We've sold ourselves.To the first gora who came along.Christian Colson(not sure about his name, though) , that is.
Saying the truth is one thing.Shouting (possibly) one man's truth (or not even that) to a firangi public that will readily generalize this notion to all of India is wholly another.Right now, there is some fat ***ed American munching his caramel popcorn, thinking "Man, these Indians are backward.Religious riots, children begging in scary numbers on the streets and garbage all over."I don't know about you, but my blood boils just thinking about it.
We had tried Lagaan-ing,even tried Paheli-ing, but the golden lady was eluding us.There was only one way out.Put our garbage-filled railway stations and cockroach-infested kitchens up for global entertainment.And now that we've smiled, posing with the award, we're happy.Happy that a bunch of foreigners approved of how dirty our country really is.But we don't think about all this.We've got Indian cinema on the world map, they say.At what cost?, I say.
There are loads of nice things about India.Every aerobics class that makes the people perform Suryanamaskar must thank us for it.Every time they pick up a Deepak Chopra, they should remember us.Forget India, let's talk about something closer to home.Dharavi.No one talks about love stories unfolding while waiting in queue for using the common toilet.And the fact that the kids at Dharavi know better English that you'd imagine, thanks to adventurous foreigners who visit Dharavi for a whiff of the real Mumbai.There was Kalpana Chawla, there was Rabindranath Tagore and then there was S.Radhakrishnan.I don't see movies being made on these.
I know we're all tired of the "snake-charmer, mystical" typecast on us.It is gone for good. But if we just sit there, there is a new typecast ready to take its place.Which will take long and lot to erase.
We have NOT sold India, but the mother f**king media surely has. It is just because of mediahype that pieces of shit like "ringa ringa" become radio hits.
ReplyDeleteThat apart, the firangs have always visualised us as a land of snake charmers, filth and poverty and they like to do it even today. Even if you show them the better and more beautiful India that is home to a throbbing economy and a huge pool of talent, they will continue to do so. So I think, how THEY visualise us should not really matter and we should not give a f**k about it, because WE know who WE are.
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Aamil, what happened? relax yaar...itna gussa...and ringa ringa is the most appropriate song on that album.And no matter how much we try to convince ourselves that it doesnt, it DOES finally matter what the world thinks of us.
ReplyDeleteYou really think that? Especially that thing about ringa ringa....
ReplyDeletepity
It does matter what everyone thinks of everyone else. Then again, why would they be interested in a nice clean, 'like them' India? That is India just trying to be not India. Even we shouldn't be too proud of that India. Modernisation is a western concept. It doesnt even mean too much, if you think of it.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, you have made a very solid point about creating a new image that might become hard to erase, of poverty and dirt. Excellently made point...
As far as slum dog and the oscar goes, why fantasize about the oscar? And if i was in Rehman's place, frankly i would decline the oscar for the work it was being given for.
Anish, veryy true! I would have declined the Oscar for Jai ho. Would have forced people to see what other gems he has come up with.
ReplyDelete'Modernisation is a Western concept'. Huh? Improvement is a global concept.