World Champions -
at our favorite past time
The recent deluge and nature’s
fury in Uttarakhand, has once again brought out the single most and highly
vocal virtue in us Indians- the ability to damn everyone and the ability to
belittle ourselves and by extension the nation.
My mind turns back to the
commonwealth games when some loose filling in a false ceiling sent out frantic
screams about how the stadium was collapsing. This in turn brought out the best
in us with groups discussing the fallout (from the roof) as the result of low
quality material and thereby concluding that this was another sign of rampant
corruption. Others wondered if the games would be held at all. Everyone from
the Chief Minister to the politicians and administrators were looked at with
suspicion, what even the Prime minister was not spared.
The media pointed out to overflowing toilets and proved to the world that Indians were not a hygienic lot and therefore this was a place befitting snake charmers. The principle opposition party found common fodder and went all out to paint ourselves as the villain tarnishing our image thereby trying to sound too upright and putting up a façade of ‘holier than thou’ image. So engrossed were we in foiling our opponents that we forgot the fact that our opponents were Indians too and the image we put out to the world was disgraceful.
We sounded apologetic to the world on staging such a grand event. It is another fact that the games turned out to be a roaring success, but by then we had laid bare our DNA. I am not suggesting that everything was hunky dory, but show me a country or a sporting spectacle that has escaped criticism, but the shrillness with which we tout our democratic credentials help in axing our own foot. We project ourselves as stupid as Kalidas, when he was found cutting the very branch of the tree on which he was sitting.
The media pointed out to overflowing toilets and proved to the world that Indians were not a hygienic lot and therefore this was a place befitting snake charmers. The principle opposition party found common fodder and went all out to paint ourselves as the villain tarnishing our image thereby trying to sound too upright and putting up a façade of ‘holier than thou’ image. So engrossed were we in foiling our opponents that we forgot the fact that our opponents were Indians too and the image we put out to the world was disgraceful.
We sounded apologetic to the world on staging such a grand event. It is another fact that the games turned out to be a roaring success, but by then we had laid bare our DNA. I am not suggesting that everything was hunky dory, but show me a country or a sporting spectacle that has escaped criticism, but the shrillness with which we tout our democratic credentials help in axing our own foot. We project ourselves as stupid as Kalidas, when he was found cutting the very branch of the tree on which he was sitting.
The Uttarakhand tragedy once
again showed how we yearn to display our belittling talents and steadily await
an opportunity to let go. The Chief Minister was ‘hacked’ in the media for
having done nothing. The district administrators were shown as people who had
run away or who were looking the other way. The Media started doling out
figures as proof that too little was being done. In a difficult terrain san
connectivity, with huge chunks of ground washed away and with the weather gods
showing no signs of appeasement how could over 100000 people be evacuated in a
jiffy?
The opposition and experts talk as if the magic wand has to be waved and the problem would have vanished. In fact one politician did exactly that, flying in and out with a claim of having rescued 15000 people by the magic sweep of his wand. Had this been so easy all that was required was around 8 to 10 politicians and the entire stock of humanity entangled in the remains of nature’s fury would have been sleeping at home.
But no, we are like a scavenging vulture preying on the dead. We need to satisfy our inherent urge to wallow in dirt to earn a satisfying day out. The end result however is that over 100000 people were evacuated from the most difficult and treacherous terrain in the space of about 8 days and rehabilitation work has already started. But we have collectively achieved this at the cost of belittling ourselves and our national pride. This in essence is what we have achieved as a nation and which we all proudly wear on our sleeves.
The opposition and experts talk as if the magic wand has to be waved and the problem would have vanished. In fact one politician did exactly that, flying in and out with a claim of having rescued 15000 people by the magic sweep of his wand. Had this been so easy all that was required was around 8 to 10 politicians and the entire stock of humanity entangled in the remains of nature’s fury would have been sleeping at home.
But no, we are like a scavenging vulture preying on the dead. We need to satisfy our inherent urge to wallow in dirt to earn a satisfying day out. The end result however is that over 100000 people were evacuated from the most difficult and treacherous terrain in the space of about 8 days and rehabilitation work has already started. But we have collectively achieved this at the cost of belittling ourselves and our national pride. This in essence is what we have achieved as a nation and which we all proudly wear on our sleeves.
I am reminded of President APJ
Abdul Kalam’s speech to a batch of management students where he talked about
his experience of waking up on one of his visits to Israel and opening the
newspaper to find a wonderful story of a farmer who succeeded in cultivating a
new breed of grapes something that was rare and new to that part of the globe.
This is a land where missiles cross the border at regular intervals, both
during war and peace.
Yes, stories of destruction and falling missiles were also mentioned but it found place only in the inner pages. What shone on the front page was a message of hope and achievement, a message of national pride and positive inclination. The nature and DNA of a country was reflected in the front page. In contrast we have our media jostling for space, that space where we all clamor to belittle ourselves oblivious of the impact this has on our national pride and the image we portray to the world with each claiming to the first at exposing ourselves without espousing qualities we are capable of.
Robin Varghese
mail to: robin_vargh@yahoo.com
Yes, stories of destruction and falling missiles were also mentioned but it found place only in the inner pages. What shone on the front page was a message of hope and achievement, a message of national pride and positive inclination. The nature and DNA of a country was reflected in the front page. In contrast we have our media jostling for space, that space where we all clamor to belittle ourselves oblivious of the impact this has on our national pride and the image we portray to the world with each claiming to the first at exposing ourselves without espousing qualities we are capable of.
Robin Varghese
mail to: robin_vargh@yahoo.com
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