I am always interested in people's perceptions about my country. Americans, at large, still feel India is a land of snake charmers and elephants, or now a days of course Indians take their well established jobs away, by slogging their ass out. Brits & Europeans need no introduction to India - some are still in the Winston Churchill frame of mind and some of-course have admitted that India & Indians are a class different who make their own spicy & zesty living, wherever they go.
I have heard a lot of adjectives about India in my interactions with travellers from different parts of the world. But everyone admits - India is an "experience" - it is often described as the last stop in the global travelers itinerary. It is anarchic on surface, it is dustier on the first impression, it is overstocked with people - despite all this, a visitor always finds a coherent, consistent force of life, vibrant, incredibly beautiful. In short India is an universal nation with twenty-eight states, seven union territories, 30 different languages (18 of them officially recognized), 2000 dialects & ofcourse 1.12 billion people of innumerable races and creed.
But when you look into India more closely, you are struck by the duality of the country, the deep divide that painfully separates us - largely based on the dichotomy in our economy - India Vs. Bharat. India is a notional entity, largely anglicised and relatively better-off, thriving on the service economy; while Bharat is the rural, agricultural, poor and backward face of our country surviving on agrarian economy; our agricultural methods still remain archaic at large. Have you ever heard that the sensex of country, which is a home to the largest number of billionaires in Asia & Europe, reacting to monsoon predictions. Ask an Indian how many times he/she has seen a Merc and a bullock cart crawling in the traffic side by side. A large population of our country lives in villages, which are tucked away in remote corners, still living in the 16th century, very traditional and cut off from the rest of the world. It is painful to see the slum dwellers and the footpath occupants of large cities in India are infact refugees from Bharat who come in search of livelihood to India.
On the other hand I see another India - the vibrant, evolving, transforming and challenging nation with new dimensions as if it was born yesterday, despite having a history as old as 4,500 years back, at times questioning the archaic values and traditions, man made flimsy belief systems, and blind faiths that Indians tend to adopt.
There is also another view to this - India believes in the West, Bharat reposes its trust in the ancient culture of the land. The Indian outlook is materialistic, while the Bharathiya ethos view spirit as primary and believes in the spiritual approach. While India believes in individualism, Bharat believes in family values. As a Bharatiya, cows are indeed holy and worshipped while as an Indian - steak preparation is delicious and mouth watering. Indians would celebrate their birthday by cutting cake, blowing candles and opening champagne bottles, while Bharatiyas are awestruck about the concept of blowing off light on your birthday.
Whatever the view - there is a stark distinction in our society, there is a constant struggle between two distinct attitudes to life, but both co-exist together. Our political leaders can exploit both shades of India, make false promises in election speeches and manifestos of bridging this gap - between the rich & poor, between tradition & modernity, between agrarian and service economy - life for people from this land would go on. We all will die - burn, bury or cremate according to our religious beliefs - but we would be looking forward towards the pragmatic and straight-forward functioning - trying our best to bridge the gap, but we would never be able to.
As I relax this Saturday evening in the nice, cosy & friendly capital city of Utah - far away from my country - I often wonder about India’s individuality on the global front, its originality and its unique diversity, which is brimming all over - sustaining the continuous onslaughts of corruption, politics and bureaucracy.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Mr. Darcy & Rhett Butler
Having done my schooling from Catholic schools and given the battering in many Indian families to prefer British classics over American literature, exposed me to 18th century novels at quite an young age. By the time, I was in Vth grade - David Copperfield, Great Expectations and Shakespeare were part of my regular studies.
The first time I read Pride & Prejudice was in 7th standard when my parents got me an abridged version of the novel. As I read on, I discovered a vast sea of human emotions first time expressed on paper in front of me. Besides Jane Eyre, Jane Austen's best written work of art was amongst my first few novels that I loved reading again and again. In tenth grade, I was smitten by Gone with the Wind. My mind and I could never put it down till I completed it. One set at the backdrop of a quiet serene English county of early 18th century, the other that scripted a civilization that was Gone With The Wind - the plantations, the American Civil War & the Reconstruction period - set almost a century later. Pride & Prejudice is a classic, which elaborately detailed the traditional 18th century British society with typical constrained romanticism - early Victorian approach. Gone with the Wind followed the typical American literary principals - personal, intense with overt display of emotion.
