What makes India a unique nation?
Saturday, 17 October 2009
Shamsher Chowdhury
I have just returned from a short visit to Mumbai. Every time I visit India I am fascinated by its cultural diversity and the diverse styles of living pursued by its people. I have visited a wide range of places in India spread over a period of nearly a decade from 1990 to 2000. I had the opportunity of seeing many sites and cities of the country, like Agra, Lucknow, parts of Gujrat, Calcutta, and Delhi including a part of Kerala. I have travelled many times from Calcutta to Jodhpur seeing many places that lay in between. Since I am able to speak in both Urdu and Hindi, two of the 200 languages spoken by the people of India, I was able to communicate with the locals freely.
On a people to people basis Indians are a friendly people. They are highly conscious of their legacies and heritage and a country where you can see a classical blend between the East and the West, the old and the new. To them defending and protecting the honour and the image of their country comes first at all times. Despite all its diversity and cross-currents of conflicting interests between regions, India happens to be one nation, one country in body and spirit.
Can we say that with any degree of confidence about us? With our homogeneity in language, lifestyles and culture, we should have done better. We are a nation that continues to be devoured by our divisions. India does not suffer from such "ailments" and has never allowed these weaknesses and shortcomings get the better of their people at large.
Despite the fact that corruption is high in Indian politics, it has never been allowed to take cancerous proportions in every tier of the society and its management systems. By and large if I may so say the law makers and the politicians in India behave more responsibly than here in Bangladesh. Come to the business community, they too are patriots of the highest order and continue to operate with a certain standard of business ethics. I am not too sure about our business community.
While doing business side by side profit-making, the Indian entrepreneurs also maintain good working relationships with those they are doing business with, within and outside the country. India's business community is also to a great extent fulfilling its responsibilities towards the welfare of the people at large. The Birlas, the Tatas, the Ambanis, they are all very much with the people. The legacy of its healthcare centers and patronage of various sports, education and culture bespeak of its awareness to social commitments. Here in Bangladesh one sees very little of that.
One of the major problems with us is that we, as a nation, are incapable of either understanding or protecting our self-respect and dignity as a people and a nation. Cheap and senseless squabbles and bickering have become a way of our lives. Each fragment of our nation, today, is locked in petty conflicts.
A couple of years ago I was travelling by train from Calcutta to Jodhpur. The sights and scenes at every station we stopped for short intervals, was simply fascinating. Of all the vendors the most active were the tea sellers. My wife who was with me never missed an opportunity to grab a cup of tea. The price of a cup of tea was Rs. 2.0. In one of the stations half-way through our final destination, my wife as usual asked for her seventh cup of tea and the vendor charged the "usual" price of Rs. 2.0. No sooner had she paid the vendor a lady seated next to her shouted at the vendor and told him that he was cheating my wife and that the price was not Rs. 2.0 but rupee 1.0. The vendor was compelled to return the extra rupee.
She then turned to my wife and said in Hindi something to the extent that, "Dear sister forgive him, these are the people who bring bad name to India".
I know a number of businessmen of moderate means who by our standard would be called "big businessmen" whose lifestyles continue to impress me even to this day. Despite the fact they could well afford two or even three cars and live a life of affluence, they follow a lifestyle that is both moderate and humble. Without fail I have seen most of them not only operate with one vehicle but that too the old Hindustan or a smaller version of Suzuki Maruti.
Although there has been a change in the scenario, but it is still vehicles produced within the country with the exception of a few. Against the backdrop of the above scenario it pains me to see the innumerable costly and fancy vehicles that ply on the roads of Dhaka and other metropolitan cities of Bangladesh owned both by our lawmakers and the affluent section of our population.
The daily food that is served on the table of an average Indian family is also something to reckon with. It is simple, healthy, and full of high value nutrition and at the same time bespeak of moderate living
You cannot imagine India without its varied and magnificent music and cultural heritage. Its music and musicians of the kind of Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Pundit Bhim Sen Joshi, to name a few, today feature prominently even in the western world of classical music.
In the area of performing arts India's dancers like Uday Sahnkar of the days gone by and the Odyssey dancers of today are respected all over the world. But we are still suck in the groove of so-called pop songs and folk songs cum mystic songs and that too limited in its mission and message. Good as they may be they lack depth and vision and have little appeal beyond the borders of the country.
To my mind the most outstanding feature of India as a nation is, in the extreme importance it attaches to quality education. Given the complexity of the society with its ethnicity and the complexities created by innumerable languages, India's achievements in the field of education are not only unique but exemplary. Today India's professionals are sought after by many national and international bodies and organisations all over the world.
Here in Bangladesh we have totally destroyed the academic environment of our educational institutions in more ways than one. Who is responsible for it: the high profiled civil society members, the educationist, the teachers including our politicians and the establishment? It is a collective failure with the politicians and political parties leading the way
While India today is competing with countries like China and Japan, we are into petty jealousies and pointless bickering and a host of non-issues in the modern day context. We have become masters of self-deception. We are our own enemies. While our minds are closed, our vision is blurred. We continue to put the interests and welfare of our families and individuals before country. We must realise that there is more to India than the Bollywood.
India with all its diversity happens to be the largest working democracy in the world. The state of our democracy and democratic practices is highly questionable in more ways than one. While we are busy nurturing a mentality that is decadent, backward-looking and anti-progress, India continues to march forward. India is indeed a unique country.
