, but I have nothing in common with either Goans or Mangaloreans (though Christians are spread all over the country). Ask me what I know, and I can close my eyes and tell when the train approaches Mahim purely by the stench of the creek, I know humidity in the crore of my being, and feel out of place in dry weather, I can smell vada-pao from miles away, sunsets for me mean Juhu beach, with paani-puri, not puchka, not gol-gappa, my lungs are filled with the polluted smelly air of Bombay, I do not understand fog, Ramzan for me is Mohammed Ali Rd., not Chandni Chowk, and I can wade through a flood without a second thought. Ask me to name the seven sisters in India, and I'm at a loss. Ask me about the nawabi of Lucknow and I ain't quite sure. Diwali for me is chakali and karanji, unlike the sweets of North India.
How then can I say that I belong to a hindu-state? For that matter, how can anybody? Diwali is the most happening event in my part of the world, while that's not true for my friends in Kerala. Hindus in Mumbai are irritated by the influx of Hindus from UP/Bihar, Hindus in Bangalore are bothered by the North-Indian Hindus finding jobs in their IT Haven. More regionalism, more local politics. Religion, if its there, provides more garb to the existing regionalism and the languageism. How then does India become a Hindu-state?
And then again, if I turn my back on to the regionalism I see around me, bhangra, garba, onam, or pongal, can I truly claim to be an Indian?
Monday, August 24, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Are Indian Festivals losing their charm?
Here's something I wrote recently in response to the abvoe question:
Traditionally festivals were a way for communities to come together and connect. The original idea behind a lot of festivals like Holi and Ganesh Chaturthi (started by Lokmanya Tilak for a socio-political reason) was to provide a platform to bring people together. Most festivals are not necessarily about religion, but they celebrate relationships for example, Raksha Bandhan, Karwa Chauth, Ras Leela, Tulsi ki shaadi, etc.
Most festivals are symoblic, for example Diwali for me is the victory of good over evil in a society. Similarly, both Chinese New Year and Christmas are no longer celebrated for religious reasons, but more so, as an excuse for families to get together. People come back to their families from any part of the world purely for a reunion.
Some festivals are definitely marketing gimmicks, for example, Santa Claus was created by Coca-Cola, Friendship Day and Valentine's Day, I'm sure is a Hallmark Card creation.
Personally for me, I enjoy these festivals, as long as they bring people together and strengthen relationships. I'm a little put off by the commercialisation aspects of these festivals, and the unncessary noise and smoke created while celebrating them.
Thus, I would ask which aspect of our festivals do we want to leave for our future generations?
Traditionally festivals were a way for communities to come together and connect. The original idea behind a lot of festivals like Holi and Ganesh Chaturthi (started by Lokmanya Tilak for a socio-political reason) was to provide a platform to bring people together. Most festivals are not necessarily about religion, but they celebrate relationships for example, Raksha Bandhan, Karwa Chauth, Ras Leela, Tulsi ki shaadi, etc.
Most festivals are symoblic, for example Diwali for me is the victory of good over evil in a society. Similarly, both Chinese New Year and Christmas are no longer celebrated for religious reasons, but more so, as an excuse for families to get together. People come back to their families from any part of the world purely for a reunion.
Some festivals are definitely marketing gimmicks, for example, Santa Claus was created by Coca-Cola, Friendship Day and Valentine's Day, I'm sure is a Hallmark Card creation.
Personally for me, I enjoy these festivals, as long as they bring people together and strengthen relationships. I'm a little put off by the commercialisation aspects of these festivals, and the unncessary noise and smoke created while celebrating them.
Thus, I would ask which aspect of our festivals do we want to leave for our future generations?
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Deep Joshi wins Ramon Magsaysay Award
Pradan was started back in 1983, when it was not yet fashionable for NRIs to return back to India, to join the social sector. Here were some of the best brains in the country, who chose not to leave and country and instead go rural. Pradan was an initiative started by a bunch of IIT/IIM graduates, who brought professionalism to the NGO sector. Deep Joshi was himself an MIT/Sloan School graduate. Their work and their people have now reached in the farthest corners of the country working on different issues in rural areas.