Fitzwilliam Darcy and Rhett K. Butler, the two male protagonists, one in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and the other in Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind - are among the top 10 romanticized characters of English literature. Two interesting, rude, unsocial characters set in completely different backdrops have a striking similarity. Pride & Prejudice opens with the famous line 'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife' - the male protagonists of both the novels are handsome, self-absorbed, chesty aristocrats, dashing and attractive to women at first glance, become deemed as a men unworthy of marriage as there no positive qualities other than wealth. Like Mr. Darcy, the community has a negative impression of Rhett Butler and it sharpens into a particular resentment for both the characters as the plotline progresses. Despite the similarities, if closely analyszed there is a distinct difference. Butler is suave and debonair with his natural charm. He is not a gentleman in any way, shape of form. He is gifted with a certain ability to mock and insult in a very irritating manner. Darcy, despite being potrayed as arrogant and detached, struggles with his conscience, emotions and reason, and is in truth a kind and good natured man. In the end, despite his wealth, looks, and talents, Butler is left looking for something that still holds value in his life, whereas Darcy gets what he wants.
As I grew up, I often tried choosing between Mr. Darcy and Rhett Butler. I have met lot of friends across the globe, who have read, appreciated and fallen in love with both the characters, like me. But when asked to compare, friends have chosen bits and pieces of both characters, typical of human natue. We always want to choose the most adept, but in actuality never end up with anything close to our utopian world. As men and women become peacocks in their efforts to attract each other, flaunting their plumes and strut , we definitely somewhere in the back of our mind get influenced by these characters - they do form the first visual prototype from which we draw inspiration. Mr Darcy for sure is no longer 'relevant' to the modern female, but he continues to fascinate women despite being the potrayed as an image of male dominance. Rhett Butler gave modern society the epitomes of manly persona. Women see him as handsome and dashing, with an infusion of "bad boy", getting infatuated by the tall, dark and the handsome.
I, as every person on this earth, has her own theories. For sure Darcy and Butler are ficticious and are imaginary characters but we do adore and dream of. However these novels are adult versions of fairytale and in reality there is no fairy Godmother. What we end up in life is completely different from what we imagine. Whom we meet or whom we accept as the Rhett Butler or Mr. Darcy of our life, happiness in a relationship is entirely a matter of chance, which needs to kindled and cared for very carefully. We all look for morally upright devoted and faithful relationships. But finally what matters is accepting the way I am. No Darcy no Butler but the acceptance of the other, just the way he or she is..
The first time I read Pride & Prejudice was in 7th standard when my parents got me an abridged version of the novel. As I read on, I discovered a vast sea of human emotions first time expressed on paper in front of me. Besides Jane Eyre, Jane Austen's best written work of art was amongst my first few novels that I loved reading again and again. In tenth grade, I was smitten by Gone with the Wind. My mind and I could never put it down till I completed it. One set at the backdrop of a quiet serene English county of early 18th century, the other that scripted a civilization that was Gone With The Wind - the plantations, the American Civil War & the Reconstruction period - set almost a century later. Pride & Prejudice is a classic, which elaborately detailed the traditional 18th century British society with typical constrained romanticism - early Victorian approach. Gone with the Wind followed the typical American literary principals - personal, intense with overt display of emotion.
Fitzwilliam Darcy and Rhett K. Butler, the two male protagonists, one in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and the other in Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind - are among the top 10 romanticized characters of English literature. Two interesting, rude, unsocial characters set in completely different backdrops have a striking similarity. Pride & Prejudice opens with the famous line 'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife' - the male protagonists of both the novels are handsome, self-absorbed, chesty aristocrats, dashing and attractive to women at first glance, become deemed as a men unworthy of marriage as there no positive qualities other than wealth. Like Mr. Darcy, the community has a negative impression of Rhett Butler and it sharpens into a particular resentment for both the characters as the plotline progresses. Despite the similarities, if closely analyszed there is a distinct difference. Butler is suave and debonair with his natural charm. He is not a gentleman in any way, shape of form. He is gifted with a certain ability to mock and insult in a very irritating manner. Darcy, despite being potrayed as arrogant and detached, struggles with his conscience, emotions and reason, and is in truth a kind and good natured man. In the end, despite his wealth, looks, and talents, Butler is left looking for something that still holds value in his life, whereas Darcy gets what he wants.
