She adorns her forehead with the vermilion of saffron.. drapes herself with the lush green of prosperity.. and in her heart she is white and pure.. she rolls the wheel of progress.. she is our MOTHER INDIA.. let's make her proud.. let's serve her in earnest... let's be proud to be born as INDIANS... wishing you a very HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY... ***
No, ladies and gentlemen, I have not gone mad. I'm simply typing out an sms i received yesterday.
And if your reaction was "What the fuck?!??!?", I heartily sympathise.
I mean, what the fuck?!?!??!
I have so many problems with this sms I don't even know where to begin. First of all, I'm not even comfortable with the personification of the country as a woman. What kind of chauvenistic rubbish is that? Making India a woman most conveniently suits the image of everything that we should feel for our nation - we must love her, we must protect her, we must cherish her beauty - in short, every cliche that makes me feel physically nauseous. And might I add, there's the hidden sexual connotation of referring to a land as a woman, in that fertility symbols come into play. I didn't say it, btw, it was early 20th century critics - and though it may seem like reading too much into it, i kind of think they have a point.
So that's problem number one. Second problem 'she adorns the vermilion of saffron on her forehead etc.' Nonsense. It just reinforces the image of India as a country filled with saree clad hindus clinging on to ancient customs when in truth it is a secular nation with people of all religions, and one that is steadily westernising. The girls reading this blog - how many times a year do you wear a saree? And guys wear kurtas? Even fewer times, I would imagine. This sort of feel good ethnic illusion...
'and in her heart she is white and pure' white=purity. what the hell? i know it is an age-old image, light and dark, white and black, but isn't it time we got over it? I still remember Denzel Washington in Cry Freedom... in one scene, as a black revolutionary during apartheid in South Africa, he is asked by the judge in a courtroom scene 'Why do you call yourselves the black movement?' and his answer was - "Well, black is associated with so many negative things - the black market, black-hearted - and I want to change this connotation, this way in which black is automatically equated with evil' which i thought was a fine answer.
"she rolls the wheel of progress" give me a break. When this progress actually touches the 95 per cent of our population for whom the rise and fall of the stock market doesn't mean anything, then let's talk about progress.
And then let's talk about the warm glow of patriotism.
On the other hand, some things that truly make me feel good:
1) When a senior colleague tells me that i have written a fantastic article.
2) When I meet my sister's friends and I know she's proudly showing me off to them.
3) When the violins kick in in Oasis' Cast No Shadow
4) When the fabulous play I saw yesterday is all I can think about today.
5) When a girl who ignored me throughout school is trying to catch my eye at a social do and i ignore her blissfully.
6) When driving in the rain.
7) When I win a set 7-5 after being down 5-0
8) When I'm studying for an exam the next day, and I suddenly get lost in the poetry and lose all track of what textbooks I'm supposed to be studying by when.
9) When someone calls me for an article I have done on him or her, and thanks me genuinely for it (you figure out who's genuine and who's not in no time at all in this profession)
10) When your clothes are too loose for you and you have to replace your wardrobe.
29 comments:
Fellah, totally agree. I liked your allusion to physical nausea. Really man, these fellows drive you up the wall with their cliches. But there's one problem. these folks mean well. They could at worst be forgiven, for, they know not what they do.
And hey, the last part of your blog.... neat. It's quite a while since I actually THOUGHT of what makes me feel good. Thanks, let me begin thinking! :-)
thats a fair point.. but i wasn't really upset with the sender more with the content of the message itself.
having said that, i do believe its this kind of thoughtlessness that keeps prejudices alive more than actual evil-doers. i am more upset by old mamis who say 'yes but they started it' sitting thousands of miles away than with narendra modi during the gujarat riots.
began reading the post actually detesting you considering the feminist i am its only natural but then again then the points made later did seem to make sense esp the lines on apartheid ..oh the last part of the blog was damn good..hehe
but i am still curious to know why the reference to india as 'she' makes you nauseous..
riniiiii... long time man..
but i think you're being a little unfair to me *sniff* i didn't make any anti-feminist comments. in fact quite the contrary - i'm saying that the sms i received is anti-feminist and i don't like it.
but anyways, thanks for dropping by.
yeah its been long since i visited anyway chill dude don sniff please ;)
yeah its been long since i visited anyway chill dude don sniff please ;)
Hang on a minute, what the hell is Vermillion ??
What really makes me feel good, that made me think as well, V.C. Thought, I'd add a few.
1. When a girl overhears you totally bitching about her, and totally forgives you because of your obvious charm.
2. When a girl in Pink, goes absolutely crazy in one of those eat a little drink a little bars, and she chooses you as her 'dancing partner'
3. When an absolutely ravishing babe, decides to flash you. ( So, what if its only her belly button)
Well, I can add a much longer list, of things that dont make me feel so good. But then, I think its Fair Enough!
@rini,
alrighty then :)
@sudhir,
lol... you nut, why did i know even before i read them that your three best moments would be about women... and all three occasions that i have had the privilege to witness.
btw, sorry to rain on your parade, but the girl who forgave you didn't because of your obvious charm but because she was as horny as you were.
and the lady in pink chose ME as her dancing partner the following week at the same eat a little drink a little bar.
but the ravishing babe - i'll give you that. she really is ravishing, and i'm totally jealous.
superb post abhinav,
my bet is that the person who drafted the i-day message is also a fan of 'sivaji' ganesan. what do you think? the association seems perfect!
but i also think you are unfair to the old mamis! wasn't it a bit exaggerated?
