"Indians defecate everywhere", commented Naipaul in his "Area of Darkness", the first book in the trilogy on India. As an outsider, this is how he viewed Indians on his first visit to India.
Off course, many of us thought it to be a statement made due to ignorance of what Indianness is and we openly romanticize the idea of a 'maidan' visit early in the morning. Sanitation is a western concept and therefore we don't really think very highly of it. We do not want our feces to go to waste and would rather use it to fertilize our agricultural land. We take pride in such organic way of life.
With the scarcity of space in urban environments we have been forced to defecate in our own homes. A revolting idea. We do that with a lot of shame but we do makeup by urinating in open public spaces. It satisfies our urge to be and behave Indian. The Indian government being Indian supports this idea of Indianness by not providing basic sanitary amenities and utilities in our cities. By not providing basic amenities the Indian government helps all of us to protect and preserve our cultural heritage. An important mandate of the government.
Within CWG village complex the government and the organizers did not think it to be economically prudent to have sanitary amenities for the workers who on bare minimum wage are toiling hard. He is to behave and be Indian. He is encouraged to defecate anywhere available and also has another trait of an Indian-to be ingenious. He is expected to build strong safe structures out of contaminated cement and raw materials.
Management is a western concept and again we really don't think very highly of it. Management in the way understood by westerners is a retarded framework for handling things. It provides no space for individual brilliance and ingenuity. Our superior faculties are challenged only in crisis. So we allow things to slope down to a state of crisis and then we summon all our faculties to manage that crisis. We believe management is needed only during a crisis. Management without a crisis is a pure hoax. So while a western idea of management is to avoid a crisis, the Indian idea of management is to handle a crisis. And we are supremely proud of it. We have a name for it that we toss it whenever it suits us -'Jugaad'.
We believe the outside world is yet to evolve to a level to understand and appreciate our 'jugaad' philosophy. They will soon we believe, there are positive signs. The way the world is handling the climate of the world is very Indian. We as a planet are letting the climate scenario slope down to the point of crisis and then will pull our socks up to manage the crisis.
Family comes first in India. Our sense of identity is nailed to the family. What we do is dictated by the family. We are corrupt because we have to fend for the family. Anything done for the cause of family is not only accepted but also appreciated. So, when a builder is making money by using low-quality raw materials during construction we as a nation emphasize his need to fend for his family. We appreciate the builders and other players responsible for arranging the CWG 2010 and their ingenuity in shooting the total cost for hosting CWG to more than Rs. 50,000 crores. We envy their position, and the opportunity they have and we also appreciate their ingenuity in making the most of this opportunity.
It is this empathy and appreciation that keeps us silent to widespread corruption all around us. It is not apathy, as reasoned by most, but the empathy that dictates our docile attitude towards corruption and injustice. Only when something happens that directly affects our family and its well-being that we stand to make a protest. We believe family units are building blocks of society and the nation. If we fend for our family our obligations to society and the nation are automatically taken care of. By fending for the family we are being true to society and to the nation.
We have a strong cultural heritage and we are open to change. Organic lifestyle, ingenuity, and our concept of 'jugaad' and our family obligations are non-negotiable. These are the three pillars of the Indian way of life. The rest is negotiable. CWG 2010 is a testimony to our philosophy and way of life. It is because of this that I feel hurt and saddened when misguided individuals call CWG our shame. It's time we take pride in CWG 2010. It speaks of who we are and hence we should be proud of it. Shouldn't we?
Comments
Need to change it..... Its not late yet....but soon it will be...
(2)From the day, I came to know about the organizing committee, I am clueless why E. Shreedharan was not involved in this organization, who has successfully finished two major projects in India , Delhi Metro and Konkan railways, within cost and time.
