Indian National Character

It seems we are God’s own creation. Specially crafted for a purpose? That I am not very sure of. But yes we are different an odd lot of 1.35 billion and counting.

 

Though I have formally studied contemporary history as a student, I am an ardent reader of military history too. My recently published book “Mission Accomplished- Applying Military Principles to Real Life” by Rupa publishers is a treatise on what you can learn from military principles and ethos. Writing this 268 page book could have not been possible without delving into detailed research on the subject which took me a couple of years. During the recent lock down period I could refresh my knowledge about two great wars, cold war and several major conflicts that took place in the last century by watching well researched movies/serials on these subjects on OTT (Over the Top) platforms like NETFLIX and Primetime videos.

 

 

One think becomes very clear that the developed nations had suffered hugely during these never ending wars which not only killed millions of combatants but also left deep scars on the civilian population of these nations which got entangled in these massively destructive operations. They learnt the price of survival and eventual freedom the hard way. Every family had lost at least one member to these wars. Their leaders were mostly transparent and were ready to take the people along in a much more participative way than political leaders of today. A testimony to this is the first speech by Winston Churchill as Prime Minister to House of Commons on May 10, 1940, when he took charge as the Prime Minister (Hitler was madly Charging at the world with ‘mission conquer’) When he met his Cabinet on May 13 he told them that “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” He repeated that phrase later in the day when he asked the House of Commons for a vote of confidence in his new all-party government. The response of the house was heart-warming. Of course this was conveyed to every British and all their Allies in no uncertain terms. The nation took it on its chin and took the pain in its stride.

 

It was not constant shelling and running off to bunkers the only problem faced by every citizen but destruction of homes by heavy bombings too took its toll. Food was scarce and rationing was done for every living man or woman. For instance during the peak of the war in 1945 the scale of food items per person per week/month was measly. Sample this

 

The nation lived on this for months together- rich and poor. There was a huge shortage of fuel, no schools too during the thick of the war. People cried in pain but didn’t crib- most of them. They were fighting for their very existence.

 

In contrast during the British rule an ordinary Indian was not directly impacted in terms of three square meals. It was more of deprivation of reaching the commanding positions that hurt some people. They had some no go zones where Indians were not allowed including railway coaches and restaurants. They were the rulers and we were being ruled albeit second grade citizens in our own country. That was the pain point- self respect. In any case we had princely states and were ruled by kings and queens for years on. Being subservient to your own king or the British was a part of life. Ji Huzoor, ji sarkar, ji maalik was part of the lingo.

 

Positions of influence, the civil services, and officers in the army and general governance were controlled by the British Rajas. The word Raj probably got adopted from the concept of Raja, Maharaja and Rani which we were used to. British did create some good infrastructure like Railway network, Roads and good townships too. Lutyen’s Delhi is what has become a common reference point of every debate today though somewhat in derogatory (Lootens) or in different sense of the expression. 

 

We were fighting against apartheid, suppression of our rights, second grade citizenship, a bit of humiliation, not being able to participate in governance and defining the rules of engagement. We were not fighting for our survival- going was generally good as long as you behaved. You were not the boss but how did it matter. We started with Satyagrah or strikes or Dharnas against the British. We said ‘Chakka Jam’ or stop trains, non cooperation, burn English clothing/booty. We didn’t face War planes and all night bombardment of the Nazi regime. This also got hard wired into us and today also at the drop of the hat we stop factories, stop production, stop traffic- HARTALS. It has become our national Character. Those days you were doing damage to the British Raj, today we are doing damage to ourselves, our buses, trains, shops, property, factory, our economy- and say it with pride- protest is my birth right- Bingo. Bhai this is your country- hello.

 

The British also robbed us of our money, gold, diamonds and took raw material from us and sold it back to us at exorbitant price after making a finished product which we lapped up with both hands. This way they showed to us that that they were better than us. Sahibs and Meim Sahibs. We looked up to their perfumes, fabric, crockery, polished shoes, sandals, hats, cutlery, pistols, binoculars, overall style with awe. They ruled us not with shock and awe but style and awe. Our jaws dropped at the very look of them. I feel this was the most damaging soft punch delivered to Indians by the Raj (may be inadvertently)- creating lack of self esteem- we got a big inferiority complex hardwired into us over a century. For a very long time after independence we were still enamored by the ‘imported Stuff hai’. People were crazy about made in England and made in America, later made in Japan goods. Till date we are awe struck by ‘Gori Chamadee’ – white skin if you may like.