One such example I know is Pramod Kulkarni who started with Pradan and moved on to start a new orgnisation in Bangalore, that identifies meritotorious students in the IXth and Xth grade who may be sons and daughters of cobblers, sweepers, or for that matter fatherless, and funds their higher education making doctors, CAs, engineers out of them. This is one example of one organisation by one of the members of Pradan. Pradan has been in existence since 1983 and has sowed hundreds of such seeds all over the country working on a variety of issues right from irrigation methods to micro-finance.
Hence the award is not for the work done by one organisation alone. It recognises a movement that was created by spreading out these highly educated professionals into the deepest interiors of the country.
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?page=article§id=3&contentid=200908042009080402182585989530a8e
One such example I know is Pramod Kulkarni who started with Pradan and moved on to start a new orgnisation in Bangalore, that identifies meritotorious students in the IXth and Xth grade who may be sons and daughters of cobblers, sweepers, or for that matter fatherless, and funds their higher education making doctors, CAs, engineers out of them. This is one example of one organisation by one of the members of Pradan. Pradan has been in existence since 1983 and has sowed hundreds of such seeds all over the country working on a variety of issues right from irrigation methods to micro-finance.
Hence the award is not for the work done by one organisation alone. It recognises a movement that was created by spreading out these highly educated professionals into the deepest interiors of the country.
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?page=article§id=3&contentid=200908042009080402182585989530a8e
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Did u know bells could make sweet soulful music? I didnt, I only discovered it today, thanks to M.O.B. Music on Bells. I chanced upon this performance of M.O.B. at the Concourse at Esplanade this evening. Oh, and before I forget, I have seen some of the most creative, quirky, and intriguing performances for free at the Esplanade Concourse and Theatres by the Bay in Singapore. Coming back to M.O.B. these guys are brilliant. They play entire symphonies merely with hand-bells. They a number of movie-scores including The Olympic Fire, The Star Wars Theme, Darth-Veda Theme, you got to see it to believe it. The tune that stuck in my mind was "Phantom of the Opera theme", but the icicing was "Pink Panther theme". These guys create magic with their hand-bells. Here are some of their you tube videos. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=m.o.b.+singapore&aq=f
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Dance of Democracy
Congratulations to all Indians out there celebrating your right to vote in, your own government. Congratulations on the election of a stable coalition government.
I mention below some of the highlights of the 2009 elections:
1. The largest democracy in the world with a population of over 1.1 billion with 714 million eligible voters. I look at Burma, which has had its actively elected prime minister under house-arrest by the junta for the last 20 years, and thank India for my right to have my say.
It is commendable that a population as diverse as India's has managed to stay together for the last 6 decades, and still remain a secular, republican, democracy. You may say its not perfect, but I look at our neighbouring states who achieved independence around the same period as we did. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal. Should it not be easier for them to manage a much smaller nation. Given the fact that they are not made up of so many religions, languages, and cultures as ours. Pakistan should have been the most strongest of them in that case, for it was built upon the very concept of 'one nation one religion'. You would say they should have had the least problems with their state. But still, everytime a new government is formed, I pray that it is not the victim of another military coup. Thank God, our alliances however shaky do last.
2. 35 parties make up the constitution of the parliament this time. You may laugh at that. But, how else do u represent ever issue of every diverse region in this huge nation. A nation that votes for a different issue in every state. Security in Mumbai, stability in Delhi, economy in Bangalore, caste-clashes in Rajasthan, infrastructure in Chattisgarh, or terrorism in Jharkhand and povert in MP? Cong, BJP, JD, DMK, CPI have all had their agendas and have stuck to them for ages. However miniscule or insignificant or irritable they may be, it is the likes of the MNS, the TRS, the BNP, etc. that represent the smaller issues of the smaller people in the smaller regions of the country, that the bigger parties tend to overlook. My friends ask me whats the point of voting, in such a scenario. The point is, however small insignificant or irrelevant your candidate may seem, the fact that he sits in the parliament (either on the ruling or the opposition bench), allows him to represent your cause in the parliament. If you do not vote, you have lost the opportunity of having your concern voiced in the parliament.