As I grew up, I often tried choosing between Mr. Darcy and Rhett Butler. I have met lot of friends across the globe, who have read, appreciated and fallen in love with both the characters, like me. But when asked to compare, friends have chosen bits and pieces of both characters, typical of human natue. We always want to choose the most adept, but in actuality never end up with anything close to our utopian world. As men and women become peacocks in their efforts to attract each other, flaunting their plumes and strut , we definitely somewhere in the back of our mind get influenced by these characters - they do form the first visual prototype from which we draw inspiration. Mr Darcy for sure is no longer 'relevant' to the modern female, but he continues to fascinate women despite being the potrayed as an image of male dominance. Rhett Butler gave modern society the epitomes of manly persona. Women see him as handsome and dashing, with an infusion of "bad boy", getting infatuated by the tall, dark and the handsome.
I, as every person on this earth, has her own theories. For sure Darcy and Butler are ficticious and are imaginary characters but we do adore and dream of. However these novels are adult versions of fairytale and in reality there is no fairy Godmother. What we end up in life is completely different from what we imagine. Whom we meet or whom we accept as the Rhett Butler or Mr. Darcy of our life, happiness in a relationship is entirely a matter of chance, which needs to kindled and cared for very carefully. We all look for morally upright devoted and faithful relationships. But finally what matters is accepting the way I am. No Darcy no Butler but the acceptance of the other, just the way he or she is..
Saturday, March 28, 2009
As long as your going to be thinking anyway, think BIG
Yesterday was another frustrating day at work in which I achieved nothing. Before I leave from work, I catch up with what I did for the day. For the last some or I guess - many days, I have not been able to find anything positive and resounding.
A constant feeling of waste of time and energy - with this thought process, I started switching off the lights in the office. I stepped into the office of the Big B of my current project , before I could switch off the lights, I read written in bold - As long as your going to be thinking anyway, think BIG.
Today morning as I stepped into the security clearance area (it was unusually crowded for SLC Airport) - I overheard some people talking among themselves about how easy and comfortable it was, till some years back to board a plane. The description reminded me of getting into a train in any Indian Railway station. As I started opening my shoes and pulling all the electronic gadgets apart for security inspection, I felt what an impact has 9/11 created all over the world. Incidents like 9/11 have been happening all over after that, the latest that got the media glare was the drama that unfolded in Taj, Mumbai. And now checking into a five star hotel in India would be extra documentation, grilling sessions and not to exclude the extra forms. Terrorists have been thinking BIG - so big that it has impacted our normal way of life. The grey matter that these "evil" minds have applied to radically change the definition of travel is credible. Extra security officers, extra scanning machines, extra documentation - in short extra harassment that travel process has brought in - is worth noting.
Step back and think last 30-40 years - has been there any BIG thinking? Anything that has radically changed our way of life in the positive manner. We have ended up going to the moon, sending missions across to find life in the solar system and beyond, made interesting inventions to make our life comfortable...the rich have become richer, the poorer sections of society are crawling in the ever detoriating economic conditions. Problems around the world are increasing - intolerant societies, decline of sense of community, constant desire for religious supremacy, fallout of concept of a family - increasing live in relationships resulting in rising illegitimacy hence destroying the core value of a mother, father and child relationship that has held the human race together for so many years.
What are we as human race doing? Perhaps thinking big to detoriate, thinking big to create panic and increase hatred and intolerance among oursleves, thinking big to attack other nations, thinking big to make the minuscule look negligible. What are we upto??
A constant feeling of waste of time and energy - with this thought process, I started switching off the lights in the office. I stepped into the office of the Big B of my current project , before I could switch off the lights, I read written in bold - As long as your going to be thinking anyway, think BIG.
Today morning as I stepped into the security clearance area (it was unusually crowded for SLC Airport) - I overheard some people talking among themselves about how easy and comfortable it was, till some years back to board a plane. The description reminded me of getting into a train in any Indian Railway station. As I started opening my shoes and pulling all the electronic gadgets apart for security inspection, I felt what an impact has 9/11 created all over the world. Incidents like 9/11 have been happening all over after that, the latest that got the media glare was the drama that unfolded in Taj, Mumbai. And now checking into a five star hotel in India would be extra documentation, grilling sessions and not to exclude the extra forms. Terrorists have been thinking BIG - so big that it has impacted our normal way of life. The grey matter that these "evil" minds have applied to radically change the definition of travel is credible. Extra security officers, extra scanning machines, extra documentation - in short extra harassment that travel process has brought in - is worth noting.
