The Great Indian Void

The CWG-2010 opening ceremony was a boring and unnerving mess that attempted to portray the diversity of India and, inadvertently, ended up manifesting the insincerity and chaos that reigns in India today.

If this is what we can come up with in 7 years, we'd better stop; before we do any more damage.

The barrage of drums, of all sizes and shapes being beaten by thousands and one 7 year old. Where's the theme in that? It might have made a bit of sense if the drum beating started with the kid and was lead by him.. a sort of projection of a young and talented India. But just like everything else in India, the massive drums virtually drummed the poor little kid out and we had to be given a visual clue to learn that he too was indeed trying to make some noise.

I'm trying to recollect the next spectacle that unfolded, but am getting this suffocating feeling, of something hovering above me and making me feel like I'm on the sets of a cheap sci-fi movie, the kind made by the likes of Rakesh Roshan, if i might add. The balloon. I must admit, my mind made valiant efforts to rationalize the use of the contraption - the changing colours, the moving projected images, the stuff being raised from beneath it, the thousand reflecting eyes on its ventral side. But it could not. Somehow, a massive balloon that starts to float up and then just sits there, tied down by wires elicits a feeling of being trapped. Perhaps Rahman's screeching rendition of "jiyo utho badho jeeto, let's go" was an entreaty to the balloon... to set itself free and fly the hell away like helium was meant to. All through the ceremony, this monstrous floater continued to be a distraction and added to the chaos that unfolded below it. To make matters worse, the irony seems to have been lost on the organizers when the Dandi march was sand painted for the prince of wales and its image projected on a balloon rented from a British company. What were they trying to say?

The delicate eye movements and the finely nuanced hand gestures of Indian classical dance are meant to be observed closely to be appreciated. The massing together of dancers from different traditions, all of them attempting to stay in tune with the cacophony reduced our finest art forms to pitiful acts of comedy. I get this nauseous feeling that pop culture in India, today, is a nebulous entity that vacillates between abusing traditional forms and reveling in blatant consumerism and the worst comes out when the two are forced to meet.

The railways display has been lauded by the press as, among other things, portraying an India unafraid of its quirks. What is the need to spend money to create an incomplete capsule of the Indian mess, when just outside the stadium, a more complete chaos reigns? What could be a more amusing spectacle that depicts India than the convoy that ferries the 'foreign guests' from A to B? There is a lane dedicated for CWG traffic, which is mostly empty. And as in everything else, we have made it a punishable offence for non-CWG traffic to trespass into this lane. And as in everything else, it is a rule that we can never enforce; thus making the situation worse than it would have been without a rule. We now need a police pilot on a motorcycle, followed by a jeep full of police belting out a siren behind which a bus carrying stunned athletes moves ahead like a silent island in the midst of the heat and dust.

The public display of a complete lack of depth in thinking does not bode well for the wisdom of a 5000 year old civilization. Why yoga and not avurveda? Why some disconnected guru-shishya metaphor and not the isolated rishis in the Himalayas. Why Kundalini and not Ramana Maharishi? Where do the tribals with their peacock dances and dravidians with their karagattam figure in the 5000 years of the "Indian" civilization? This does seem to be a season of sweeping statements - from judges declaring that Rama was born at the spot marked X to self proclaimed keepers of Indian culture declaring that India has always existed and Yoga is its pinnacle.

The intention was probably to say that India is a very old civilization that is waking up to the modern world and has much wisdom to offer to the world. The reality, I suspect, is that the world is interested in our population (aka market). People who force themselves into saying that the CWG-2010 opening ceremony was good, when for all practical purposes it was shoddy, do themselves and the country a disservice - by promoting the mediocre and hence playing into the hands of those who would make them mere consumers, of anything.

The ultimate consequence of yesterday's avoidable display of misplaced pride is that the world will be left a little more confused (which is good in a convoluted way) and thinking Indians left a little more marginalized by the mediocrity of it all.

Update: While my post drew parallels between the opening ceremony and Indian society, P. Sainath's article in the Hindu, draws parallels between the entire CWG-2010 and Indian society.

Delhi - City of Intrigue

I think the cycle rickshaws in Delhi say a lot about the city and its culture. It is an expensive (costing about INR 15k) vehicle with no shock absorbers, is difficult to get on and off, offers no protection from the elements, leased and driven recklessly by starving migrants who have no traffic sense, on badly made roads, locking horns dangerously with buses at crowded intersections and operated by cartels. The hardened citizens of Delhi consume
aloo chat and hold lively conversations while perched high on these contraptions, even as they race down the main roads and dangerously overtake slow moving trucks and buses.

And these rickshaws are not some legacy from a time of bad design. They are being manufactured even as you read this. Based on the same brain dead design.