Coalitions have made it possible to break the trend of having one party rule for generations leading to dynasty, heirarchial politics. Thanks to the new wave of younger politicians, the likes of Rahul Gandhi, who refuse to shine under their family names and wish to earn their way into the the cabinet. I hope it only inspires our Priya Sule's and Priya Dutt's to contest fair and not inherited seats.
3. Around 36% of the electorate was made up of the age agroup 18-29. I remember how disgusted I was with the state of affairs during my growing up years. My parents would cast their vote every election, irrespective, while I thought it was a waste of time. Why bother taking time out to go vote for somebody who eventually turns out to be corrupt. Miscreant candidates rig the results anyways, so why bother. Times have changed. Technology has made an appearance. Mass-registration campaigns and electronic polling booths were the order of the day. Media was more creative than ever before. Awareness, which was the forte of a few NGOs, now seems to have engulfed the IT/BPO generation.
4. India successfully completed the most peaceful polling in recent times. While over 20 people were killed in election-related violence this time, the figure was 48 in the 2004 general elections, and nearly 100 in 1999. IPL may decide to take cricket out of the country for security reasons, but polling has to happen here. With electronic booths, booth-capturing and impersonations may soon be a thing of the past. And will also give my generation one lesser excuse for not voting.
5. I still wonder why my bretheren in Mumbai stayed away from the polling booths. Voter turnout went down to 43% from 47% in 2004, especially after the outrage expressed at the terrorist acts in the city. People came out in huge numbers, a la Rang De Basanti with candles to protest against terrorism. 'We will not forget this time' they vowed. I expected a dramatic response from Mumbai this time. Most of my friends to whom Election Day denotes "holiday" said they did not really care about the system or who was in power. These are highly-educated, executives working in multi-national organisations in high positions, who are ready to criticise at the drop of a hat. These are highly ambitious, go-getters who get through daily life fighting with manipulative bosses, competitive colleagues, complicated systems, complex work policies and emerge triumphant. I wonder why we are filled with excuses when it comes to the simple act of registering ourselves and casting our votes.
6. The Election Commission now makes it difficult if not impossible for a candidate with a criminal record to contest the elections. Voters can now have access to information on the qualifications, experience, criminal records, social status of a candidate, before deciding to vote. On the other hand, while the world, queues up for space tourism, India still creates political parties with caste, religion, and regionality as their bases. 60 years after the British left, we still play 'Divide and Rule' politics. Wonder where we are taking this country that our founding fathers created as a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic.
Sources & References:
http://eci.nic.in/
http://www.ndtv.com/news/elections/rahul_says_no_to_cabinet_berth.php
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/india-sees-its-least-violent-elections/358204/
http://www.virsanghvi.com/vir-world-ArticleDetail.aspx?ID=276
http://mangalorean.com/browsearticles.php?arttype=Opinion&articleid=1491
http://www.mynews.in/fullstory.aspx?storyid=18734
I mention below some of the highlights of the 2009 elections:
1. The largest democracy in the world with a population of over 1.1 billion with 714 million eligible voters. I look at Burma, which has had its actively elected prime minister under house-arrest by the junta for the last 20 years, and thank India for my right to have my say.
It is commendable that a population as diverse as India's has managed to stay together for the last 6 decades, and still remain a secular, republican, democracy. You may say its not perfect, but I look at our neighbouring states who achieved independence around the same period as we did. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal. Should it not be easier for them to manage a much smaller nation. Given the fact that they are not made up of so many religions, languages, and cultures as ours. Pakistan should have been the most strongest of them in that case, for it was built upon the very concept of 'one nation one religion'. You would say they should have had the least problems with their state. But still, everytime a new government is formed, I pray that it is not the victim of another military coup. Thank God, our alliances however shaky do last.
