Indians are fearless. We are definitely, in some way or other, descendants of the Amazons or the Spartans. Maybe even the result of a drunken, raunchy session between the two. How else can you explain our never-say-die attitude? Never mind that come any Indian festival (and there are a few hundred of those), there is an (unofficial) orange alert across the country.
Now, what does, say, America do when there’s any sort of security alert in the country – pale yellow, bright-as-the-sun yellow, peach, orange, pink, red, anything? No idea? I’ll hazard a guess. I’m guessing one section deals with the threat with rationalization-spilling-into-picketing-outside-the-White-Ho use, while another section is probably too stoned/drunk for it to even matter. Now, a very small chunk (read: White House denizens) indulges in playful repartee with the threat, a.k.a ‘terrorists’. A la will-they-won’t-they go through with it? And if they will, then exactly which nation can be attacked on the pretense of that great endeavor – America’s War Against Terror. (Which, I just realized condenses very aptly into A WAT. A what??? You see my point.)
(I must mention that I belong to the Woolf school of thought, and you will therefore find that I digress from the point I am trying to make. A lot.)
So, getting back to what I was talking about - the never-say-die attitude of Indians. I am of the opinion that only one of two things can explain our bravado – extremely courageous genes (read first paragraph), or colossally stupid ones – the kind only a cross between Brobdignagians and well, a certain Mr. GWB senior can produce. Oh wait! The progeny of that alliance already is (what I strongly suspect, self-proclaimed) first citizen of country No. 1.
Okay then, I’m going to have to change my theory about the stupidity angle. I’m going to say it like I see it and insist ‘Bush surely fucked us all’. Well, I’m not stretching the truth by much, you know. Except that this time I mean he literally did it. That’s the only thing that can explain why we’re so stupidly unfazed in the face of danger – dumb genes. That’s got to be it!
Communal (read: politically incited) riots, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters – we have it all. And yet, the day after any of said tragedies occur, India is back on its feet. Like that strange toy we used to have as kids. It had “hit me” written across its nose. Remember? You could punch it all you wanted and it would bounce right back. I don't remember/know what it was called, but that is what we’re like. People with this inexplicable “gimme-all-you-got” attitude. Like we’re saying to the myriad destructive powers-that-be, “Bring it on!”
Seven bomb blasts in Bombay local trains, and what do you think it was like the next day? Absofuckinlutely normal. Like nothing even happened. Communal riots in Gujarat. Same story. Ditto for the Babri masjid demolition and the riots and bomb blasts that ensued. Not a squeak from the masses. No rebellion, no demands for a safer city/country. Nothing!!! It was just another day (minus the unfortunate buggers who didn't make it). Yeah well, I know I sound insensitive. That is the intention. It’s called cynicism.
I have resigned myself to the fact that my people don’t have the spine to stand up for their rights. Well, that is if they even know what those rights are. And yet I write this in the hope that cynicism might accomplish what terror has been unable to. That maybe, we won’t need a Rang De Basanti to tell us that we have the power to make a difference. Not just for one Jessica Lal or one Priyadarshani Mattu, but for everyone who identifies as Indian. Never mind who you are. Never mind straight jacketed identities of caste, creed, color, gender, region or religion.
Cynicism notwithstanding, I stand guilty of being optimistic at times. And that is why I hope my country will rise to the cause of justice. I also hope that as a people we will learn to ‘live and let live’. I continue to hope that our unofficial, unwritten creed will not continue to be “We the people of India, do solemnly swear to be deathly afraid of only one explosion – the female orgasm.”
Now, what does, say, America do when there’s any sort of security alert in the country – pale yellow, bright-as-the-sun yellow, peach, orange, pink, red, anything? No idea? I’ll hazard a guess. I’m guessing one section deals with the threat with rationalization-spilling-into-picketing-outside-the-White-Ho use, while another section is probably too stoned/drunk for it to even matter. Now, a very small chunk (read: White House denizens) indulges in playful repartee with the threat, a.k.a ‘terrorists’. A la will-they-won’t-they go through with it? And if they will, then exactly which nation can be attacked on the pretense of that great endeavor – America’s War Against Terror. (Which, I just realized condenses very aptly into A WAT. A what??? You see my point.)
(I must mention that I belong to the Woolf school of thought, and you will therefore find that I digress from the point I am trying to make. A lot.)
So, getting back to what I was talking about - the never-say-die attitude of Indians. I am of the opinion that only one of two things can explain our bravado – extremely courageous genes (read first paragraph), or colossally stupid ones – the kind only a cross between Brobdignagians and well, a certain Mr. GWB senior can produce. Oh wait! The progeny of that alliance already is (what I strongly suspect, self-proclaimed) first citizen of country No. 1.
Okay then, I’m going to have to change my theory about the stupidity angle. I’m going to say it like I see it and insist ‘Bush surely fucked us all’. Well, I’m not stretching the truth by much, you know. Except that this time I mean he literally did it. That’s the only thing that can explain why we’re so stupidly unfazed in the face of danger – dumb genes. That’s got to be it!
Communal (read: politically incited) riots, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters – we have it all. And yet, the day after any of said tragedies occur, India is back on its feet. Like that strange toy we used to have as kids. It had “hit me” written across its nose. Remember? You could punch it all you wanted and it would bounce right back. I don't remember/know what it was called, but that is what we’re like. People with this inexplicable “gimme-all-you-got” attitude. Like we’re saying to the myriad destructive powers-that-be, “Bring it on!”
Seven bomb blasts in Bombay local trains, and what do you think it was like the next day? Absofuckinlutely normal. Like nothing even happened. Communal riots in Gujarat. Same story. Ditto for the Babri masjid demolition and the riots and bomb blasts that ensued. Not a squeak from the masses. No rebellion, no demands for a safer city/country. Nothing!!! It was just another day (minus the unfortunate buggers who didn't make it). Yeah well, I know I sound insensitive. That is the intention. It’s called cynicism.
I have resigned myself to the fact that my people don’t have the spine to stand up for their rights. Well, that is if they even know what those rights are. And yet I write this in the hope that cynicism might accomplish what terror has been unable to. That maybe, we won’t need a Rang De Basanti to tell us that we have the power to make a difference. Not just for one Jessica Lal or one Priyadarshani Mattu, but for everyone who identifies as Indian. Never mind who you are. Never mind straight jacketed identities of caste, creed, color, gender, region or religion.
Cynicism notwithstanding, I stand guilty of being optimistic at times. And that is why I hope my country will rise to the cause of justice. I also hope that as a people we will learn to ‘live and let live’. I continue to hope that our unofficial, unwritten creed will not continue to be “We the people of India, do solemnly swear to be deathly afraid of only one explosion – the female orgasm.”
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