I remember once traveling from Washington DC to New York city. The train well into New Jersey stopped at Metropark (THE Indian area in jersey). Three desis got in – two guys and a girl. There was a white man sitting in front of me. They asked him whether the train was headed to New York – whether he did not hear them or couldn't comprehend their accent or did not know what to say – the man did not reply. They asked him again and again but got no response. After watching this for a couple of minutes I piped in the affirmative. To which the desi guy thanked the white man – the one who had not responded to his query!
In the last twelve years or so I’ve spent a lot of time in the USA and the UK and on repeated occasions have seen desis behaving in a similar strange fashion.
The case is even stranger back home where all aspects of culture are slowly getting westernized.
Over the years I have observed how the tendency to ape in India has gone from one ridiculous frontier to the next.
For instance take the use of the surname in referring to women in magazines India Today – just like in the west. In the Indian context is it even apt to call a woman with her father’s name? Like in one instance where the south Indian actress Ramya Krishnan, was referred to as ‘Krishnan’!
Or the embarrassing penchant of our English print media to use English movie titles for their headlines wherever possible!
Or the characterization of the native culture by the modern leftists as “extremely primitive” …
Are we to think that the Chinese would say anything similar about their own ancient culture?
In India irrespective of the political ideology – leftist or liberal or secular - there’s little doubt that its acceptance is mainly because it was developed by the white man. If communism had been developed by Mar Xu and Eng Li, can we imagine Indian communists embracing it?
This is not restricted to the liberalized intelligentsia alone. Check out how Indian politicians groped Bill Clinton on his visit to the Indian parliament. Whence the dignity of people representing millions? What is the reason for the adulation? Would they have done the same thing to a Chinese or African head of state?
I wasn’t surprised at the studious reverence which Prannoy Roy exhibited when interviewing the Hollywood actress Ashley Judd on NDTV. Can you ever imagine him showing the slightest respect to an Indian politician (crooks many of them maybe, still their job is way tougher and their achievements are way higher than any Hollywood actress) who would have way more interesting and worthwhile things to talk about? But it was enough that the interviewee was a white woman for the adulation to surface in Prannoy Roy.
NDTV newscasters seem to have gone the whole hog in trying to ape the attire, mannerisms and expressions of their counterparts in CNN.
I saw this good looking girl reporter on NDTV with the surname of Sharma and wearing a salwar kameez - but still she is not wearing a bindi. Is she a muslim or a christian? Inspite of the subtle yogic concept behind the bindi, in India modern women do not want wear the bindi because they are taught that it is not "cool" - though in reality it looks sexy as hell.
Quite in line with the West the process of masculinization of women proceeds in India with great energy - the "educated" women are all brainwashed into being like men - in dressing, working, acting etc - abandoning all their natural instincts and identity.
After the laughable local versions of 'Who wants to be a millionaire' and 'American Idol', they even have a similar show as in NBC and BBC, about reviewing new movies. Some joker reviewing the movie Babel made me gag when he pronounced the movie title as 'Babble'!
Now the local press is almost complete in its transformation as a western press. Check the daily entertainment supplements of Times of India or the Hindu promoting page three culture. They're now even slowly grooming a celebrity/socialite pantheon just like in the USA - with repeated photos of actors and actresses and socialities partying away ...
Always ahead in the enslaved-mind game, the Hindu hosts the writings of some American columnist daily - how relevant are his views to our environment?
And it is enough for our columnists to justify any cause as long as it has been endorsed in the West - "in the west they've done it and so ...".
And quite in line with such sentiment sometime back a Harvard Sanskrit professor in an article in the Hindu (where else!) defending the western interpretation of Indian history says Indians should accept the Western interpretation of Indian history because Mexicans and Greeks have accepted similar Western interpretations of their respective history and culture! What kind of an argument is that? But that ofcourse is heartily endorsed by our intelligentsia.
The situation has worsened so much that we don't even have our own perspective - everything we have or do, is in reference to something in the West - Kashmir is the Switzerland of India, Kalidasa is the Shakesphere of India, Chanakya was the Machiavelli of India - while people were living in the ground and wearing bear skins in the Alps, Buddhists of the Vaibhasika school and Saivites of the Pratibhinya school were composing subtle sanskrit treatises on the nature of reality, in Kashmir - and yet ...
Consequently we are unable to validate our traditons on their own merits - instead we view them from the standpoint of western ideals which has totally different objectives and ends, and thus distort the meaning of our culture and thus condemn it.
The concept of secularism arose in the West as a protest to the incessant political meddling of the Church which was opposed to science and reason. Indian intelligentsia swear by such logic as if they are Europeans with such a history - while the history of Hinduism and its subtle philosophies with its emphasis on reason is quite to the contrary!
