Tryst with Destiny

On the 58th anniversary of our Independence, let's take stock of our achievements and our failings, writes Sunil Lala.

A Happy Independence day to all! Here in Boston, we will go to the esplanade on

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the 15th and take part in the yearly Independence Day celebrations. We will sing the two National Anthems - Jana Gana Man followed by the Star Spangled banner. American born kids will do the BharatNatyam, a few people will sing patriotic songs I am sure, and we shall all go back home, content in the knowledge that we have done our duty towards our motherland.

And back in India, by the time this column is published, our Prime Minister will have unfurled the tri-colour and addressed the Nation. If history is any guide, he will have uttered some of the exact same thoughts that many other Prime Ministers have uttered over the past decades. He will have set some of the exact same objectives for the country that have been set since 1947, criticised the exact same things, and listed the exact same achievements that numerous other leaders before him have.

Let me take a wild guess about the issues that will be talked about. Our economy is strong, no nation can dare cast an evil eye upon us or we shall bomb it into oblivion, casteism and communalism are bad, and of course, the clincher - we shall eradicate poverty soon. Real soon. Did I leave anything out? Probably a few sentences on how the drainage system in Mumbai will be improved so that a few thousand people dying in rains do not hamper our laughable objective of turning it into Shanghai.

So, on this 58th anniversary of our independence, let's take stock of our achievements and our failings, shall we? Of course, things are a little bit different now than they used to be. We used to have only Ambassadors and Fiats on our roads, we had to wait for years to get a telephone or gas connection, we used to watch Krishi-Darshan on Doordarshan, we made "trunk-calls" to talk to anyone living outside our town, heavy rains used to completely destroy...OK, never mind that last one.

Now of course, we have Marutis and Hondas and Hyundais, we have cell phones and Voice over IP, and we have a hundred channels of cable and satellite TV. We are fast becoming an IT powerhouse and are finally recognized for our technical prowess than our caste system.

And yet, despite all this progress, some of our worst social nightmares and political shortcomings remain.

On the geopolitical stage, we claim our right to a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, yet are unable to provide adequate leadership to get even Africa on our side. The most destitute nations in the world don't think twice about defying us. How do we suppose we will make the world's most powerful states listen to us?

We claim equality on the world stage, and yet, when the President of the United States so much as looks at our Prime Minister, we go delirious with joy and generally behave like slaves. We claim to be a major nuclear power and yet our fighter planes drop from the sky with alarming regularity. We produce more movies than anyone in the world, and yet we treat third rate Hollywood actors as Gods and Goddesses, and our top stars drool over them like lapdogs.

As far as our national politics goes, we seem to have touched rock bottom. Our politicians are as corrupt and power hungry as ever. Financially, while a small percentage of our society is doing quite well, a vast percentage remains entrenched in poverty and ignorance. Our caste system remains firmly in place, and our feudal landlords exploit bonded labour with impunity. Our health care system, while providing top of the line treatment to a select few, fails miserably in affording even basic care for the teeming millions.

Independence, my friends, is a state of mind. We may be independent of British rule, but are we truly and honestly free? Who are we really? Do we even remember anymore? We always were adept at aping the West, but the phenomenon has now reached quite absurd proportions. If the West has reality shows, we must have them too. If the West does "speed dating", then we must do it too. If Americans eat Burgers and fries for breakfast, then we must eat them too. If the teenagers in the West are hooked on Ecstasy, then we must get hooked too. If men in America pierce their ears and tattoo their shaved heads, then of course, men in India must too.

Never mind the negative consequences on society, never mind how bizarre and pathetic we look or sound. Things have reached a stage where we are now changing our very names to make them sound more Western. Did someone say spineless?

And yet, there is hope. Not in the fake American accent of the rich teenage brat whose only quite unattainable ambition in life is to "be cool", but in the hopes of the really cool girl who goes to school during the day and works as a maid at night. Not in the obscene displays of illegitimately acquired wealth by a select few, but in the sincerity of the social worker who works day and night trying to uplift the downtrodden. There is hope, not in the inferiority complex of phoney people who will stoop to anything to be on Page Three of a newspaper, but in the gleaming eyes of the poor little village kid, who sits in a dilapidated school, looks at the screen of a donated computer, watches the operating system developed by a multi-billion dollar multinational corporation, and says to himself, "I think I see a flaw".

Through the dreams of the oppressed, we will ultimately redeem our pledge. Through the hearts of our children, will our souls finally find utterance. And through true liberation of our minds, my fellow Indians, we shall at last have our tryst with destiny.

Dedication: This column is dedicated to my grandfather, KD Bhatia, who taught me the value of honesty, integrity and idealism.