The writer can be reached at
e-mail: chowdhury.shamsher@yahoo.com
I have just returned from a short visit to Mumbai. Every time I visit India I am fascinated by its cultural diversity and the diverse styles of living pursued by its people. I have visited a wide range of places in India spread over a period of nearly a decade from 1990 to 2000. I had the opportunity of seeing many sites and cities of the country, like Agra, Lucknow, parts of Gujrat, Calcutta, and Delhi including a part of Kerala. I have travelled many times from Calcutta to Jodhpur seeing many places that lay in between. Since I am able to speak in both Urdu and Hindi, two of the 200 languages spoken by the people of India, I was able to communicate with the locals freely.
On a people to people basis Indians are a friendly people. They are highly conscious of their legacies and heritage and a country where you can see a classical blend between the East and the West, the old and the new. To them defending and protecting the honour and the image of their country comes first at all times. Despite all its diversity and cross-currents of conflicting interests between regions, India happens to be one nation, one country in body and spirit.
Can we say that with any degree of confidence about us? With our homogeneity in language, lifestyles and culture, we should have done better. We are a nation that continues to be devoured by our divisions. India does not suffer from such "ailments" and has never allowed these weaknesses and shortcomings get the better of their people at large.
Despite the fact that corruption is high in Indian politics, it has never been allowed to take cancerous proportions in every tier of the society and its management systems. By and large if I may so say the law makers and the politicians in India behave more responsibly than here in Bangladesh. Come to the business community, they too are patriots of the highest order and continue to operate with a certain standard of business ethics. I am not too sure about our business community.
While doing business side by side profit-making, the Indian entrepreneurs also maintain good working relationships with those they are doing business with, within and outside the country. India's business community is also to a great extent fulfilling its responsibilities towards the welfare of the people at large. The Birlas, the Tatas, the Ambanis, they are all very much with the people. The legacy of its healthcare centers and patronage of various sports, education and culture bespeak of its awareness to social commitments. Here in Bangladesh one sees very little of that.
One of the major problems with us is that we, as a nation, are incapable of either understanding or protecting our self-respect and dignity as a people and a nation. Cheap and senseless squabbles and bickering have become a way of our lives. Each fragment of our nation, today, is locked in petty conflicts.
A couple of years ago I was travelling by train from Calcutta to Jodhpur. The sights and scenes at every station we stopped for short intervals, was simply fascinating. Of all the vendors the most active were the tea sellers. My wife who was with me never missed an opportunity to grab a cup of tea. The price of a cup of tea was Rs. 2.0. In one of the stations half-way through our final destination, my wife as usual asked for her seventh cup of tea and the vendor charged the "usual" price of Rs. 2.0. No sooner had she paid the vendor a lady seated next to her shouted at the vendor and told him that he was cheating my wife and that the price was not Rs. 2.0 but rupee 1.0. The vendor was compelled to return the extra rupee.
She then turned to my wife and said in Hindi something to the extent that, "Dear sister forgive him, these are the people who bring bad name to India".
I know a number of businessmen of moderate means who by our standard would be called "big businessmen" whose lifestyles continue to impress me even to this day. Despite the fact they could well afford two or even three cars and live a life of affluence, they follow a lifestyle that is both moderate and humble. Without fail I have seen most of them not only operate with one vehicle but that too the old Hindustan or a smaller version of Suzuki Maruti.
Although there has been a change in the scenario, but it is still vehicles produced within the country with the exception of a few. Against the backdrop of the above scenario it pains me to see the innumerable costly and fancy vehicles that ply on the roads of Dhaka and other metropolitan cities of Bangladesh owned both by our lawmakers and the affluent section of our population.
The daily food that is served on the table of an average Indian family is also something to reckon with. It is simple, healthy, and full of high value nutrition and at the same time bespeak of moderate living
You cannot imagine India without its varied and magnificent music and cultural heritage. Its music and musicians of the kind of Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Pundit Bhim Sen Joshi, to name a few, today feature prominently even in the western world of classical music.
In the area of performing arts India's dancers like Uday Sahnkar of the days gone by and the Odyssey dancers of today are respected all over the world. But we are still suck in the groove of so-called pop songs and folk songs cum mystic songs and that too limited in its mission and message. Good as they may be they lack depth and vision and have little appeal beyond the borders of the country.
To my mind the most outstanding feature of India as a nation is, in the extreme importance it attaches to quality education. Given the complexity of the society with its ethnicity and the complexities created by innumerable languages, India's achievements in the field of education are not only unique but exemplary. Today India's professionals are sought after by many national and international bodies and organisations all over the world.
Here in Bangladesh we have totally destroyed the academic environment of our educational institutions in more ways than one. Who is responsible for it: the high profiled civil society members, the educationist, the teachers including our politicians and the establishment? It is a collective failure with the politicians and political parties leading the way
While India today is competing with countries like China and Japan, we are into petty jealousies and pointless bickering and a host of non-issues in the modern day context. We have become masters of self-deception. We are our own enemies. While our minds are closed, our vision is blurred. We continue to put the interests and welfare of our families and individuals before country. We must realise that there is more to India than the Bollywood.
India with all its diversity happens to be the largest working democracy in the world. The state of our democracy and democratic practices is highly questionable in more ways than one. While we are busy nurturing a mentality that is decadent, backward-looking and anti-progress, India continues to march forward. India is indeed a unique country.
The writer can be reached at
e-mail: chowdhury.shamsher@yahoo.com