The incidents in Mangalore, a week or so earlier have put us to shame. Well, not really. Here is a quick summary: certain (Hindu) blokes took violent umbrage at (unwed) women dressing in Western clothes and drinking in pubs and consorting with menfolk. Are we really surprised? The supposedly evil Western influence on our society is not new, nor unanticipated. Many, if not most Indians dream of visiting, and perhaps settling in the wondrous land that they perceive 'Amrika' to be. Successive governments in the last two decades have sought business and cultural ties to the West. Such is the measure of our 'success' that the word 'Bangalored' has entered the lexicon as what happens to a job when it is outsources, and Indians now send upwards of 80,000 students each year to the US, more than any other nation. But with this will come the intermingling of cultures and what was once considered profane will perhaps merely be frowned upon.
But allow me to hypothesize something. The wave of prosperity that our ties with the West have brought us are really linked to a tiny urban fraction of India. Noveau rich, you might say. And like most new entrants to the party, they would like to participate more than wholeheartedly. More loyal than the king, so to speak. And so they have embraced the worst of what the West has to offer with no regard for the virtues of self reliance and ingenuity which has made the US what it is. Thus, we have low rise jeans, tank tops and pubs. And eventually, perhaps, we will also have bling and Glocks. But what we have bypassed, and will perhaps never have is the vision of Messrs. Hewlett, Packard, Ferdinand Porsche and Steve Jobs.
So the wealthy of India continue their dalliance with the West, unmindful of the smoldering anger of our country's poor, whom we have forgotten. Them, we have sold down the drain by numerous trade agreements which fetter our farmers, by selling agricultural land to contractors and shooting poor people who dared to protest and by selling all the PSUs, instead of trying to make them profitable. Is it surprising, then, if fundamentalists, be them of any faith, can now recruit from the poor and the dispossessed? My friend R told me that everything in India is done to oppress women. I disagree. We have had a miserable record in many respects. Remember sutee? But things are changing for the better, if slowly. The danger is India will be torn apart as the urban rich waltz faster and faster to some Faustian copy of what they perceive the West to be, while the poor lie oppressed and forgotten.
The other thing I wanted to talk about was free speech. This is what Johann Hari said about free speech and how standards at the highest level are being subverted by diplomatic and cultural arm twisting, especially by the Islamic nations. How there are two standards and the media must never transgress by judging conservative societies by a liberal yardstick. This was reprinted in the Statesman, a respected national daily published in Calcutta. To my shame, this immediately resulted in the good (Muslim) citizens of Calcutta protesting (violently). The Statesman has since apologized (why?), but its editor and publisher have been taken into custody. This is what Johann Hari said about the reaction. Read what you will into this. In my opinion, this is another symptom of the cancer that grips our society. The existance of double standards (read the Indian civil code) and the subjugation of women are two equally hideous faces of the same disease. To cure one, you must also work on the other.
But allow me to hypothesize something. The wave of prosperity that our ties with the West have brought us are really linked to a tiny urban fraction of India. Noveau rich, you might say. And like most new entrants to the party, they would like to participate more than wholeheartedly. More loyal than the king, so to speak. And so they have embraced the worst of what the West has to offer with no regard for the virtues of self reliance and ingenuity which has made the US what it is. Thus, we have low rise jeans, tank tops and pubs. And eventually, perhaps, we will also have bling and Glocks. But what we have bypassed, and will perhaps never have is the vision of Messrs. Hewlett, Packard, Ferdinand Porsche and Steve Jobs.
So the wealthy of India continue their dalliance with the West, unmindful of the smoldering anger of our country's poor, whom we have forgotten. Them, we have sold down the drain by numerous trade agreements which fetter our farmers, by selling agricultural land to contractors and shooting poor people who dared to protest and by selling all the PSUs, instead of trying to make them profitable. Is it surprising, then, if fundamentalists, be them of any faith, can now recruit from the poor and the dispossessed? My friend R told me that everything in India is done to oppress women. I disagree. We have had a miserable record in many respects. Remember sutee? But things are changing for the better, if slowly. The danger is India will be torn apart as the urban rich waltz faster and faster to some Faustian copy of what they perceive the West to be, while the poor lie oppressed and forgotten.
The other thing I wanted to talk about was free speech. This is what Johann Hari said about free speech and how standards at the highest level are being subverted by diplomatic and cultural arm twisting, especially by the Islamic nations. How there are two standards and the media must never transgress by judging conservative societies by a liberal yardstick. This was reprinted in the Statesman, a respected national daily published in Calcutta. To my shame, this immediately resulted in the good (Muslim) citizens of Calcutta protesting (violently). The Statesman has since apologized (why?), but its editor and publisher have been taken into custody. This is what Johann Hari said about the reaction. Read what you will into this. In my opinion, this is another symptom of the cancer that grips our society. The existance of double standards (read the Indian civil code) and the subjugation of women are two equally hideous faces of the same disease. To cure one, you must also work on the other.
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