"Facts do not vanish because they are ignored, and when they compel attention, there is a feeling of displeasure and resentment at the unexpected happening, as of some trick having been played (Nehru, The Discovery of India)."
"I love India, not because I cultivate the idolatry of geography, not because I have had the chance to be born in her soil, but because she has saved through tumultuous ages the living words that have issued from the illuminated consciousness of her great ones (Rabindranath Tagore)."
"Man's dearest possession is life, and since it is given to him to live but once, he must so live as not to be seared with the shame of a cowardly and trivial past, so live as not to be tortured for years without purpose, so live that dying he can say: 'All my life and my strength were given to the first cause in the world-the liberation of mankind (Lenin)' (Nehru, The Discovery of India)."
"Today she swings between a blind adherence to her old customs and her slavish imitation of foreign ways. In neither of these can she find relief or life or growth. It is obvious that she has to come out of her shell and take full part in the life and activities of the modern age. It should be equally obvious that there can be no real spiritual or cultural growth based on imitation. Such imitation can only be confined to a small number who cut themselves off from the masses and the springs of national life. True culture derives its inspiration from every corner of the world, but it is home-grown and has to be based on the wide mass of people. Art and literature remain lifeless if they are continually thinking of foreign models. The day of a narrow culture confined to a small fastidious group is past. We have to think in terms of the people generally and their culture must be a continuation and developments of past trends, and must also represent their new urges and creative tendencies (Nehru, The Discovery of India)."
"About her (India)there is the elusive quality of a legend of long ago; some enchantment seems to have held her mind. She is a myth and an idea, a dream and a vision, and yet very real and present and pervasive. There are terrifying glimpses of dark corridors which seem to lead back to primeval night, but also there is the fullness and warmth of the day about her. Shameful and repellent she is occasionally, perverse and obstinate, sometimes even a little hysteric, this lady with a past. But she is very lovable and none of her children can forget her wherever they go or whatever strange fate befalls them. For she is part of them in her greatness as well as her failings, and they are mirrored in those deep eyes of hers that have seen so much of life's passion and joy and folly and looked down into the wisdom's well. Each one of them is drawn to her, though perhaps each has a different reason for that attraction or can point to no reason at all, and each sees some different aspect of her many sided personality (Nehru, The Discovery of India)."
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"But she is very lovable and none of her children can forget her wherever they go or whatever strange fate befalls them. For she is part of them in her greatness as well as her failings, and they are mirrored in those deep eyes of hers that have seen so much of life's passion and joy and folly and looked down into the wisdom's well. "
Beautifully said. And so true.
i never really understood what it meant to be indian. i wasnt even born in the country, but the school i went to, the hindi movies, the food...that was all indian. i wasnt. until i finally went back home.
u see i knew i was indian, but i didnt know.
we went there on holidays. but that was it for me - holidays! rickshaws were amazing for a short while, the smells were always strange, the distance, the poverty, the helping hands(strangers even), the distance.....
and as i slowly began to understand(and it sounds so cliched, i know) there was more to this than what i had experienced as a child.
i was on the roof top with my friend when we saw the fires of the east burn so large like it was a hundred feet away. we didnt say a word. we just saw.
we saw that man get beat up.
we saw the shop burn down.
we saw the man die because he couldnt pay "hafta".
i heard the woman scream as she burned.
and the funny part im willing to fight for a country(most everybody i kno ridicule me for not even being able to speak the language), my country that can never accept.
what is this incidence you talked about? when and where did it happen?
yes it is strange to know your strong views about a country that you only experienced from far away.
i feel there is something about the place that draws people towards it. i dn't know how much of Indian history you are familiar with but i'm sure you will love 'The Discovery of India' by Jawaharlal Nehru. It will help you understand the country better (both the past and the present).
And as Nehru said,"Each one of them is drawn to her, though perhaps each has a different reason for that attraction or can point to no reason at all, and each sees some different aspect of her many sided personality."
the incident happened a ways back in 92-93. the bombay riots.
it was a volatile time. i had a friend (the rooftop friend) hide out at my place for two weeks when bombay went on a rampage.
i know this much, im from goa, and, well, as long as theres beer n vodka, everythings gonna be ok.
oh yes.. the whole babri masjid issue.. that "issue" hasn't died down ever since.. it lies dormant waiting for an opportunity.
I'm trying to think of the images that are formed in my mind when I think of India. I can see them, but I can't describe them. I can feel them, but I can't draw them. They aren't good or bad images, they're just images of India- images of beauty. I don't know where to start. I can see my home, my family, my friends. But, is that really all that India is to me? A place to call home? I don't know.
As i said ..it has a strange attraction that cannot be understood or explained quite that easily.
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