2. 35 parties make up the constitution of the parliament this time. You may laugh at that. But, how else do u represent ever issue of every diverse region in this huge nation. A nation that votes for a different issue in every state. Security in Mumbai, stability in Delhi, economy in Bangalore, caste-clashes in Rajasthan, infrastructure in Chattisgarh, or terrorism in Jharkhand and povert in MP? Cong, BJP, JD, DMK, CPI have all had their agendas and have stuck to them for ages. However miniscule or insignificant or irritable they may be, it is the likes of the MNS, the TRS, the BNP, etc. that represent the smaller issues of the smaller people in the smaller regions of the country, that the bigger parties tend to overlook. My friends ask me whats the point of voting, in such a scenario. The point is, however small insignificant or irrelevant your candidate may seem, the fact that he sits in the parliament (either on the ruling or the opposition bench), allows him to represent your cause in the parliament. If you do not vote, you have lost the opportunity of having your concern voiced in the parliament.
Coalitions have made it possible to break the trend of having one party rule for generations leading to dynasty, heirarchial politics. Thanks to the new wave of younger politicians, the likes of Rahul Gandhi, who refuse to shine under their family names and wish to earn their way into the the cabinet. I hope it only inspires our Priya Sule's and Priya Dutt's to contest fair and not inherited seats.
3. Around 36% of the electorate was made up of the age agroup 18-29. I remember how disgusted I was with the state of affairs during my growing up years. My parents would cast their vote every election, irrespective, while I thought it was a waste of time. Why bother taking time out to go vote for somebody who eventually turns out to be corrupt. Miscreant candidates rig the results anyways, so why bother. Times have changed. Technology has made an appearance. Mass-registration campaigns and electronic polling booths were the order of the day. Media was more creative than ever before. Awareness, which was the forte of a few NGOs, now seems to have engulfed the IT/BPO generation.
4. India successfully completed the most peaceful polling in recent times. While over 20 people were killed in election-related violence this time, the figure was 48 in the 2004 general elections, and nearly 100 in 1999. IPL may decide to take cricket out of the country for security reasons, but polling has to happen here. With electronic booths, booth-capturing and impersonations may soon be a thing of the past. And will also give my generation one lesser excuse for not voting.
5. I still wonder why my bretheren in Mumbai stayed away from the polling booths. Voter turnout went down to 43% from 47% in 2004, especially after the outrage expressed at the terrorist acts in the city. People came out in huge numbers, a la Rang De Basanti with candles to protest against terrorism. 'We will not forget this time' they vowed. I expected a dramatic response from Mumbai this time. Most of my friends to whom Election Day denotes "holiday" said they did not really care about the system or who was in power. These are highly-educated, executives working in multi-national organisations in high positions, who are ready to criticise at the drop of a hat. These are highly ambitious, go-getters who get through daily life fighting with manipulative bosses, competitive colleagues, complicated systems, complex work policies and emerge triumphant. I wonder why we are filled with excuses when it comes to the simple act of registering ourselves and casting our votes.
6. The Election Commission now makes it difficult if not impossible for a candidate with a criminal record to contest the elections. Voters can now have access to information on the qualifications, experience, criminal records, social status of a candidate, before deciding to vote. On the other hand, while the world, queues up for space tourism, India still creates political parties with caste, religion, and regionality as their bases. 60 years after the British left, we still play 'Divide and Rule' politics. Wonder where we are taking this country that our founding fathers created as a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic.
Sources & References:
http://eci.nic.in/
http://www.ndtv.com/news/elections/rahul_says_no_to_cabinet_berth.php
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/india-sees-its-least-violent-elections/358204/
http://www.virsanghvi.com/vir-world-ArticleDetail.aspx?ID=276
http://mangalorean.com/browsearticles.php?arttype=Opinion&articleid=1491
http://www.mynews.in/fullstory.aspx?storyid=18734
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