Well Rajesh technically you may be right about the venue..but at last its the India which got the bad image. Next time if Mumbai or any other city in India tries to organize such event, its not going to get the chance. More over the money got wasted in CWG was not only from the taxpayers of Delhi. And well, Shreedharan was not involved because he is already busy with some more important projects, and the main idea behind organizing CWG was not actually to run it successfully, but to put few more zeroes in some of the swiss bank accounts.
“ Baba Kalmadi, Have you any shame? No sir, no sir, we are hosting Common Loot Games.
Crores for my partners,crores for the Dame. Crores for me too for putting India to shame.”
We really are in deep sh**t..
"By not providing for basic amenities the Indian government helps all of us to protect and preserve our cultural heritage. An important mandate of the government". Rightly said. Actually every paragraph is worth quoting !
@Archie: I am contemplating to change the title of this article to 'par kya karein hum to aise hi hain ..'. How well you caught the essence of the article in a single phrase.
I loved the SMS. I will give it a LOL. :-)
@Rajesh: Do we have scarcity of people who can manage huge projects with integrity and competence. Is E.Shreedharan the only able individual alive in this country? [The next part of my comment does not apply to you. I am just tying to build a new argument ... if you know what I mean.]
Is it again a very Indian way of thinking? Only Shreedharan can manage such projects just like only a Gandhi can be a legitimate PM? There must be sound reasoning to this way of thinking too. I need to investigate that!
'Don't you feel ill to believe the outside civilization is ignorant.'
Some portion of the comment got deleted as a result the above line makes no sense. Just ignore it.
@Nasweef: Thanks for the encouraging words.
This post lets out a smile and a chuckle..
The shortcomings in the CWG is a strategic move by Kallu Kalmadi to see India clean sweep the Golds (some more athletes withdrawal awaited. Source www.sheilagillkalmadi.com) These buggers should be given a hammer and chisel each and sent to Chambal to build caves.
Also from the same source- The UPA is contemplating to sue the Organising Committee for foiling the chances and curtailing their reach in "social service". (UPA is abbr. for Unitive Pros' Abettor).
This post somehow injects us with dexterity to truly feel CWG 2010: India's Pride
@Pathak- liked your eyes for zeroing on the zeros.
By the way .. i somehow don't particularly like the comment of this being a ploy to get more golds that is doing the round in papers and internet. Athletes no doubt have prepared hard and I don't wish to demean their effort by that comment.
'UPA: United Pros Abettor' ... hilarious.
Commonwealth Games 2010
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I do not know if you wrote this before or after he made his historical comment that western countries have a different standard
for hygiene. Well of course a better one.
I would not go ahead make a mockery of CWG2010 , our politicians have already done enough for that. However the race for
credit did not die till the inauguration moment when Delhi CM went ahead asked for more power and authority over games because guess
what her office changed the "Huliya" of games village in Just, what, 4 days !!!
I am sure all of us are already sick of this. Your comment on our empathy for the corrupt and corruption was hilarious and I could
actually connect to it. Seriously we do not hate this corruption until our own family or pockets are being compromised. But fools, that we
are , do not know that all this 70000 crore came from our pocket only. Remember politicians do not pay, what , INCOME TAX. It is my money.
The income tax that I paid ( around 8 K ) last year from my meager salary could have been used to buy a chair in the stadium. ( if lucky , that would be me,
else could be used by a politician to pay for his sons alcohol and BMW EMI ).
Seriously If there is anyone intelligent and have read the history of "Big" games , he would know that most of the times these games have not been able
to bring the kind of business or tourism they are actually expected too. there have been cities which spent decades to pay off the debt that incurred
during organization of such games. I am no economist neither do i have a holistic view of all that is happening in Indian economy but
I expect our "stupid" politicians to know what they are getting into. Be it our "cambridge" return "finance master" PM, or HM or women who got married to a
gandhi and became our god mother. Somebody needs to know what is our money being used for. ( dont worry I am not stopping anyone from taking their share ) but
for the sake of our country which has given you all that you have, dont screw it up.
Sincere Apologies for anything that may have hurt any feelings.