Neelima Mathur

THE PASSAGE OF INDIA Neelima Mathur We are a bunch of confused Indians in the throes of an identity crisis. It is a long haul before we have a generation when the world can say, this, then, is an Indian. My grandfather of Andhra descent fought for the British in World War I & II. When he had a drink, the toast was to the King of England. The British hangover continued in peculiar forms. Learning impeccable English, wearing a Saville Row type suit, behaving like a pucca saab, joining the right club. It did not stick to just the exterior. Adopting Oxford-Cambridge norms (later Harvard) for perceptions of history or literature was also part of this borrowed identity. Somewhere, Marx and Lenin crept up on the scene. The Leftist intellectual became the most sought after identity. It completed the cycle of denouncing everything that was innately Indian, looking with disdain upon everything that was part of intuitive – and civilizational - rural or middle-class India…be it culture, ritual, whatever. The sub-text to all this has been amazing. The traditional, elaborate marriages continued. The ritualistic funeral rites continued. The obsession with traditional food continued. The staunch Brahmin in a suit and tie could continue to put people in a spin for the even stauncher vegetarian insistence. The unholy mix of the exterior and the inner self exhibits itself in unusual ways. An aggressive prime time news anchor flaunts a red ruby ring. Did mamaa advise that for the sun-god affliction ‘surya mahaadosh’? The invincible Bollywood superstar flaunts rings of various hues at various times. Gossip has it that it is to ensure he remains a superstar. The savvy psephologist-turned mother-of-all-anchors is often seen with layers of the red religious thread, ‘kalaavaa’, on the wrist. Rumour has it that Tantric rituals are very much part of life in eastern India…as elsewhere, of course. The a la command of a much-touted secular party – and her son - are also seen with layers of ‘kalaavaa’. No one knows what rituals they are up to – or who performs them. Like their other secrets, this too is a best-kept one. Clearly, astrologers and Brahmin priests remained in business through the identity crisis. In recent times, those of this ilk are easily clubbed with the ‘Hindu’ identity. It puts a lot of us into dangerous territory. What, as practicising Hindus, do we we declare openly as acceptable and part of our ‘Indian’ identity. Scroll down to Gen X, and it gets even more confused. There is this whole lot that is fully branded with Levis, Gucci and Audi. Every icon and ‘custom’ of western consumerism and laissez faire is an intrinsic part of their lives. The malls and drinking joints are their havens, providing nourishment for acquired identities. The movies and music provide the mental identity. There is another lot totally immersed in replicating the big and small screen. Hair-cuts, clothes, sunglasses, mobike, shoes. It gets pathetic when those who mimic are, in fact, living a handto-mouth existence and can ill afford the mimicry. The civilizational identity of the grand Indian – and I don’t mean the Hindutva identity - has been gobbled up over and over again. When and where the struggle will stop and stabilise to a proud Indian identity is an unfathomable question today. I anxiously await the true Indian Renaissance…