Ask a typical westerner what they know about India and you will be told that India is a rural country consisting of villages, where animals roam the streets unattended, where women typically do not work outside their homes, where cows are sacred and worshipped, where people are vegetarians and eat a spicy dish called "curry", where poverty and disease is very common.
Now most of us Indians, resident and non-resident, would take offense to such misconceptions. It makes us angry. And that is because we believe that our country is one of the fastest growing countries of today. We believe that it is one of the world's largest democracies, and is best known for its 'unity in diversity'. We are proud to be Indians.
I wonder if any of us realize our own misconceptions. Look closer behind the veil of our conceptions.
Female foeticide is rampant. "Why pay 50,000 dowry when you can have an abortion for 500". As per official statistics, we now have 927 girls born for every 1000 boys. If you extrapolate that to the population growth in the last decade, that equates to millions of female foetus abortions. Corruption has become second-nature. We have thousands of dowry-related crimes occurring every year. And we have lost count of the number of innocent lives lost in communal riots.
There is no denying the goodness of India. But that goodness gets lost in these dark and ugly realities.
Friday, December 7, 2007
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6 comments:
I think that as Indians, we have this innate capability to gloss over the things that don't affect us personally. Till that changes, we will continue to pick and choose what we feel proud of.
If you think about it, hardly anyone these days is really proud of the beautiful history and diversity our country bequeaths each of her citizens.
When it suits us, we're proud of the economy, when it suits us, we crib about poverty and dirt and grime, and when it suits us, we all take jobs abroad, and never return. Only a handful take things into their hands and really Do anything about these things.
And while we live in the world of superstitions and rigid mindsets, a thousand more babies will die because of a country that cannot prioritise and channel its resources [read:people] to bring change.
Sorry, this is like a mini-post, and a lot of loose ends will lie around. Maybe will post about it myself. Sorry again.
Nice post, btw :p
india is a dual nation - the extremes are very huge.....last report in forbes - india might have more billionaries than US and at the same time the most AIDS patients in the world......
so one should not be perturbed by someones view - as this is what is marketed......you if possible have to become that channel to make them understand the reality.....
hope this makes sense
i can just say that i am oroud to be an indian!!
@quaint murmur - No need for any apologies. You summarized it all with your statement about our country failing to prioritize and channel its resources.
As for being proud of our beautiful history and diversity, I have a difference of opinion. I have no need of a proud history if our present is so shameful.
@ceedy - You are right about people have different understandings. Nevertheless, the dark realities are real.
I admire your courage to blog something that become so controversial. I agree with you 100%. Presumably we are all from the middle class or higher classes of society in India. Therefore, we are fortunate enough not to experience some of the hardships that the poor go through. The poor do make up the majority of the population no matter what the statistics say. I wish that we would not get carried away with the glamor of being patriotic and turn a blind eye to some real issues that exist.
@divya - being proud of our country is good. Lets hope our country feels the same way about us.
@solitaire - Issues such as dowry, corruption and infanticide are not isolated to those on the lower end of the economic spectrum. Money may be the cause, but it is not the solution for these issues.
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