Some thought the blog was dead, others prayed the blogger died....but as luck(or ill luck) would have it, I am back finally from the prolonged slumber with some thoughts to think aloud.
A summers in Switzerland, well spent with a huge group of batchmates and lots of fun- as a wise friend of mine pointed out he would have written a book had he been to Europe - but this blog isn't exactly about the Eurotrip. I set foot in the first world scrupulously, aiming to be at my courteous best. With all the previous discussed notions of cleanliness, etiquette and public discipline swivelling in my head 24x7 , I could hardly be blamed. I started on my first day to office extra carefully, taking care to neatly tear the bus ticket into two and drop it into the dustbin(with quite a feeling of satisfaction I must confess).
All was going well until I got the first jolt the day we went to a place called Fribourg to check out the nightclubs. At 3:30 AM in the morning, I saw a couple of drunken guys, about my age peeing on the street with their backs to the walls. It was quite innovative to me and although the sight made me feel nauseated, I couldnt help feeling satisfied seeing the youth of the first world behave in a way that is considered uncouth even in India. Over the next three months , there were several instances when I saw the natives of that country break their own rules-crossing the streets ignoring signals, to littering the road with waste -you name it , they did it. But that is not the point here. The feeling which used to get me frustrated at times was the conscious effort that I thought would be necessary in order to be at par with the citizens there. Come to think of that, I even throw waste into dustbins in India without thinking! Why then the automatic feeling of servility, insecurity or whatever you want to call it? More importantly, if we can make a conscious effort to maintain ourselves publicly over there, why do most of us become so casual in our homeland? Some of us would argue that in India majority of people are just like that and breaking of rules is much more in abundance than obeying them as opposed to Europe. I agree with that but why can't each one of us just try to maintain the same consciousness in India too. One's apparent indifference to public discipline and cleanliness in India and the same person's over enthusiasm to abide by the same rules abroad seems like an irony, bordering on almost an act of crime especially since he is aware of the fact that he is being impassive to rules in India.
This is getting boring I realize, but I seriously wanted to lash out at somebody, maybe even at myself...hence this babbering.
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4 comments:
Good that it atleast makes u think..but thinking and shunning from taking appropriate steps ( due to laziness, complacency or whatever reason under the sun) is like the worst crime possible..as I mentioned in the blog. Heard of the term gyanpapi ?
I would sure appreciate it if people start acting, including me...I am one of the worst kinda criminals according to the defintion given above!
a well-written article. but sumhow felt let down by d ending. i agree with wat u say but i am sure with ur writing skills, u cud hav put it in a betr way.
I think internalized racism may have something to do with it.... we need to de-colonize our minds... thats the only we will stop tip toeing around the white man. The need to be white in a white land is just a remnant of colonization.... our land, our people... are only second to following the laws of their land and belonging with their people. Of course, this idea of "us" and "them" is what introduced racism into the world to begin with, but thats the point.... there is no us and them .... we are all the same....so why do we find so hard to accept that and when will we stop being marginalized by them and when will we stop kissing white ass? And Howz that for "boring"?
@Anita
I agree with you totally on that. However there are certain things in the first world that are actually much better than over here- their sense of punctuality, discipline( the night club example was that of a pair of drunken youth,there were cleaning vans at 5 AM the next morning without fail, life in general was much more orderly over there I felt) are something that are still much better than ours- again what is shameful on our part is that we are much more content with looking at them with awe instead of making a conscious effort to emulate those traits. Probably this gives rise to the feeling of marginalization sooner or later.
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