My India – Potentially Flawed?

Yes, we all want to see India do well, especially those of us who stay in India and are brought up here. And yes, we have inherited a great culture as we like to say, 5000 years old say some. But when I look around me, either we are blinded by this great culture we have inherited or we are plain shitting on it – this applies literally as well. Remember Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt and many others are developing nations like India, but we have a unique reputation globally, of defecating on the streets. And I cannot ignore this. A nation that “allows” people to defecate on its streets on a regular basis, creating tons of organic waste left outside to rot, reflects an inner state within the cultural fabric of its soul. It communicates very simply – we don’t care, say what you like, when I want to shit, I will just defecate right there in front of you – that, is the inner feeling. Of course, the solution is not in having more public toilets (that is one of the outer effects of an inner change) , the solution is in changing our mindset first – both parties, the ones who shit and the ones who do not – need to care about the country. But do we really?

I remember an incident a few months ago. It was 10:30 pm in the night and a signal at one of the roads (a fairly moderate junction) turned red. So I stopped my car. Now, what was amazing was that the car behind me went “ballistic”. Even while the light was red, he started honking like a maniac. And much to my surprise, brought his car up parallel to mine and asked me in an angry voice, if I was trying to be really smart and cunning by stopping at the red light. I found this surprising. Here was a person angry and violent in his communication towards me, because I was following what is normal and time tested internationally i.e. stop at a red light or you could endanger your life and that of others too. But this to me reflects the new “twisted India”. Where you are questioned and spewed with venom, for doing what is commonly considered good social practices.

We are seemingly growing at 9 or 10 percent, but the number of thugs, deluded souls and thieves in India are also growing at the same rate. The fundamental idea behind everyone’s conduct is (whether it is politics, sports, economics, administration or business) how to loot the system, how to loot the nation and how to make a fast buck (coming Commonwealth games strike a bell?). If there was any confirmation that we are truly in Kali Yug, then we need to look at India. When you are ready to keep your own house clean, but throw your litter outside and mess your environment, there is a real problem – larger than any external poverty. It is the poverty of integrity, the poverty of true understanding; that you and your countrymen are not separate but an interconnected web of influences, and when you litter the streets, you announce the poverty of your nationalism.

The fabric of the nation over years of corruption has been made loose or “dhela”. Even our armed forces are getting loose. I was speaking with Field Marshal Manekshaw’s nephew the other day, and he mentioned our army is not in a battle ready state. They are never really called upon for anything and have been sitting in their barracks for years now and corruption has seeped in there as well. Our current pussyfootedness in the Pakistan-Afghanistan theatre reflects this reality. As the US once said, if India wants to enter the global stage then it has to play with the big boys. And to play with the big boys – US, China, UK, France, Germany – you need a bark and a bite.

Unfortunately we have neither…we are too busy pissing on our roads and on our culture. We are still caught up in the rhetoric – India has never attacked anyone, we are a peace-loving nation, almost (as usual) saying please come and walk all over us (…what were the Mumbai attacks, but our small neighbor walking all over us?). In the aftermath of such an attack, where India should have made a loud bark – “buddy if you mess with me, you pay” – we went around politely “building world opinion” against our neighbour – almost to say, oopps please help us our estranged brothers have gone out of control and are hitting us. Like a baby crying to its caretakers. Now a “big boy” would have made a loud bark perhaps even a bite, and kept intruders at bay. The US did not take permission from anyone before invading Iraq, it “manufactured” permission from the UN and even got several nations to support it. The unfortunate part of Kali Yug, is that if you are gonna only take only a “sattvic” response to everything, you may not remain alive. You need a combination of sattva and “enlightened rajasic thinking”.

And you cannot develop enlightened Rajas, by shitting on your roads, receiving taxes from your people and giving nothing in return to the people, back stabbing your fellow countrymen at your workplace, or ensuring your company is the only one in existence in the market. Enlightened Rajas comes from understanding your own consciousness, understanding the age you live in, mastering your spiritual practices like a warrior, understanding the world – business, commerce, politics, art and warfare and bringing your spiritual understanding to that. Then living a life, that first uplifts your country, then making it a true player of consequence on the global stage (by the good work you do in your own country) and then looking at the advancement of the globe. Right now we proudly proclaim oh an Indian heads Pepsi, an Indian heads Citibank, an Indian heads Kelloggs Management school; but what really earns global respect, is what you do within your own country; not what your countrymen may have done as “one offs” outside the country. This is why China has respect and fear on the global stage (they worked hard on transforming themselves), so did Singapore and that is why the US is where it is (go to the congressional archives and see how the tall skyscrapers of New York were built in the early 1900’s, while other nations were still fighting and what were we doing in the early 1900’s?). Respect is not inherited because of a 5000 year old culture. Respect has to be earned, by what you are doing now, to yourself and creating your current inner state – which then gets manifested outside. This applies as much to a nation and as to an individual.