I've tried hard to understand the basic traits that go into making Delhi what it is. And Delhi is important for India because pretty much every decision that affects the country is made here.

One universal fact that every thinking resident of Delhi will acknowledge is the one-upmanship that underpins everything that happens in this city. Even in the most minor of human interactions. You need to buy a ticket at a metro station and join the queue behind the one guy who's already there. While you wait, some person will appear from the side, seemingly ignoring you completely with the intention of creating his own personalized queue. You make polite attempts to make your presence felt. When that fails, as it undoubtedly will, you make more physical attempts, by waving your arms in front of his face so he sees you. When that too does not yield the desired results, you tap him on his shoulder and raise your eyebrows. He will continue to persist in his bubble. He will raise his eyebrows back at you in accusation. You point your thumb behind you and raise your voice. Guess what? He'll smile back at you and meekly form teh queue behind you. Yes. He will not fight back, but try to act friendly, now that you displayed anger in some fashion. This just blows my mind. The apparent bravado and non-cooperation in the face of logic melting into submissiveness and insecurity in the face of legitimate resistance.

The funny thing is that this is not restricted to random people in crowds. I have found most interactions with Delhi-ites streaked with this trait. Even funnier is the fact that migrants to this city, who are self aware, are conscious of this and are yet forced to play by these rules if they are to get anything done in the city.

Court intrigue

I'd even say that this is Delhi's dominant cultural trait. The fact that recent migrants to this city quickly adapt to the environment (or leave) and contribute to the strengthening of the trait makes me think about tipping points and runaway trains. But more interestingly, it makes me wonder about where it might all be coming from. Delhi has been the seat of power for 100s if not 1000s of years. Could all this posturing and capitulation be a vestige of age old intrigues in courts and palaces?

Retention of power requires innumerable machinations and Delhi has witnessed countless such dealings between all manner of rulers and mercenaries. India's two greatest epics are centered around court intrigue. Closer to reality, look at the 'easy' example of Aurangzeb. He imprisoned his father so he himself could be emperor. The result is simple enough but the execution of the plan must have been filled with intrigue - with lies and subterfuge and counter conspiracies. Shah Jahan must have put up a fight but lost eventually. The thread that runs through this is one of posturing, threat, negotiation and capitulation for one and victory for the other.

The British did pretty much the same thing. They postured, threatened, negotiated and capitulated. Yes, this is universal to any fight for survival, but few places in the world repeatedly witness such events over prolonged periods of time. Repeated enough to become a habit. I suspect that such court intrigues came to define the people who ran and were governed by the court. When the city develops a habit it permeates everything that it does.

To build a house you need a certain set of things to happen; a certain set of people to come together and co-operate. When each of these people plays out a version of the court intrigue of domination and capitulation, the work to be done becomes incidental. The owner tries to cheat the builder who tries to cheat the contractor who tries to cheat the labourer who cheats him back. The end result is something that resembles a house but is not really one. The common thought that binds all of them together though, is bravado - the feeling that they can screw the other guy and get away with it. For capitulation and correction to occur someone needs to actually be right. If everyone is screwing everyone else, nobody retains the moral right to accuse the other. And bravado rules.

Spitting paan on a board that prohibits it or on every stairwell corner in sight is bravado. Throwing garbage on metro rail tracks even as there is an announcement of it being a punishable offence is bravado. Supplying adulterated medicines is bravado.

Just as individuals are unable to build proper houses for themselves, the same trait percolates into anything they do. Be it business or charity or even religion. Contracts are not even worth the paper they are scribbled on and the right connections can make you look like a saint in the eyes of the court. Charity is a mask for cleaning dirty money. Temples in Delhi are the dirtiest of places, with homeless kids defecating next to it while their families wait for fat cats to distribute oil soaked food in the name of charity, even as the middle class ignores the absolute squalor and loses itself in prayer.

Given the way people take care of their own affairs in Delhi, it is no shocker that public infrastructure is dismal. The people who involve themselves in creating public infrastructure in Delhi are in fact, idealists. They would like to maintain the purity of intrigue and aim for the ideal situation where they can raise invoices and be paid without doing an iota of work. Now, that would be something to boast about. 60000 crore rupees being spent on the Commonwealth Games-2010 with very little to show for it at the end is bravado.

Defining India's dominant traits

Every major decision that affects India originates in Delhi. Every person who visits Delhi to take part in some 'nation building' exercise will be infused with the Delhi trait, for without it, he will not be the one who is left standing. He carries it back to his part of the country and creates an island of intrigue which also happens to be prosperous. Prosperity attracts suitors and the island grows. Accountability does not work in anybody's favor since doing things for the public good can never be as profitable as personal gain.

Without the moral fibre to balance greedy consumption, Delhi has lead India into societal diarrhea.