Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Brown but not Out...

Chain reaction. Two angry young ladies. Kadambari wrote something followed by Agent Green Glass. I started to comment on AGG’s blog and realised that I had ended up writing a full-fledged post…

AGG and Kadambari are very angry. And rightly so. Angry with the recent attacks on Indians. And they have a very interesting solution. They recommend that we retain our posture of peace and ahimsa and attack these nations with our largest weapon - Our population.

Procreate and conquer.

Interesting concept and communities and religions have tried this before but with very limited success. This is also one of the reasons why societies, historically, were partial to that the male population. And men could marry multiple times. But I digress.

In my opinion, however, procreate and conquer is unlikely to bear dividends.

When populations migrate, they eventually take on the identity and adapt to the culture, habits and customs of their new adopted land. Over time and generations, the original identity is lost. Third generation brown skinned people living in the UK, for example, ARE as British as any white skinned man is. Loss of jobs to India hurts them as much as it pains a white skinned citizen. Bottom-line – if the procreate and conquer theory succeeds then brown skin may overcome but India won’t.

And some day in the future... we may have brown skinned citizens of one country attacking brown skinned people of another country.

Furthermore, we are not equipped as a nation to procreate exponentially. We prove this to ourselves each day. Moreover, we don't want to continue to create a nation of servants.

Its probably utopia... but the solution lies instead in managing our problem of procreation while at the same time empowering our already massive population with infrastructure, skills and knowledge to take on the world.

History is witness to the fact that it isn’t always the most populous nations or communities that have succeeded in creating new markets. Look at what the English, historically, and the Japanese, more recently, have achieved.

The solution lies in flooding the world with the power and output of our most potent weapons. Our mind and our creativity in “Jugaad”.

Most importantly, it is critical to achieve this from “our shores”. Work harder… in our country… to create our land of dreams… for us tomorrow… for our children…

While this is easier said and done, we have, over the last twenty years or so demonstrated considerable initiative to make this possible. Furthermore, the good news is that even if we achieve success with a fraction of our population, our strength in numbers ensures that returns are massive. It also helps that while the developed world is getting older... we are relatively young.

At the same time, we have to stop lending ourselves to the situation we often find ourselves in...

We have to stop being colour discriminatory ourselves. Oh yes! Indians ARE colour discriminatory. Our markets are flooded with products like ‘fair and lovely’ and our classifieds carry matrimonial ads for “young, fair complexioned men and women”. Bottom-line – A large part of our population still believes that the white skinned man IS superior. This shows in our behaviour and our attitude. Unfortunately, the way the world works… if you give an inch…

We have to treat ourselves, our infrastructure, and our nation with more respect. You will never find an Indian throwing litter on the streets of a developed nation. But bring him back to his country of birth… and he starts flinging garbage missiles out of his car and out of his window. Then we go and blame Slumdog Millionaire of bias. And we think nothing of badmouthing our roads, our infrastructure, our people, our habits, our democracy, our politicians and our everything to all and sundry. As a result, the picture that the world has of our streets and our people reflects on us. A people that thrives in filth… A people that come from the back of beyond.

Change is critical. Change is constant. Unfortunately, we hate change. We are Indians. So remain our habits. Even in Rome, we do as the Indians do. We lend ourselves to caricature.

We compete on cost. We fear competing on quality. We forget our ability to do "Jugaad"... our ability to conjure up solutions. We underestimate our creativity... And we are looked upon as cheap.

Ahimsa is history. Ahimsa was a very practical solution to a problem of the time. Ahimsa was not an excuse for cowardice. Ahimsa should not be used as an excuse for cowardice. Two men beat up one. Three friends of the man being beaten up stood by and watched. They came from the land of Ahimsa. They offered the other cheek… not theirs… but that of their friend. They were non-violent… not by choice… but by compulsion… They were cowards. Cowards attract bullies. Remember school. I don't recommend violence. But if you are dragged into it. React.


If we smell the salts... wake up... change... be practical... not just radical... think... create... improve... little by little... each one... everyone... the possibilities are endless... and brown will be the colour of choice... of success... of opportunity...

Finally... a day where we all go colour blind... Ah... Utopia... maybe... but feels good...

14 comments:

Grayquill said...

A very sobering post. I don't know much but from one sitting on the outside looking in. I think you have wisdom worth listening to.

Anonymous said...
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As the Mind Meanders said...

@ Choco

I agree that the procreation theory sounds brilliant... I liked it too... and that made me think...

