This is what guests had to say!!!

 I happened to come across a couple of accounts of experiences in India of two foreign travellers which I thought fit to share. Sometimes to know what your country is really like, it is preferable to see it from a distance. The two articles gives a contrary picture of India and in my opinion both views are true. We feel outraged when we hear such stories portraying us in bad light as in case of the account of Michaela Cross and we take considerable delight when a rosy picture is painted as in case of Jane Von Rabenau. India might be the rising star in our and world opinion but if we are to reach anywhere close to that, we ought to remember that we also have an ugly underbelly and we cannot throw these issues out of sight merely because we don't see any direct link with the country's GDP (I am sure most of us know them by heart of all the last 10 years).

1st Account - Michaela Cross

2nd Account: Jane Von Rabenau

16 December, 2012 is considered as a landmark day when many were stirred to action but the battle is far from over. The patriarchy is our bane. The belief that the place of women lies behind four walls and in the kitchen is plain wrong. This feeling of supremacy over the opposite sex is mere narrow mindedness and sheer injustice. And no injustice goes away unchallenged. Changing our own attitudes might not be easy and to change societies might look even more daunting to even give a try. But change is inevitable. It's time we treated women as equal human being and even if we don't rest assured, they will win their rightful place in society. 

The Forgotten Father:

"During my first year in high school, Mr Giles, the educational inspector had come on inspection. He gave us 5 words to write as spelling exercise.I had mis-spelt one word "Kettle". The teacher tried to prompt me. I could not understand that he wanted me to copy me from my neighbour's slate for I thought that he was there to supervise us against copying. All the boys had got the spellings correct. Only I had been stupid. I could never learn the art of copying."

"I was around 15 when when i stole gold from my elder brothers armlet. But this act remained unbearable and i resolved to confess to my father. But i couldn't gather courage to speak. I was afraid of the pain i was going to cause him.I wrote my confession on a piece of paper and handed it to him.I confessed my guilt and asked for adequate punishment. I asked him not to punish himself for my offence and pledged that i would never steal in future. He was ill and confined to bed. I handed him note and sat next to him. He read it through and pearl drops trickled down his cheeks wetting the paper. He closed his eyes and then tore the paper. I also cried"

"The train reached Maritzburg at about 9 pm. A passenger came in and on seeing that I was a "colored man", he called two officials. The official said, "Come along, you must go to the van compartment"

"But I have a first class ticket", said I.

"That doesn't matter", was the rejoinder.

"I tell you, you must go to the van compartment".

"'I tell you, I was permitted to travel in this compartment at Durban, and I insist on going
on in it."

"No, you wont. You must leave this compartment or you will be pushed out", said the official.

"Yes, you may. I refuse to get out voluntarily."

The constable came and pushed me out by my hand. My luggage was also thrown out. I went and sat in the waiting room leaving luggage where it was. It was cold and I sat there shivering. I began to think of my duty. Should i fight for my rights or go back to India? I decided to stay." 

"My first case was in  the Small Causes Court. I appeared for the defendant and had thus
to cross examine the plaintiff's witnesses. I stood up, but my heart sank into my boots. My head was reeling and I felt as though the whole court was doing likewise. I could think of no question to ask. The judge must have laughed, and the vakils no doubt enjoyed the spectacle. But I was past seeing anything. I sat down and told the agent that I could not conduct the case. I was ashamed of myself."

"Balasundarm, a Tamil man in tattered clothes, headgear in hand, two front teeth broken and his mouth bleeding, stood before me trembling and weeping. He had been heavily beaten by his master. A practice had been forced upon every indentured labourer and every Indian stranger to take off his headgear when visiting a European. A salute even with both hands was not sufficient. I asked him to put his turban on. he hesitated but I could see the pleasure on his face."

In every nations history, there are moments when certain leaders rise to the occasion and shows us the way when it is sorely needed. For instance, President Abraham Lincoln in US during civil war, Martin Luther King who fought for equal rights for all despite their race, Nelson Mandela in South Africa who fought apartheid. We celebrate their extraordinary achievements, capture their moment of triumph but we forget the ideals they cherished with the passage of time.

India too had its leader in Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (I know 2nd Oct is near which is just a coincindence but this is not a nostalgic remembrance). What better way can there be to rediscover our country than to see it through the eyes of the man who was its chief architect and more importantly its conscience? To be honest it would be wrong to see Mahatma Gandhi only as a nationalist figure for his vision was wider and he enriched humanity itself with his ideas and philosophy. All the above anecdotes are from the life of "Bapu" as he was affectionately called by millions. They tell us how an ordinary soul with pure heart rose to be the most defining leader of India. His ideas were relevant not just in his times but also today. In the ensuing posts I would try to figure out the Bapu's idea of India and how far we have realised it.