Step back and think last 30-40 years - has been there any BIG thinking? Anything that has radically changed our way of life in the positive manner. We have ended up going to the moon, sending missions across to find life in the solar system and beyond, made interesting inventions to make our life comfortable...the rich have become richer, the poorer sections of society are crawling in the ever detoriating economic conditions. Problems around the world are increasing - intolerant societies, decline of sense of community, constant desire for religious supremacy, fallout of concept of a family - increasing live in relationships resulting in rising illegitimacy hence destroying the core value of a mother, father and child relationship that has held the human race together for so many years.
What are we as human race doing? Perhaps thinking big to detoriate, thinking big to create panic and increase hatred and intolerance among oursleves, thinking big to attack other nations, thinking big to make the minuscule look negligible. What are we upto??
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Capitalism Vs Socialism
One of my favourite topics for debate, since I became matured to understand the scales of economies.
India, a country of social and economic inequalities. A large section of our society float in plenty - expensive cars, luxury apartments in cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and other metro cities - while 27% of our population lives below poverty line..there are islands of prosperity in India - while there is sea of poverty around. A country where our name and surname most of the time indicate our religion, caste and state we belong to - and in turn exploited by our politicians as we dance to the tune of democracy roughly every five years - spending crores and crores of rupees in election process. Our country's economic growth is based on service industry for last decade or two whereas 60% of our population still lives on agriculture.
Comes in the thought of Capitalism Vs. Socialism. There is no denial that India is becoming aggressively capitalist - increasing becoming a individualistic society - drifting away from our core values which we propagated to the world as thoughts of our philosophers. I represent the present generation of India, who works in the service industry, has a pretty good pay package to take back home at the end of the month, lives in comfortable apartments in big cities, least concerned about social obligations, oblivious of realities of people around - people of my parents generation call us individuals - least concerned of the society we live in. We are blamed as people propagating capitalism - labelled as "unsocial", "self centered" human beings. Yes may be shameful - but that's me, one of the many of the present generation of India.
But can I in a country like India afford a luxurious lifestyle? When I am in India, I try and contribute some time interacting with people who live in adversities. Personally a strong believer of girl child education - I have tried spending some time in volunteering efforts, trying to give some kids a better way of life. I have been involved for a while on a project working for a better life for vulnerable kids in red light area - Biana beach, Goa and another one - dedicated to children of unskilled labourers who come to cities for job, in Kolhapur, Maharastra. Whenever I visited these sites, I used to be quite deterred by their way of life, shaken by harsh realities. One small candy could bring a million dollar smile of their faces, one colourful story book could make them feel happier and cheerful, one pencil could generate an honest desire to scribble their name - small things...values of which I never realized till I met these kids.
But then, a small candy, a coloured pencil can only give momentary happiness...it cannot give them a guarantee of lifetime happiness. They need to struggle, fight the odds and think about self, to sustain. And they have to fight hard. A socialist bend of my mind cannot get them anywhere. I or anyone cannot adopt struggles - struggles is their own and the will to overcome is personal will power. It is self struggle, self determination - even if that means individualism - that is what it is...
Socialism provides the right to work, the right to free education, and to good health care - but doesn't it build complacency? Does n't it kill the motivation to sustain, to fight and achieve...it is a world where survival of the fittest matters...free / subidized world - will it lead people anywhere? Don't people of individualistic society strive hard for what they need. I know well, what I do to lead a decent life, trust me it is not a cakewalk for me and neither for anyone of us of our generation!
India, a country of social and economic inequalities. A large section of our society float in plenty - expensive cars, luxury apartments in cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and other metro cities - while 27% of our population lives below poverty line..there are islands of prosperity in India - while there is sea of poverty around. A country where our name and surname most of the time indicate our religion, caste and state we belong to - and in turn exploited by our politicians as we dance to the tune of democracy roughly every five years - spending crores and crores of rupees in election process. Our country's economic growth is based on service industry for last decade or two whereas 60% of our population still lives on agriculture.
Comes in the thought of Capitalism Vs. Socialism. There is no denial that India is becoming aggressively capitalist - increasing becoming a individualistic society - drifting away from our core values which we propagated to the world as thoughts of our philosophers. I represent the present generation of India, who works in the service industry, has a pretty good pay package to take back home at the end of the month, lives in comfortable apartments in big cities, least concerned about social obligations, oblivious of realities of people around - people of my parents generation call us individuals - least concerned of the society we live in. We are blamed as people propagating capitalism - labelled as "unsocial", "self centered" human beings. Yes may be shameful - but that's me, one of the many of the present generation of India.