As far as someone caring... I think we do... the last election is an indicator... Things will move slowly though... we are a democracy... so every recommended change goes through a trial of fire before approval... and we have to unlearn the habits of centuries... it takes time... but my feeling is that it that we are on our way now...

BTW... thank you for visiting and taking the trouble to write a comment...

agent green glass said...

blog gore: great post. fantastic. i agree with so much you've said. and ya, procreation sounds like a good theory, though actually it sounds like a sound bite theory! if you know what i mean : )however...there are no easy answers. and you made me think...and rethink...and finally i had to write another post! : )

Dreaming Eyes said...

I agree with procreation thoery..it wud be more effective..:-)

On other note..hmmm...well change can be POSSIBLE wen every1 wants to bring change..but sadly people ideally sitting in their AC drawing rooms watching news on plasma and simply cursing govt and their policies and planning overseas holidays..this time its not AUSTRALIA but some other country..they are planning to visit...Wat we can do on our part is to change our mindset..

BTw wats the need to go abroad and study..dont we hv gud universities in INDIA to study.....dnt knw whether you agree or not but its very frustrating wen ppl forget all these mishappenings nd incidents so fast...like nothing happened...

BTW u write very well...gud post..

take care...

Rohan said...

Well written...
But i think its jugaad that makes us look cheap...jugaad cant be the solution in the longer run...Even though we are so good at it.

The reasons for the problem that we have been facing right from the times of Gandhi till today are manifold (skin, religion, abilities, the 'image' that the 'white world' has about us etc.). There was a time when yellow skinned people (Chinese, Japanese, Koreans) were the butt of all jokes in the west, but they fought back, proved their worth in the world of common co-operation and made themselves indespensable in the world economy. The solution lies in mending our own house first rather than crying foul in the media .

As the Mind Meanders said...

@ Rohan

Package Jugaad differently...

Call it the "ability to find creative, medium term, immediate, low cost and highly effective solutions to complex problems by working around the prevalent limitations"

Does not sound so bad now... does it mate...

Unfortunately... Jugaad is also bribing a cop to get away with a minor offense... But there is rationale... That is another post

As the Mind Meanders said...

@ Dreaming Eyes

Yes the apathy hurts...

As the Mind Meanders said...

@ Grayquill

Thank You. It would be interesting to have your opinion on the situation as well... as someone looking at it from outside...

SSQuo said...

Well written!

I think the idea you mention about populations migrating is timely, because my current post talks about something that may show us our similarities after all!

As the Mind Meanders said...

@ SSQuo...

I read your post... The findings of Nat Geo will be interesting...

And thank you visiting my blog and taking the trouble of leaving behind a comment...

Ruchi said...

Am I the only one who finds the "Procreate and conquer" theory creepy!! Very creepy I must add & purely nationalist..

A few statments from your blog you might wanna read again:

1. "And some day in the future... we may have brown skinned citizens of one country attacking brown skinned people of another country."

My reaction: Some day??!!

2."Its probably utopia... but the solution lies instead in managing our problem of procreation while at the same time empowering our already massive population with infrastructure, skills and knowledge to take on the world."

My reaction: Utopia, ironically, cannot be achieved by conquering the world, by brain or by brawn. States would have to erase borders to create Utopia. And after witnessing the current situation tht seems very unlikely!

3. "Oh yes! Indians ARE colour discriminatory. Our markets are flooded with products like ‘fair and lovely’ and our classifieds carry matrimonial ads for “young, fair complexioned men and women”."

My reaction: This is compeltely out of context. People find fair skin pleasing to the eye, it has very little to do with racism!

4. "But if you are dragged into it. React."

My reaction: Now we already have plenty of that, don't we? :P Wish it was more focused!!

5. "and brown will be the colour of choice... of success... of opportunity..."

My reaction: Brown?!!? That doesn't sound colour blind to me!!

:)

Nice post!!

As the Mind Meanders said...

@ Ruchi

Thank you for taking the trouble to comment... and a detailed comment too... My responses below

Am I the only one who finds the "Procreate and conquer" theory creepy!!
Naah... I find it creepy too... that's why I put this post up...

1. Please relook at this in the context of the ineffectiveness of the "Procreate and conquer" theory

2. "Utopia" Alternative definition - an unrealistic ideal that is impossible to achieve. Again context

3. "Pleasing to the eye" AND "Colour Discrimination" - Perceptions???.. Who draws the "thin" line...

5. Ideal world - colour blind... no borders... But if that is unachievable... priorities???

thoughts said...

fabulous, outrageous idea..:)