01-05-2011, 06:13 PM
[quote name='Husky' date='05 January 2011 - 08:48 PM' timestamp='1294240222' post='110145']
.
[color="#0000ff"].
.
... if I were IF admin[/color], I would sneakily add that as a voting option in the opening post, just to see how many readers want the uninvited essayist itself eliminated as the only response to their poll+post :evil grin
[/quote]
Believe it or not, Husky, that was what was going through my head, when I first saw the first post.
The fact that so many internet-enabled Indians write this kind of stuff, actually makes me despair. The problem, it appears to me, is that we are recommending inaction (in the sense of tolerating the choices of our people). On the other hand, modern culture and the enthusiasm of youth leans in the direction of action - the side of gung-ho, Let-us-all-make-India-better, criminalize-actions-we-dont-like, rights-be-damned. Naturally, we will look unfashionable and backward, even criminally negligent.
The educated classes have to liberate themselves from such totalitarian thinking. Sometimes, I think the British weren't this bad. Especially after the 1930s, their attitude to colonialism underwent a sea change. They had a much more hands-off approach to dealing with India, because they saw themselves as foreigners in this country. But our homegrown tyrants (both in government and in the intellectual class) do not have that handicap. They see themselves as civilized natives, and see the turban-or-choti wearing villagers as someone who needs to be civilized. The consequences are predictable.
I see only one reason for hope: I was thinking exactly like that when I was 15 years old. Here's to hoping that Narindar Sabharwal will grow up!
.
[color="#0000ff"].
.
... if I were IF admin[/color], I would sneakily add that as a voting option in the opening post, just to see how many readers want the uninvited essayist itself eliminated as the only response to their poll+post :evil grin
[/quote]
Believe it or not, Husky, that was what was going through my head, when I first saw the first post.
The fact that so many internet-enabled Indians write this kind of stuff, actually makes me despair. The problem, it appears to me, is that we are recommending inaction (in the sense of tolerating the choices of our people). On the other hand, modern culture and the enthusiasm of youth leans in the direction of action - the side of gung-ho, Let-us-all-make-India-better, criminalize-actions-we-dont-like, rights-be-damned. Naturally, we will look unfashionable and backward, even criminally negligent.
The educated classes have to liberate themselves from such totalitarian thinking. Sometimes, I think the British weren't this bad. Especially after the 1930s, their attitude to colonialism underwent a sea change. They had a much more hands-off approach to dealing with India, because they saw themselves as foreigners in this country. But our homegrown tyrants (both in government and in the intellectual class) do not have that handicap. They see themselves as civilized natives, and see the turban-or-choti wearing villagers as someone who needs to be civilized. The consequences are predictable.
I see only one reason for hope: I was thinking exactly like that when I was 15 years old. Here's to hoping that Narindar Sabharwal will grow up!