65 years of being India

From being the mystic land of snakecharmers, holy cows and innumerable deities that outnumber the worshippers this part of the globe is now awake signaling out to the world  its intentions to take up a new role.I'd rather say the role it originally held way back in the past " A Super Power".
An emerging  power with one of the most rapidly growing economies,boasting a vast population of urban and semi urban hardworking, striving middle class,the land of the paradoxes, the mysterious country that it has always been is confident, proud and hopeful of a bright future and due respect in the eyes of the world.

Today we celebrates 65 years of existence of the contemporary India proud of its diversity, uniqueness and the efforts of our forefathers to preserve the same. our past is something that we certainly want  to get over but not forget. The sacrifices, struggle and resilience of Indians as a society since ages have instilled a unique characteristic of acceptance  that is nourished and cherished under the umbrella of the Independent India whose constitution serves beacon for the better future.

Just acknowleging the paradoxes we live in and taking pride in them may sound really great but would it solve the problems we face and clear the hurdles in our path to excell.. Take a deep breath and rethink. Doesn't the description of the Rising India make it sound a monolyth? There is the rich elite India that made its way into the lists of the wealthiest in the world, there is the India residing in shacks with family income less than 2 dollars a day, the liberal, secular, progressive India , the radical extremist and rigid India that doesn't respect the constitution, the corrupt India that decelerates the healthy growth of the country, the India of law abiding and hardworking taxpayers that hardly complains.

It is quite evident that the growth story hasn't succeeded in encompassing a large section of the country. Basic eminities are still a concern for many of us. Reservation system isn't a success and the government cannot dare repeal it. Vote bank politics is something everyone is aware of but hardly comes to limelight. Some people are not given an apartment in Mumbai just because they belong to a particular community. We still discuss topics like " Should there be dress code for women?" on TV. To many us everyone south the vindhyas is a Madrasi, everyone from the NE is chinese, Every Punjabi is a Sardar and all Biharis are bhaiyas. We are good at rioting over any issue ranging from religion to water. The gap between the progressing and the sorry lot is still pretty huge.

Hmm.. So is there a need at all to celebrate?Well hope is never supposed to die if u want things happening. Every tool for success is at our disposal and We just need to exercise them. Knowing that our freedom ends at the neighbours nose, realizing there could be a difference in opinion and learning to respect it is the key to success any day. Celebration after all is necessary for today is the day that shaped our identity, but only the day we overcome our problems and build the India where everyone felt equally comfortable will our celebrations be all the more meaningful.

Blindfolded....

Blindfolded.....
Yes. I couldn’t really realise what was right and what was wrong.
There is a fair chance of someone getting carried away by misconceptions about anything to which he/she is new.
I was new on campus and so initially even i like most other southies at bits, was very much into this feeling that we weren’t given the right representation in departments and clubs at bits.
But ....
I forgot something ..
Clubs do not really need to take in members looking at the statistics of the communities on the campus.
Anyone who really deserves to be in and appears to follow the code of conduct of the club is taken in.(at least in most of the cases).
Before finding fault at them we should think twice....
How can we expect clubs to take in someone who’s uncomfortable with English or resistant to socialising?
Hindi isn’t a global language and neither is Telugu. Both these languages are like north and south poles that are no way close or similar to each other. In such case English (the only global language acc to me) can be used extensively for all informal activities. It is a wonderful chance to exploit and use this beautiful language. Frankly speaking everyone knows that proficiency in English in general boosts up a person’s confidence level and also helps induce his career in this corporate world.
To my surprise I’ve encountered many people who not just decline this opportunity of exploiting this resource (English implementation in day to day life and socialising) but instead make a mockery of those who try to socialise. It is a matter of sadness to people like me because the former outnumber the latter among Bitsian Andhrites . And the few socialising Andhrites (including me hopefully) have to bear the grunt as people ( which includes Bitsian junta ) are ever ready to generalise anything. And this is the very reason why many deserving Bitsian Andhrites aren’t able to make it to most departments.
So unless and until we come out of those boundaries that we set for ourselves and embrace all, we cannot expect something better out of others... till then we will be the odd ones out....
.

Hyderabad to Pilani

Starting off with something that I’ve never done… Blogging…
I’m not that good at vocabulary but I’m pretty much hoping that I’ll be able to communicate well throughout my blogging time ahead.
Be it the green but totally polluted lanes of Hyderabad or dusty, semi arid but relatively less polluted lanes of Bits Pilani, the people that you come across are similar. BITS PILANI is indeed very much like Hyderabad-an ocean that is a blend of different and distinct cultural identities.
Last year when I was still confined to Hyderabad and didn’t even expect that fate would land me here, I spent my vacations debating on orkut forums and it was then, that I started loving my language& culture.
I left my hometown for Pilani with these feelings still being dormant somewhere inside. As the train left I started to feel as if I was going to a place from where I could never return back. I bought a telugu news paper and safely placed it in my bag as though it was the last remnant of some ancient sacred text. As the train moved north the sight of Borassus flabellifer L (palmyra palm /taati chettu) trees along the country side was replaced by neelgiri( a form of eucalyptus ). Tea was no more sold for “aidhu roopayalu” but was being sold for “paanch roopaye”.
My journey from Delhi to Pilani was very much similar to many other of my journeys except for the fact that the signboards were no more in Brahmi script and the numbers on milestones were now written in Hindi numerals which was impossible for me to decode. With a feeling of being dumped into a dense forest I entered the desert land of Pilani. The only sigh of relief to me was that the campus was as mixed as the city I lived in. So hoping that this place could make me feel homely I settled down and was ready at the first instance to accept Pilani as my home (at least for the next 3.5 years).


But to my shock or surprise this visible coexistence and mixed flavor didn’t seem to be a true solution but was evidently a colloidal one. things like the usage of slang words with offensive meanings hidden, to refer to a particular community or lingual group, selection of a person into certain departments being effected by his /her nativity made me apprehensive. I don’t really mean to certify it but I really feel even till today that I am personally a victim of such an unsought activity.
Some questions were frequently posed to me.
1) How do you know Hindi that well?
2) Don’t you guys really watch Bollywood films?
3) Don’t you guys really use Hindi in your day to day life?
4) Why is it that south Indians are relatively darker in complexion?
Initially I was ready to give answers to these seemingly simple questions but gradually after being posed the same question a hundred and one times any one is bound to get fed up.
So was I and I started feeling uncomfortable when such questions were being posed at me.I knew the condition of many students from my city might have been similar.By this I don’t mean that people from my city or state are being bullied or being ostracized but the world I see would be through my eyes ,and to me the world now appeared strange.
But was I right in terming a particular section hostile? Or is there really some fault within my community? I wasn’t sure but I was keen to know the source of these fissures. Only time knew if I were ever gonna succeed in finding it out.