Sunday, March 29, 2009
Lets paint the Indian Identity
Iam unsure as to how best i can adress this issue to the masses and at the same time elicit the kind of response i expect. However, i shall try.
Friends, I have been working on writing a book aiming to elucidate India. I have been travelling to cities,meeing people and experiencing various cultures in order to get the idea of India in as many perspectives as possible. India has always been a distant ecret. Even if you are a part of it , you never know most of it.
Kashmiris can characteristically be diffrentiated from a malayalee or a bengali and yet all ofus are Indian in all respet. We are identified as Indians. The new age bangalore techies, who breakfast their way to the office, endorse pizza and emulate the best of accents still prefers to have masala dosa on thesuday morning!!!
We have remained a country that accomodates almost everything that comes its way. Everything that entes India is embaced and goes on to become the part of Indian Identity.
So what exactly do you think the Indian idntity is. Are there any defining moments or people or places or picture or anything that speaks India for you? How best you can give clarit to this surreal yet existent identity??
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well India is so diverse in its language,clothes,culture or rather its way of being that one cannot picture its identity...outsiders had notions about India that r now changing, i think because India is coming out of its shell. Todays India seems to be controversial because its stuck between "modern India" concept and a "cultural India. I wonder....is there anything that binds Indias unity?
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous : Its diversity would be my answer. Yes I agree India is confused but that , to me, denotes a more serious threat than a mere controversy.The generation which is the custodian of a rich heritage is in a cultural dillemma. "Modern" need not be "Western" and at the same time western need not be "Foreign threat". Indias cultural identity is amalgamation of various cultures and that has precisely been our biggest strengths but with loss of intellect , we seem to be losing the quality of judgement.
ReplyDeleteIndia today is poised for a metamorphosis, but Indians aren't. We make great computer programs but we still make it for the firangs.Iam not a fascist or nationalistic chauvinist but these are my concerns.
By accommodating everything that comes its way we are creating a identity as "Modern India".
ReplyDeleteBut i feel sad when people recognize India only through Taj Mahal, or the slums. There is so much more. So i want you to highlight on things which will give a "real" Identity to India.
@ Banjo :
ReplyDeleteI agree with the slums. I think it is perhaps the most exaggerated stories to be doing rounds recently.But nevertheless truth hits you on your face. Yes, we are a coutry of perhaps the largest population BPL but that doesnt qualif to be a reason just to attract the eyeballs (sympathetic ones!!).
Yes, i shall be concentrating on every aspect of our identity reagrdless of its significance or fashion-factor!!
However my effort is to gather as many perspective as posible and that can only happen with your comments.
Keep writing
Keep the faith
:-)
Might not be an important piece of information.
ReplyDeletebut i have observed this on these social networking websites. When one says " i am an indian " people from other countries tend to call us Paki's for some reason. If thats the case with the outside world then india is sufffering from an identity crisis. They don't seem to realise that India and Pakistan are different countries and this has also led to a misconception that we are the people who are responsible for all the full fledged terror attacks. Its only the elite class of the other countries that know India and Pakistan are different countries and they are clearly makin =g no efforts at making the citizens of their countries understand that. So if possible Please do add some thing about this and ya if you want to check the simplest way would be to join a poker table in facebook and talk to some american citizens and citizens of uk.
@ Mr.India -
ReplyDeleteHang on !! you have a very interesting point there but you hve sligtly oversot your nationalist conceptions. I have been working on e same idea now and have beun interacting wth few know-whos of the pakistan entertainment industry to elucidate the Indian Identity with a broader outlook.
Pakistan may be geo-politically a different nation but culturally it remains synonmous with India. Great tat you kicked-off such a topic. My next post will be on t for detailed discusion.
What say?
that would be great ... i do know my version of the story was a little exaggerated... but would be glad to be a part of that discussion board
ReplyDeleteGreat .
ReplyDeleteSee yu toniht again on a new post
@ chirag:
ReplyDeletegonna read the Mr. narayan murthy's new book(a better india, a better world ) ?
Yes . Its released today right?
ReplyDeleteNandan Nilekani's book was a startling affirmation of India's strength and this book will only be a step higher!!