But can I in a country like India afford a luxurious lifestyle? When I am in India, I try and contribute some time interacting with people who live in adversities. Personally a strong believer of girl child education - I have tried spending some time in volunteering efforts, trying to give some kids a better way of life. I have been involved for a while on a project working for a better life for vulnerable kids in red light area - Biana beach, Goa and another one - dedicated to children of unskilled labourers who come to cities for job, in Kolhapur, Maharastra. Whenever I visited these sites, I used to be quite deterred by their way of life, shaken by harsh realities. One small candy could bring a million dollar smile of their faces, one colourful story book could make them feel happier and cheerful, one pencil could generate an honest desire to scribble their name - small things...values of which I never realized till I met these kids.
But then, a small candy, a coloured pencil can only give momentary happiness...it cannot give them a guarantee of lifetime happiness. They need to struggle, fight the odds and think about self, to sustain. And they have to fight hard. A socialist bend of my mind cannot get them anywhere. I or anyone cannot adopt struggles - struggles is their own and the will to overcome is personal will power. It is self struggle, self determination - even if that means individualism - that is what it is...
Socialism provides the right to work, the right to free education, and to good health care - but doesn't it build complacency? Does n't it kill the motivation to sustain, to fight and achieve...it is a world where survival of the fittest matters...free / subidized world - will it lead people anywhere? Don't people of individualistic society strive hard for what they need. I know well, what I do to lead a decent life, trust me it is not a cakewalk for me and neither for anyone of us of our generation!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Our flawed neighbours
Pakistan and Bangladesh - two neigbouring countries - we are so identical, we speak the same langauge, have the same culture, have the same social values, the same history (till 1947). Why then have these nations moved on such divergent arcs over the last six decades? Multi-religious, multi-ethnic, secular, democratic India of one billion people is an idea that belongs to the future; one dimensional, one religion follower Pakistan & Bangladesh, largely goverened by military and Islamic fundamentalists - is regressing back to medivial times.
1947, August 15 - India was declared an independent nation by the Queen - my parents family did not know whether they should be happy or sad. The Britishers did what they successfully have been doing all over the world - DIVIDE AND RULE - divided India into two nations on basis of religion - INDIA and PAKISTAN, resulting in world's largest and painful exodus. The religious fury and violence that it unleashed caused the deaths of some 2 million Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus. An estimated 12 to 15 million people were forcibly transferred between the two countries leaving them homeless, atleast 75,000 women were raped. The trauma incurred in the process has been profound - it impacted my parents and my family - they walked miles to cross the newly created borders by the Queen - transported from huge mansions to a refugee camp, from a life of plenty to an uncertain livelihood where one morsel was a question. The streets were filled with slaughtered bodies, vultures feasted, blood flowed freely down the drains - horrific tales of murder, loot and human tragedy that I hear from my parents and grandparents. A research stated that the partition of India ranks as one of the 10 greatest tragedies in human history... Afterall Britishers and the Queen granted India's most coveted prize - India's freedom and it came with a price - a divided shattered country.
The wheel of time does not stop for anyone - neither did it stop for Indians. India was reborn, the country recovered and so did my family. My grandparents moved from the refugee camp to one room house to large houses, though the mansion of unpartitioned India had to be forgotten..and after six decades, I live in a India which is flourishing with 8% GDP growth, twelfth largest economy in the world by market exchange rates and the fourth largest in the world by GDP, measured on a purchasing power parity. Yes - I agree that India is slowly drifting from an agriculturist - socialist economy to a more capitalistic economy, fast loosing our core values behind and adopting the Wild West. I also agree India has a long long way to go - 27% of us are below the poverty line. Lack of adequate infrastructure, Bureaucracy and corruption remain our challenges. Our forward growth is occasionally hampered by backward forces. But still there is a future for 1 billion of us..and the future is bright!
But where are our neighbours - Pakistan & Bangladesh heading to? For six decades, people in these nations have not been able to decide between military dictatorship and civilian rule.. Politics and policies conceding space to fundamentalist "mullahs" ..Islam became the ideology of the state but instead of accepting good things of Islam - the country turned towards adoption of "jihad" as state policy. Pakistan during Afgan war was funded by American and Saudi govts and soon became the breeding grounds of armed bands, And then comes in 9/11 and America wakes up from the slumber - they realize that there is a country called Afganistan and Pakistan and there is someone called Osama Bin Laden. They realize the Osama they funded and trained as a CIA agent to fight against the Soviets had now attacked their own land..American leadership promises its people - "we will capture Osama and likes"...But all in vain so far!
