Bharat mata kaun hai?!
I have a habit of browsing through social media while running through my morning chores. I have to concede that I barely come across anything useful and/or gladdening (it’s an addiction, yes), and this particular morning I woke up to this article drumming Smritiji’s ‘victory’ in a veritable war of words with RG. I am glad I had the option of dousing my annoyance with a cup of tea.
It is appalling how on one hand we are perturbed by the Twitter activity of Trump while, closer home, it seems we unabashedly celebrate mud slinging matches in which our leaders partake. From the early days of every youtube video/ post descending into a Indo-Pak altercation, we have moved on to an extremely divisive discourse within the country, seeping right through to the masses of the country.
I must clarify I do not blame the current or previous regime for any of this. The internet gave people a voice. The people of India have spoken. And unfortunately, a lot of what has been spoken is bunkum.
The leaders have also realized the importance of social media in channeling public sentiment. A couple of days ago, Sushmaji who has an alter-ego ala Batman on Twitter, solving the problems of the aam aadmi while doling out warm fuzzies, used the medium to rant against Amazon. My mind is rather divided on the gravity of the complaint so I would refrain from commenting on her grievance. However, the fact that she took to Twitter to announce it and then meted out threat of banning visas to company officials (without waiting to hear the other side) does not seem like a measured reaction.
Obviously, I am quite alone in my thoughts on this. Symbolic nationalism has been at the forefront of national debate in the recent past. From multiple episodes of disrespect to the National flag where celebrities and common folk were taken to task alike, to the persecution of those who dissented to the National Anthem being played in movie theaters, to the call to boycott ‘evil multinationals’ by the likes of Baba Ramdev. Our urge to cement a national identity for one and all has seen a resurgence not seen in some decades now.
India is a peculiar nation, or as some people put it, idea of a nation. It has a third of the area of all of Europe, over 1.5x the number of people, and is ethnically and culturally diverse in similar proportions. Central governance seemed like an effective way for our early leaders to unify a smorgasbord of cultures and interests. The economic, judicial and diplomatic backbone was supposed to be centrally driven. However, it is unlikely that aligning the thoughts and beliefs of the wide populace was a purpose we set out to achieve.
I remember an analogy drawn by Shashi Tharoor when he addressed the students at my college. He spoke about how calling India a ‘cultural melting pot’ is an injustice to its constituents. The dilution of individual identity is implicit in the idea of a melting pot, which he said wasn’t the objective. He then went on to call India a thali (an assorted meal laid out on a plate) wherein all the constituents complete each other while maintaining their own unique flavour. This simple statement has stuck to me over the years, and I am reminded of it constantly when I see debates on social media, television or in person trying to reach a common conclusion.
Achieving this state of pluralistic harmony is not an easy task in India’s context. Increased globalization also has a double sided effect on this. On one hand, it provides much more access and opportunity to communities and cultures that were hitherto cut off from our progress as a nation. On the other hand, however, someone like me now relates more to the lifestyle and habits of an urban New Yorker than I would to a similar-age individual from, say, Manipal. These and similar instances not just question the kind of identity we have, but the very idea and need of a national identity.
It’s a question I don’t have an answer to yet. But I am led to think. more and more, that identity is largely an individual principle. Individuals with a strong sense of individual identity are more likely to live in harmony with each other than a shared identity being forced on to them. To rise above the petty issues which hurt our national ego and actually live as a united people, everybody must not just strive towards religious & cultural tolerance but believe in whole-hearted acceptance of the same.
Or, we could just let everyone watch a India team cricket match.