In the print media you can often see the line "... quoting the bard ...". Even in Stratford-upon-Avon, I am pretty sure that most locals would not understand the line. But in our "educated" circles ...
Bollywood so aptly named reveals its total lack of originality by blatantly and shamelessly copying Hollywood hits. And God - the dances! How do these actors and actresses perform in public all those ridiculous moves - and abroad as well with all the passerby looking on? These people are educated, right? Don't they have any dignity and self-respect? I feel embarassed for them when watching them do such stuff.
In today's world the media - especially the movies - shape the perception of a society and culture to the outside world. The Indian perception of America is to a great extent shaped by Hollywood movies, the American TV programes, American books, music etc - which in truth doesn't really reflect the actual conditions in America. But still perception is perception. In the same vein, if Bollywood shapes the world's perception of India ...
In hot and humid Chennai where you can’t even wear a tie, in the TV programmes it has now become quite the custom to wear a jacket!
In India they look at you with different eyes when you speak in English. I’m very comfortable in speaking in my mother tongue Tamil and the various flavours of it as befits the situation. But I’ve noticed that I do not get proper service in a shop or a hospital if I speak in Tamil – when I address them in English they jump to it! If you can speak English you are considered educated and cultured.
I've met idiots who take pride in being "Aryan" - no, not because of belonging to a culture which celebrated the lofty spiritual and cultural aaryaa ideal of the Vedas, Manu and Buddha - but because Aryan meant being German/European!
The biggest attack to native culture has ofcourse been in the embrace of the mercantile/shopkeeper mentality which views all progress in economic terms. In traditional culture has artha even been given precedence over dharma and moksha? This is the land where a great emperor like Chandragupta Maurya gave up his throne to wander as a penniless monk in search of dharma and moksha. This is the land where the prince Gautama Siddhaartha gave up his priveleges to go in search of the truth. This is the land where the poverty stricken brahmin was recognized as above even kings. In modern times Gandhi too has illustrated this by a life of simplicity. Is this core civilizational value recognized at any level in the country today?
And true to such an European inherited mentality and the promotion of such ideals by the establishment, modern Indians take pride in finding positions in the industrial sector and pretty much do anything to advance in that setup - friggin coolies!!!
But who can blame the average citizen when even our prime minister, even after the thorough looting and beggaring of the subcontinent by the colonialists, thinks that colonialism was beneficial for India! For an account of how the British sucked the blood out of India readers should check this article which appeared in an American newspaper almost 40 years prior to Indian independence :
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/190810/nationalist-india/
Ofcourse our own European based constitution is without doubt the greatest symbol of our servile mentality.
And all this has predictably led to a semi-literate white woman taking over the Congress party today. How shameful for every self-respecting and educated Indian to have Sonia Gandhi representing India at the United Nations and speaking about ahimsa! India is pretty much the laughing stock of the world today - and we have the gall to demand a seat in the security council! Pathetic!
Modern India stands as the prime example as to how a high culture representing the apex of human civilization can be brought to its knees by barbarian cultures using subvertors within and without, manipulating the ignorance and weakness of the masses.
And predictably all the superficial aspects and the bad influences have crept in and has been welcomed and absorbed - but all the substantial aspects of western civilization - integrity, organization, work ethics, responsibility, courtesy, consideration - has not been able to take root in India.
The West ofcourse fully exploits the situation - they hand out their awards and prizes to those desis who subscribe to the west's views - like Amartya Sen and Arundhati Roy - and our mentally enslaved leaders and intelligentsia immediately flock to these west approved/sponsored celibrities and make them even bigger.
In contrast to the slave mindedness at home, I've been totally dumbfounded at the "know it all" attitude that I have found in the USA. Everybody from the kids to the older people walk around as if they know everything - they are totally confident and have an answer for everything. That ofcourse is cultural brainwashing. But talk about a mind job! And of the two - the slave minded and the foolishly confident - the latter is definitely better off.
This slave mentality is without doubt rooted in the English education system. It is the irreconciliation between English (and its implied western worldview) and the worldview of the local/native culture that causes confusion in the mind of the Indian and makes him act in strange ways. It is the confusion as to what is expected of him in situations which makes him act in ways contrary to his natural behavior.
It also causes a schism between those who have access to such culture and those who do not. It causes an artificial divide between the people based on an insubstantial ideal and thus poisons social harmony.
When the thought and action of the Indian becomes rooted in his own culture, it is natural that he will become more comfortable with himself, will have more self respect, will be more honest, will become more responsible, more committed, more considerate and will be a better member of the society, than he is today.
English has its uses today - primarily economic - but will be a liablity in the future when India grows rich and powerful - because it will inevitably make us psychologically servile to Western interests. Strategic planners with an eye on the future should think about ways to dilute the prestige of the English language and western culture in the eyes of the masses.
http://creative.sulekha.com/indian-slave-mentality_289322_blog
