Thursday, December 04, 2008
hundred and seventy/eighty/whatever, not counting me
my first thought was, "kill the _______." obviously, one had to wait for the second thought.
many many words then raced through the mind.
about india, about pakistan, bangladesh, our blood soaked entry into independence again.
the drawing of lines across maps, the dividing of people, the denial of history. it seems the number of muslim people who decided to stay back in india was larger than those who chose to leave. hindustan belonged to us all. lovely.
the growth of the middle class in india. despite the politicians, the caste system, the sifarish cadres, the "minority" issues, our complex past, our fiscally challeged present, and all that stands against the ordinary person every single day of life.
the non growth of the middle class in pakistan and bangladesh. the feudal ways that don't let you cross your limits. and the fall outs of that.
what if these 10 (or 15 if all brushed their teeth, or 20 if all didn't) young chaps had school, college, job, romance, opportunity to focus their unbridled energy on? what if does not exist.
to jump: have you seen bonnie and clyde or dog day afternoon? why did i get a feeling that i was watching a new take on that as i looked into a young smiling face, a cool bent of the body, a casually held ak47? i remember being riveted by the dark straight hair of one of them, it seemed to me therein lay the clue to the country they came from. bizarre.
so so bizarre.
"mama, what does the blue chakra on the indian flag mean?" my seven year old daughter has been riveted in her own way, since her uniting nations day celebrations, by 24 spokes in blue, the colour not even considered in the tricolour. "it's the wheel, baby, the wheel of progress, it stands for the 24 hours of the day, it is about never stopping. actually, it's the dharma chakra."
"dharma," i hear my uncle's voice, "is not 'religion'. dharma comes from 'dhri dhatu', the root word for earth (dharitri, dharti), that which holds us, that by which we live."
arjuna's dharma was different from judhishthir's and bhim's was uniquely his own.
dharma. i am looking for mine.
in the meantime, my mother's red benarasi has been replicated in benares by zubair ahmad ansari; the not so rich mrs karkare has thrown a crore and more of rupees back at a shallow smiling monster; america is chasing its leadership mirage; little moshe is missing his parents; lo hwei yen, where are you.
namaste.
many many words then raced through the mind.
about india, about pakistan, bangladesh, our blood soaked entry into independence again.
the drawing of lines across maps, the dividing of people, the denial of history. it seems the number of muslim people who decided to stay back in india was larger than those who chose to leave. hindustan belonged to us all. lovely.
the growth of the middle class in india. despite the politicians, the caste system, the sifarish cadres, the "minority" issues, our complex past, our fiscally challeged present, and all that stands against the ordinary person every single day of life.
the non growth of the middle class in pakistan and bangladesh. the feudal ways that don't let you cross your limits. and the fall outs of that.
what if these 10 (or 15 if all brushed their teeth, or 20 if all didn't) young chaps had school, college, job, romance, opportunity to focus their unbridled energy on? what if does not exist.
to jump: have you seen bonnie and clyde or dog day afternoon? why did i get a feeling that i was watching a new take on that as i looked into a young smiling face, a cool bent of the body, a casually held ak47? i remember being riveted by the dark straight hair of one of them, it seemed to me therein lay the clue to the country they came from. bizarre.
so so bizarre.
"mama, what does the blue chakra on the indian flag mean?" my seven year old daughter has been riveted in her own way, since her uniting nations day celebrations, by 24 spokes in blue, the colour not even considered in the tricolour. "it's the wheel, baby, the wheel of progress, it stands for the 24 hours of the day, it is about never stopping. actually, it's the dharma chakra."
"dharma," i hear my uncle's voice, "is not 'religion'. dharma comes from 'dhri dhatu', the root word for earth (dharitri, dharti), that which holds us, that by which we live."
arjuna's dharma was different from judhishthir's and bhim's was uniquely his own.
dharma. i am looking for mine.
in the meantime, my mother's red benarasi has been replicated in benares by zubair ahmad ansari; the not so rich mrs karkare has thrown a crore and more of rupees back at a shallow smiling monster; america is chasing its leadership mirage; little moshe is missing his parents; lo hwei yen, where are you.
namaste.