Today the instability and jihadi policies have become such a huge concern for India and Indians - we never know when these "eccentric" people enter our land through the "Queen's" created borders and in the name of jihad pump bullets into us. I was very close of one of the bomb explosions sites in Bombay some years back and I know how it feels - anxiety, anger, charged emotions - and though I donot want to but I end up saying DAMN PAKISTAN - though I know six decades back it was my land, my ancestors lived there...BUT.. Thankfully my ancestors crossed borders and came to India in 1947 - they struggled for us - to give us a better life...
A question that always crosses my mind - After 9/11: what is Pakistan's army fighting against fellow Muslims in the WAR AGAINST TERRORISM? Unconfirmed reports say Pakistan might have a much larger base for terrorists than Afghanistan. It may have got late - I hope another catastrophic tragedy like 9/11 is not repeated to wake up our world leaders! Afterall nothing happens to them - it is me, you - we the people on the road across the globe who are affected. WAKE UP before the world gets broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls.
1947, August 15 - India was declared an independent nation by the Queen - my parents family did not know whether they should be happy or sad. The Britishers did what they successfully have been doing all over the world - DIVIDE AND RULE - divided India into two nations on basis of religion - INDIA and PAKISTAN, resulting in world's largest and painful exodus. The religious fury and violence that it unleashed caused the deaths of some 2 million Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus. An estimated 12 to 15 million people were forcibly transferred between the two countries leaving them homeless, atleast 75,000 women were raped. The trauma incurred in the process has been profound - it impacted my parents and my family - they walked miles to cross the newly created borders by the Queen - transported from huge mansions to a refugee camp, from a life of plenty to an uncertain livelihood where one morsel was a question. The streets were filled with slaughtered bodies, vultures feasted, blood flowed freely down the drains - horrific tales of murder, loot and human tragedy that I hear from my parents and grandparents. A research stated that the partition of India ranks as one of the 10 greatest tragedies in human history... Afterall Britishers and the Queen granted India's most coveted prize - India's freedom and it came with a price - a divided shattered country.
The wheel of time does not stop for anyone - neither did it stop for Indians. India was reborn, the country recovered and so did my family. My grandparents moved from the refugee camp to one room house to large houses, though the mansion of unpartitioned India had to be forgotten..and after six decades, I live in a India which is flourishing with 8% GDP growth, twelfth largest economy in the world by market exchange rates and the fourth largest in the world by GDP, measured on a purchasing power parity. Yes - I agree that India is slowly drifting from an agriculturist - socialist economy to a more capitalistic economy, fast loosing our core values behind and adopting the Wild West. I also agree India has a long long way to go - 27% of us are below the poverty line. Lack of adequate infrastructure, Bureaucracy and corruption remain our challenges. Our forward growth is occasionally hampered by backward forces. But still there is a future for 1 billion of us..and the future is bright!
But where are our neighbours - Pakistan & Bangladesh heading to? For six decades, people in these nations have not been able to decide between military dictatorship and civilian rule.. Politics and policies conceding space to fundamentalist "mullahs" ..Islam became the ideology of the state but instead of accepting good things of Islam - the country turned towards adoption of "jihad" as state policy. Pakistan during Afgan war was funded by American and Saudi govts and soon became the breeding grounds of armed bands, And then comes in 9/11 and America wakes up from the slumber - they realize that there is a country called Afganistan and Pakistan and there is someone called Osama Bin Laden. They realize the Osama they funded and trained as a CIA agent to fight against the Soviets had now attacked their own land..American leadership promises its people - "we will capture Osama and likes"...But all in vain so far!
Today the instability and jihadi policies have become such a huge concern for India and Indians - we never know when these "eccentric" people enter our land through the "Queen's" created borders and in the name of jihad pump bullets into us. I was very close of one of the bomb explosions sites in Bombay some years back and I know how it feels - anxiety, anger, charged emotions - and though I donot want to but I end up saying DAMN PAKISTAN - though I know six decades back it was my land, my ancestors lived there...BUT.. Thankfully my ancestors crossed borders and came to India in 1947 - they struggled for us - to give us a better life...
A question that always crosses my mind - After 9/11: what is Pakistan's army fighting against fellow Muslims in the WAR AGAINST TERRORISM? Unconfirmed reports say Pakistan might have a much larger base for terrorists than Afghanistan. It may have got late - I hope another catastrophic tragedy like 9/11 is not repeated to wake up our world leaders! Afterall nothing happens to them - it is me, you - we the people on the road across the globe who are affected. WAKE UP before the world gets broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls.
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