What is India?

I have to admit it was the simplicity of the question that startled me. I was at loss of words to put in few lines the answer to this innocuous question. I believe there is no simple answer and least of all a short one. To some extent our constitution tries to answer this question and not surprisingly it is the largest constitution in the world and took so long to take shape. Is it really an important question? A critic can always say that India is just like one of the 193 countries and one of the many democratic ones and to make us happy will willingly concede that it is one of the emerging powers in the world just like china (to shorten our grin). What is the idea of India that soldiers defend on borders everyday? What is it that I, a middle class citizen working in an IT company share in common with a tribal in Jharkhand? The idea of India is closely related to what it means to being an Indian. Being a part of India is what gives identity to our lives. When I proclaim that I am Indian along with a fellow citizen, I believe that we are not just two citizens who share our homes within national boundaries and bound by a common law. It means something more than that and that is what is a source of pride. The question is highly relevant because when we try to answer it all of us are together introducing our shared identity. And that identity is the cement that binds us into a nation.

Is our country exceptional? In what manner? Yes India is an exceptional country in ways others are not. This does not mean Indian exceptionalism in a sense of vanity. What I mean is that India is living its own unique destiny. It is a country with diverse religions, languages, ethnicities, regions and yet there is a shared culture in existence wich all diversities have enriched over a millenia. India's success would provide template to not just other developing countries but to the world at large that despite diversity it is indeed possible to live with dignity as equal and to grow together in harmony. A world in which globalisation is diluting boundaries, India's success would be an answer to the worlds problems (racism is still a reality in western developed countries). So the question I began with is highly relevant and infact the most relevant question not just of our times but in times to come.

To try to answer this question is akin to discovering India. One tires to have as expansive field of view as possible and is still not satisfied that justice has been done to the question. So i thought of talking about our common achievements as a nation and our common challenges that we need to overcome as a nation. Tracing our roots to the present will give us a glimpse of India.

Oldest Civilization: Home to everyone

India kept its doors open to humanity and accepted everyone which is the reason our country is so diverse. India became home to people persecuted around the world. The Vedas were written here and when varna hierarchy based on birth became an impediment for lower castes to worship god, Buddhism and jainism were born as egalitarian religions. This prompted the reform of Hindu religion itself. The greatest emperor of this country Asoka was himself a buddhist who actively promoted it beyond the shores of the country. It is this intermingling of diverse currents that has led to creativity and reforms of religions just as it happens in science. There is a lot that a tribal community in jharkhand can teach the entire nation about forest and wildlife conservation. Another great emperor was Akbar who made it a point that his court was representative of the society he was ruling and he would host religious discussions among all major sects. Though his decision to create another religion containing the best principles of all existing religion did not materialise, it gives an insight into his way of thinking. India pioneered the decimal system and Arab scholars (notably Al Beruni) spread the idea to Arab world and Europe. India has pioneered ideas in astronomy, medical science and exchanged them with world at large over a millenia. Globalisation is not completely new thing that we started since 1991.

Largest Democracy:

26th January, 1950 was indeed momentous. We framed the common supreme law for us that was to be foundation of our shared dreams and hopes. In a country where almost 90% of the people were illiterate we codified the universal adult franchise when voting rights were not available to women in many European countries and African-American did not have voting rights in US. A country whose independence was scarred by partition, we refused to make ourselves a Hindu nation defined in terms of being opposite to Pakistan. We put our faith in the Idea of India when critics said that a country with so much diversity and illiteracy would not last until next election. So every year our common success grows larger. We have defeated cynicism with our resilience and belief.

We want to be SuperPower:

This dream is shared by many Indians including myself. We are all occupied with GDP slowdown, dollar/rupee exchange rate crisis, fiscal deficit crisis and Chinese incursions on our borders and our allegedly pathetic response. We go into national mourning when any/all of the above issues. It is our shared dream to see country climb up the ladder and be counted on global stage. Though we might differ on how to achieve it, there is no disputing the goal. There can also be no disputing that this goal can be achieved when each and every Indian is part of it. Only a fist can deliver the punch and no individual finger. So a lot that needs to be done to achieve the goal has to be done within the country (and i am aghast by the riots in Muzzafarnagar). To be a superpower, tackling poverty i.e economic development needs to be a national goal and for economic development to take place peace and harmony is a sine qua non.

Ours is a "Land of unity among diversity" like no other. When we act keeping it in mind, celebrating it, nurturing it, we are giving meaning to India and taking it forward.