 

Because of this soft punch (causing a virtual big dent in our psych) our national character took a big hit and this crept into our national character too. Prime Minister Narendra Modi did say this in one of his speeches that ‘even today when we meet a Gora we get cowed down and feel inferior’. Spot on sir. Every head of the state from a tiny nation like Vietnam to Japan, China, Russia, Israel, Korea speaks in his language while visiting any other nation big or small. They care two hoots whether you understand or not (you deploy an interpreter) but we speak in Queens English better than the queen her self- and my god we are so conscious of our correctness. Have you heard an Italian speaking English or a French speaking English who is separated by 16 Km from England by the English Channel! French don’t speak English, sometimes they pretend.They speak English with a heavy accent, then why the hell are we so keen on being English 6000 miles apart?

 

 

We need an endorsement of the west for even our own legacy. I call this ‘Yoga via Boston and Turmeric via Chicago syndrome’ YBTC syndrome. We need a Japanese endorsement for Vicco toothpaste and a stamp of Stanford for Basmati rice- if that comes. We laugh and ridicule our own products. We are shamelessly ridiculing Baba Ramdev who has brought Pranayam to every home in India and the whole world. We are not convinced because he doesn’t speak good English- oh so down market. He wears a langot and not a damn Bermuda with a big TICK mark- you get it.

 

 

Thank God we realized that this is ours and it took us almost seven decades to say it. We either didn’t have brains or the gumption to tell the world what our soft power is. Finally 21st June was declared as International Yoga day!

The International Day of Yoga was proposed by India and endorsed by a record 175 member states. The proposal was first introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address during the opening of the 69th session of the General Assembly, in which he said: “Yoga is an invaluable gift from our ancient tradition. Yoga embodies unity of mind and body, thought and action ... a holistic approach (that) is valuable to our health and our well-being. Yoga is not just about exercise; it is a way to discover the sense of oneness with you, the world and the nature.”

 

Recognizing its universal appeal, on 11 December 2014, the United Nations proclaimed 21 June as the International Day of Yoga by resolution 69/131.

 

We have a problem with everything Indian.

 

The Statue of Unity is a colossal statue of Indian statesman and independence activist Vallabhbhai Patel who united the states of India at the time of independence-no mean task. Ram Sutar was the Indian architect; it is made of Iron, concrete and bronze. An outreach drive named the Statue of Unity Movement was started to support the construction of the statue. It helped collect the iron needed for the statue by asking farmers to donate their used farming instruments. A total of 135 metric tons of scrap iron had been collected and about 109 tons of it was used to make the foundation of the statue after processing. It took exactly five years to construct this mammoth statue which is the pride of the nation. The cost of this was Rs 2000 crore approx equal to three Rafael jets. Cost of a Rafael fighter jet is Rs 670 Crore.

 

 

Standing at 597 feet or 182 meters above ground level, the Statue of Unity is twice the size of the Statue of Liberty in the United States, and 40% taller than China's Spring Temple Buddha.

 

Statue of liberty was designed by Frédéric Auguste Barthold (a feather fancy name for us) a French sculptor, to us it may sound a richer phoren name than Simple home land guy Ram Suthar the architect of Our statue of Unity. For us even today any Western name sounds better and more authentic than a desi bro.

 

The best part of the criticism from some Indian quarters was that Instead of wasting Rs 2000 crore on a statue we could have given free food to 50 Crore people. This is our national character; we always put both our feet in the moth and compare an apple with an Ape. Our middle class goes to the US (pronounced YOU ASS) and takes a selfie on the statue of liberty and then proudly posts it on Facebook- another American product- to show off and boast that I have been there. Yuk.

 

Is there a price tag to a national Pride? If you fought for self respect with British then retain your ‘self respect’- no. Till date after independence have we created one architectural marvel- 1.35 Billion of us? Answer is a BIG NO. We can’t even boast of a holiday destination conceived by us. If we have to be a super power we have to be a superpower in our mind first. Physical superpower comes much later. Let us stop this rant of free free free. Stop comparing national pride to free food packets- we have moved ahead seven decades. Everything has its importance some physical, some biological (stomach) and some Emotional- so grow up.

 

Is a 900 Crore central vista Parliament project sucking up the $3 Trillion economy and the next Asian super power- humor me. Needs a standing ovation by 1.35 billion of us.

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