Ask any ordinary Indian what he thinks about Pakistan and he will probably say something to the effect of 'stupid country with good scientists: they have nukes, but they cannot seem to live with democracy'. Each time our Prime Minister takes the peace flag to Pakistan, most Indians shake their heads with pity at the foolishness of politicians and say, 'do you not remember 1965? or 1971? Or 1999? The only message those people understand; is the type sent from the barrel of a 155 mm Bofors field howitzer.'
But then, think about this: being an Indian is not just a matter of idle pride. A Sri Lankan friend of me told me that being right next door to India is a pain, because amongst other things, importing Bollywood movies has killed the local film industry. Consider this in the larger context of being next door to this huge guy who sits around all day watching TV. I mean, this big guy has a messed up dirty house, but on the 15th of August he puts up some pretty nice lights. Everyone says that he has an aunt they all dislike who lives in that little room above tha garage and they all avoid her. Sure, but didn't they recently see her at a family gathering.. sure she looked a little under the weather, but she was smiling. And although we laugh at this big guy and do mean things to him like steal apples from his tree and sometimes hide his mail and other petty shite, deep down we know that he has a bloody huge stick and we have seen him use it in the past.
Yes, being India's neighbour means that you live under the fear of losing your cultural indentity to this huge behemoth. We can understand that. So, to all Indians, stand up and be proud. I suppose the biggest strength of the Indian polity is that we have bigger fish to fry than destroying Pakistan. Take for example early Jan 2001. The Pakistanis had sponsored terrorists who had carried out a suicide attack on the Indian parliament. Now we don't like our politicians too much, but this was pushing it. So... we were at the brink of war with Pakistan (not again!!).. there were some half a million soldiers waiting on the Western Front .. waiting, just in case the PM wanted to take Pakistan. I would imagine that at that time, most of the Paki High Command was shitting in their collective pants. What were the Indians doing? We were celebrating the Kumbh Mela, a once in 12 years religious festival where believers must bathe in the waters of the holy river Ganga at Allahabad. Estimates of how many Hindus actually made the pilgrimage vary from 25 million to gawd knows what... yes, all these people were lined up for a bath while the Army was preparing to invade Pakistan.
So what is the reverse side of the picture like? I mean, what do Pakistanis think of us Indians? That is a question I have no answers to... but it would be very interesting to find out. Here is a link to Ayaz Amir's writings. He is a journalist with the Dawn, Pakistan's premier daily.
http://www.dawn.com/weekly/ayaz/arc-ayaz.htm
Here are a few references for the piece on Kumbh Mela:
http://www.kumbhamela.net/
http://www.kmp2001.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumbh_Mela
http://www.melafilms.com/
http://www.zenzibar.com/Articles/kumbhamela/index.asp
This links to a BBC satellite photograph of all these people!!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1137833.stm
And a Channel 4 site:
http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/K/kumbhmela/bkgndframe.html
And here are a few references of the 2001 standoff:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_India_Pakistan_standoff
http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=917228
http://www.dawn.com/2001/12/15/top1.htm
http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/may/27war2.htm
But then, think about this: being an Indian is not just a matter of idle pride. A Sri Lankan friend of me told me that being right next door to India is a pain, because amongst other things, importing Bollywood movies has killed the local film industry. Consider this in the larger context of being next door to this huge guy who sits around all day watching TV. I mean, this big guy has a messed up dirty house, but on the 15th of August he puts up some pretty nice lights. Everyone says that he has an aunt they all dislike who lives in that little room above tha garage and they all avoid her. Sure, but didn't they recently see her at a family gathering.. sure she looked a little under the weather, but she was smiling. And although we laugh at this big guy and do mean things to him like steal apples from his tree and sometimes hide his mail and other petty shite, deep down we know that he has a bloody huge stick and we have seen him use it in the past.
Yes, being India's neighbour means that you live under the fear of losing your cultural indentity to this huge behemoth. We can understand that. So, to all Indians, stand up and be proud. I suppose the biggest strength of the Indian polity is that we have bigger fish to fry than destroying Pakistan. Take for example early Jan 2001. The Pakistanis had sponsored terrorists who had carried out a suicide attack on the Indian parliament. Now we don't like our politicians too much, but this was pushing it. So... we were at the brink of war with Pakistan (not again!!).. there were some half a million soldiers waiting on the Western Front .. waiting, just in case the PM wanted to take Pakistan. I would imagine that at that time, most of the Paki High Command was shitting in their collective pants. What were the Indians doing? We were celebrating the Kumbh Mela, a once in 12 years religious festival where believers must bathe in the waters of the holy river Ganga at Allahabad. Estimates of how many Hindus actually made the pilgrimage vary from 25 million to gawd knows what... yes, all these people were lined up for a bath while the Army was preparing to invade Pakistan.
So what is the reverse side of the picture like? I mean, what do Pakistanis think of us Indians? That is a question I have no answers to... but it would be very interesting to find out. Here is a link to Ayaz Amir's writings. He is a journalist with the Dawn, Pakistan's premier daily.
http://www.dawn.com/weekly/ayaz/arc-ayaz.htm
Here are a few references for the piece on Kumbh Mela:
http://www.kumbhamela.net/
http://www.kmp2001.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumbh_Mela
http://www.melafilms.com/
http://www.zenzibar.com/Articles/kumbhamela/index.asp
This links to a BBC satellite photograph of all these people!!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1137833.stm
And a Channel 4 site:
http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/K/kumbhmela/bkgndframe.html
And here are a few references of the 2001 standoff:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_India_Pakistan_standoff
http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=917228
http://www.dawn.com/2001/12/15/top1.htm
http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/may/27war2.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment