IT’S AMAZING, REALLY, TO BE AN INDIAN (17th Nov 2009, 1250 Hrs)

IT’S AMAZING, REALLY, TO BE AN INDIAN! (17th Nov 2009, 1250 Hrs)

We Indians are really amazing bunch of people, who realise the importance of being Indian, only when we are overseas and not otherwise. When we are at home, we fight among ourselves over trivial issues like language, religion, caste, creed and states… thereby creating chaos and mayhem in the society. However, isn’t it funny that when we are in any foreign countries, we search for Indians, irrespective of what language he may speak, which caste and creed he belongs to or else which religion he follows… if he is an Indian, we feel a sense of safety, comfort and sense of pride. The bonding is almost instantaneous and we don’t even hesitate to reminisce all those beautiful moments of growing up years in India, sharing with joy and pride to be an Indian.

Funny isn’t it? Why such a phenomenon is so common when we go abroad? Why do we then hate each other when we are in our own country? It is such a simple thought, isn’t it? If each Indian thinks about this simple strong bonding in foreign land and just the opposite happening inland… will we create all these senseless chaos in our every day lives? Yes, I know we have a very simple and famous game – BLAME GAME! Blame it on Politicians who use, divide, exploit, harass and then throw us like used napkins in dustbin once their purposes are solved. Hate each other because we belong to different parties, ideologies and what not… But has each one of us thought before blaming the politicians about all these hatred between us, Indians?

While we don’t hesitate even a bit to bond and unite in overseas, even with all the thinking, we will never unite with joy and harmony in our own land. WHY? It is really an amazing phenomenon that makes us so vulnerable for politicians to exploit us for their personal gains. Think about this simple phenomenon and it is not at all complex in any nature. The politicians have made it look complex, dangerous and what not…

I really wonder as to what our Prime Minister, Chief Ministers and Home Minister are doing to curb such a phenomenon to unite all of us as INDIANS? Well, we all know, watch them on TV and read about their every day fight about seats and portfolios with each other, so but obvious how and why will they unite us? The irony of ‘Independent India’ because of our basic problem is that even after 62 years, we still need a foreigner (Sonia Gandhi) to unite and govern us. Isn’t it a shame for every Indian born in this country? We cannot even produce ONE, I repeat, ONE Indian to unite us into a beautiful Indian Sovereign Country that will teach the world the true meaning of ‘UNITY’!

I really wonder at times – is India in Maharastra or else Maharastra in India? When we go abroad, do we say I am from Tamilnadu, Kerala, UP, Bihar or Maharastra, no, we proudly announce – ‘I am from India’? But obvious, since foreigners don’t know too well about Indian states, we have no option but to say – ‘I am from India and I am an Indian’… We are proud to be Indian in foreign countries but we are ashamed of being called an Indian in our own country. How funny this can be? Because in India, we are Dalits, Harijan, Brahmins, Thakur and what not from Maharastra, Bihar, UP, Orissa etc, etc… we have been divided by our leaders to solve their greed to give them power over us while we succumb to become weak in front of them since we are not Indian in our own country.

I was born to an Indonesian mother and Indian father. And I still remember distinctly how my mother was proud to learn Hindi for my father and be an Indian wife rather than being called a foreigner. Ask me, I have suffered racism ever since I went to school however, I was always proud to be an Indian rather than being always called ‘Angrez’! Even now, I do face curious looks by many because of my features and fair complexion and greenish brown eyes and golden brown hair. I still do face racial discrimination by fellow Indians, working colleagues and wherever I have traveled within India. However, you will be surprised to know I can speak as many as 17 different languages (11 Indian and 6 foreign languages) and can understand 6 more languages (4 Indian and 2 foreign languages) to be able to tackle the problem of racism. Language breaks the barrier between two cultures, states and countries to unite two different individuals on a common ground. Language doesn’t divide but unites and I have learned it from my own experience.

I would like to share my mother’s triumph and I am very proud of the fact. When my mother married my father, she didn’t know a single word of Hindi. My father was smart enough to learn Bahasa Indonesia to woo my mother. There was really no one to teach my mother Hindi, so she started watching Hindi movies. She used to watch repeatedly a single movie to master each sentence and slowly and steadily she learned Hindi to perfection. A very funny incident I would like to share here… while she was learning to speak Hindi, mom used to goof up big time about various sentences and ladies from our neighbours used to laugh and make fun of her. She kept on with her self-taught lessons watching more Hindi movies and I used to accompany her since I was a baby.

One day, one of the ladies (an Indian of course) said something to mom in Hindi. Much to the lady’s surprise, my mother corrected her grammar and told this is how the sentence should be told and that she was grammatically incorrect. Almost all the ladies present laughed out aloud much to the lady’s embarrassment and they were very surprised as to who had taught my mom such high level of Hindi… My mom just smiled and I was very proud of her achievements and dedication to learn her husband’s country’s national language.

There are many states in India where Hindi is not spoken but there is no one like the Thackerays who threaten others not to speak Hindi in their state. Even though Hindi is India’s National Language, there are millions of villagers living in remote Indian villages, who don’t speak Hindi, so does that mean they are not Indians? In Maharastra itself, many don’t know how to speak Hindi, so should they be sent to other countries? No, it is just not possible. There are many Maharastrians who migrate to other states in search of work but other states never object to their migration or impose them to speak in their respective state language because India is an independent country and every Indian has the right to freedom and equality. Why there has been no Indian Prime Minister till date to put a full stop to such a ‘divisive phenomenon and policy’?