Words and the "Idea" of India

Explosions. Terrorism.Attacks. Civilians dead... and India in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Any word uttered in this situation has to be very very thoughtful and right. Who are we to blame ?  "Non- state/Stateless" terrorists ?  Terrorists cannot not have a state. They have to live somewhere, train somewhere. True a nation like pakistan might not be in control over all of its own territory, and its own military.  If not, these are times to act on that. 

Another popular word used is " Muslim terrorists". What a colossal mistake. The right terminology is so much critical...because words mean a great deal. Language is all we have to communicate to each other and its so irresponsible and insensitive to use such flippant terms. Islamic fundamentalism apart, these terrorists are muslims only in name. We all have friends of the Islamic faith who are as much good citizens of india and the world as any other. Modern India has to shed this identification with religion for EACH and EVERY single thing....first in our everyday terminology.

Apart from mistakes in terminology, there's a lot of insensible and irresponsible ideas thrown around. First of all....things like "nuke pakistan".  Have we lost it ? It is as Arundhati roy so beautifully put it  "The end of imagination" when we advocate nuclear war.  Our families, our lives, our friends and our country and all of what we've achieved over 60 years will go back to the stone age...to barren and radioactive wasteland.  Jesus Christ !.. for God's sake let not terrorism make us as idiotic and freaking stupid as the terrorists.  Another one is let's wind up democracy and have military rule...if I couldnt understand the anger and sadness behind such a sentiment/statement , I would've  found it hilarious. 

Abandon democracy ?  The worlds grandest, biggest experiment in democracy ...to become what...pakistan... a defunct democracy where the army when it feels like takes over the country.....where such generals  say they'll make the people "eat grass" to have a nuclear bomb ? Thankyou,  I'd rather have food and the right to vote, and go to court and protest and demonstrate.  I won't have a military state like pakistan nor a  one party autocratic state like china - where i can't hold up a banner in the street and where if i'm picked up by the police - there is no place  for my parents to ask or enquire about me.  Democracy is what makes us different. It's precisely our democracy and secularism and multicultural heritage these lunatics are targetting.  More than 70 million people vote in India...70 million.... and not just that;  we are the worlds most representative democracy.... the no. of elected officials to represent each section of our country is simply staggering.  What more proof...do we need to realise when we criticize " The Government"....that this "Government" is basically us...you and me. And if only we did our jobs well - our country would be much better of.

Another issue is the blinding, surprising and befuddling  ignorance of the Indian constitution- of the "Idea" of India.  What do we mean when you and I say "I'm an Indian". Its a question we all should ask ourselves. And unfortunately most of us are surprisingly out of an answer. Being born somewher e between the himalayas and the indian ocean doesnt make you an indian. For me atleast the answer is simple. You might even laugh at it and say its too simplistic... too technical. Tell me if you have a better one. 

                                   I'm an  Indian because I believe in the constitution of India.Because I believe,  (to quote the preamble to the constitution) that "We,  the People of  India ",  have solemnly resolved to constitute India into a "Sovereign

Socialist** Secular Democratic Republic" and

"to secure to all its citizens Justice , Liberty and Equality and Fraternity"  . That is my creed for being an Indian.  Remember thats what we say in our pledge.... the "all indians are my brothers and sisters" thingy. It is what our elected officials say when they take the oath of office " to follow and protect the constitution of India" Today not only do we disrespect these symbols - these "statements of belief",  we are ignorant of them. And pathetically we see them as hampering our progress, we see them as our weakness - we see the right of every Indian to recieve a fair trial, to have civil liberties irrespective of our what our specific religion is.....as weakness and obstruction to "security" from terrorists.

If we know that this set of beliefs is what makes us Indians......would we use all these hateful terminologies, feelings and irresponsible ideas that we utter so self righteously ? The history of modern India - the modern "idea " of India starts somewhere around the beginning of the 20th century. I'm sure there are other points of view... which would trace origins to the gupta period or something. I'd be very interested in such views if any, to say the least.  Rationality,  developmental psychologists say is the ability to think from multiple points of view/perspectives....thats why reason is sometimes called perspectival reason.I wonder how very educated people can be bereft of this .

As some one in a design profession- and importantly as an architect - I've  been always proud that we as a profession have this special ability to think from different points of view - merge clashing ideas- be open to muliple ways of looking at things. At times like these when I find rightful  anger and sadness , giving away to blind hate ...even among some of us...as few as it may be..it somehow seems a very big let down. I say this because the "idea" of India requires one to have an open pluralistic way of looking at ourselves- at our history.... beyond the specifics of which mosque was really a temple and which temple was really a buddhist sanctuary a 1000 years ago.   

The idea that we may be different in religion, color,language, customs, physical appearence but that we are one people, that together we can govern ourselves and pursue liberty, equality, justice and individual happiness and our life's desires.....that is no petty idea...its a grand magnanimous vision..no petty mind can grasp it.  Whatever their faults maybe these are ideas/strains of thought that were given form by many of our leaders  of independence .....  one I know of is Nehru- who did it so beautifully in the discovery of India(whtever else his colossal mistakes may be).  The idea of an India where seeming opposites exist,  where layers of religion, culture, customs,  races, time periods , tradition and modernity are overlayed over each other and forms a rich kaleidoscope - a crazy chaotic yet harmonious and beautiful whole. That somehow is India for me.  

Many may say and have said,  mind you, that this is a  romantic, impractical and perfectly useless idealism at its  eloquent best.  It may well appear to be,  but for me idealism is not to be divorced from pragmatism. Ideals are what drives our pragmatism. Whenever it has not, we've seen genoicide, war and innocents persecuted in the name of pragmatism.  Afterall Hitler reduced unemployment in germany from 6 miliion to under half a million by starting armament produuction, war and killing jews.  He was practical wasn't he ?  Some tease me on the same note on my "Obama mania".... why I spent so much time listening to his speeches.  I did that for the same reason.......for the first time in my lifetime I saw a politician saying  look idealism and pragmatism can go together,  its not true that you have to sacrifice one for the other. 

Exactly my  sentiment and thats exactly what my answer is to people who reluctantly say RSS or shiv sena or some radical wing of hindu fundamentalism is the only solution. 

NO.  No idealogy of hate can be(or has ever been) defeated by another idealogy of hate. period. 

 

** The idea of socialism as the supreme court of India declared in a ruling is not a communist idealogy or term. It denotes social equality  - absence of discrimination on the basis of race creed color religion sex and so on.