@sriram
guilty as charged.
a bit exaggerated and a bit flippant on my part..
but honestly, i think the argument that muslims have committed a lot of atrocities so its alright is dangerous, which i have definitely heard a lot of mamis and mamas say.
we allow atrocities to continue only because ordinary people like you and me make such assumptions, not because of some evil man sitting somewhere and cackling evilly or whatever.
abhinav, interesting point.
but i think we are understating the role of the state during the Gujarat riots.
if u r saying atrocities are continuing because ordinary people are making such assumptions, why doesn't it happen in all states? or are you saying it's a matter of time before that happens in all states?
and i don't think there is any practical way of making people think the right things. there will always be extreme views. state's role is to ensure those views don't translate into action. what do you say?
yes.some strange corny SMSs do the rounds...and yes it is sick to compare a piece of land to a woman but our countrymen are obsessed with it...and i liked the bit at the end...nice stuff :)
@sriram,
first of all your most recent post is... enlightening. i really really learnt something by reading and totally enjoyed reading it too.
anyways, it may sound like we're patting each other on the back, but honestly, thats an excellent point again. it IS the state's role to make sure it doesn't translate into violence..
but i dont know i think that's too idealistic, i think the state will only sniff out the mood of the people and try to use it either way to get votes. you'll notice the gujarat atrocities stopped the minute our man modi was voted back into power.
and as you said, there's no practical way of changing mindsets, so i guess we're just doomed as a race.
@divya,
yes isn't there something truly weird about the way they do that, their eyes glazing over and everything? sheesh. anyways thanks :)
hey I'm surprised one of those self proclaimed 'upholder of indian tradition' fellows hasn’t showed up on your post yet!....ha ha and what will Megha say!!! YIKES!
And in any case why does 'she' kick up all that emotion...I mean in most languages and nations, land is a she right? I mean it's 'motherland' not ‘fatherland’...guess guys give land more love and patriotism subconsciously thinking it's a woman!
reflextion,
megha? anyways, yes, good point, it is motherland in most countries, and that in itself is, for me, a chauvenistic concept conceived of by the male leaders of the country at some point or the other.
however for india it doesn't stop with just a vague female figure symbolising the nation - it becomes this tall, fair, clear-eyed beauty dressed in a white saree and with 'vermilion of saffron' on her forehead.
there are too many prejudices and cliches in that image for me to be comfortable with.
the country being raped by various entities must be a point. not that men aren't raped..
kurtas..heh, the frequency of kurtas at NLS..honestly..it's a walking, breathing fabindia commercial. not that fabindia ever advertises..
antickpix..
super long time da.. did u come to chennai and go back already?
anyways, the future justics system of our country endorsing fab india, the personification of some wierd western appreciation of our ethnicity... sheesh..
yes i know, reading too much into it. that's what i expertise in.
yes..and missed the drink. again.
sigh..long standing it'll be.
in october..will be there for 2 weeks. :p
not to knock western appreciation for our ethnicity, but i like fabindia.
As far as that SMS is concerned, and me being one of those much-reviled arty-pedant types, I must protest that saffron and vermillion are two distinctly different hues. Damn and blast those colourblind text-fiends!
Having said that, I rather like the idea of the personification of the country as a woman, even if I AM a blatant anti-nationalist and claw my scalp out at the mildest excesses of patriotism. The reason for my support for the Mommy India figure is that the converse, of a male equivalent, might just end up exacerbating the mess we're already in (can you imagine passionate encomia/delirious odes dedicated to "the fatherland"? Has distinctly commie overtones, if you ask me, not to mention that the PR policies of our government would have to be drastically overhauled. Such wanton expenditure, tut tut.) I also endorse the whole maternal (as opposed to sisterly or daughterish) angle, if only to lend a shoulder to our oft-maligned cinematic traditions (a crying shame, it is). Of course, there does exist the possibility of a gender-neutral (unisex!) persona, but really now, where's the fun in that?
antickpix,
"in october..will be there for 2 weeks. :p"
why the ":P"?
eyefry,
your argument against the father personification and teh unisex personification are both very compelling... honestly.
but my question is why personify at all? it seems like needless sentiment to me, but i suppose you would think i'm nitpicking.
cheers!
Bleah. Just goofing around, man. Frankly, I've never given any of these "issues" more than a passing peek... :P
why the ":P"
i just dont get it. its one of life's unsolvable mysteries.
nice.... i think the exam time distraction by poetry thing happens to all who end up taking lit....
p.s. u play tennis?
eternal flunky,
and something i didn't really have the balls to put up on my blog - you find yrself ending up writing poetry at 2 in the morning, inspired by yeats and eliot...
and yes, i do play tennis. have been playing since i was a leetle boy.
beg to disagree, but vermilion of saffron seems to fit! crimson more suitable though for all the blood lost! but thats deviating!:)nice work old boy!
Why do you say 'the rest of us'?
[b][url="http://hydrocodone.dewall.info "]hydrocodone bitartate[/url][/b]
Hi
Linux software,news driver ,games
http://spdimon.info
Bye
Post a Comment