Being Indian by Pavan Varma
India is a complex puzzle to understand even for Indians. Just when you think you have summarized your understanding of India into simple sentences, you will come across evidence that totally undermines your beliefs. It is a picture that is continuously evolving. What you see around you is at best a snapshot in time of a billion plus people that are incredibly diverse. An Indian in two different states of the country may celebrate the same festival but know very little about each other and have limited exposure to the overarching Indian experience. The myths and legends of India have stories and subplots that weave effortlessly into the main strand. There is no such thing as "Indian" cuisine. Every one of the 28 states that make up India has its own unique cuisine that has a mind boggling variety from appetizers to dessert. Perhaps the MTV tagline, "We are like that only" (and the title of another fascinating book by Rama Bijapurkar) sums up what we feel when we fail to make comprehend the dualities and shades of grey in everything around us.
While in some cultures (for example in Japan), the traditional and modern coexist. In some (for example, in Philippines) the Western culture has almost existed at the cost of the orginal Philippino culture. Yet in India, the contradictions blend and create a hybrid that assumes a life of its own. Language is a great case in point.
While there is no single language that is understood by all citizens across the country - not even Hindi ! The Hindi that is used in the official media like Doordarshan (the state run Television channels) or the radio is somewhat distanced from the Hindi or maybe I should say Hinglish that is spoken by the commercial television channels or radio. Bollywood has created its own language and I daresay that Bollywood has created a much more pwerful idiom to integrate the country than any campaign run by the Government. While Hindi in the Devnaagari script is the official language of the Central Government, the Constitution of India recognizes 22 "official" languages - English is one of them and is the de-facto language of the business.
Pavan Varma is a senior bureaucrat of the Indian Government and a seasoned diplomat. The author of a dozen books on equally diverse areas such as biography, poetry, social sciences, civic affairs, and history. His book The Great indian Middle Class (1998) tends to be the first one that people read when they try to decipher the rise of the middle class in India. Being Indian (2004) is a masterpiece that even Indians should read to understand who they are and why they are. The subtitle says "The truth about why the twenty first century will be India's."
"Perhaps Indians are a sui generis people. They cannot be colour-coded for convenience into white, black or yellow. They do not belong to the Christian world. They cannot be included in the Islamic... They cannot easily fit into a mould. They are not post-communist, nor are they pre-democratic. They are not theocrats, nor are they irreligious.They are too may to be ignored, but somehow too different to be included in convenient generalizations. Moreover, for all their complexity, they are not entirely unfamiliar."
Pavan has some sharp - possibly even controversial insights on Indian's attitude towards Power. That was my favorite chapter. It explains why there is no absolute sense of morality or right and wrong in the Hindu tradition. The pliant nature of Indians is the reason why democracy has thrived in India - not because it is a superior method of governance but simply one that allows the people to rise to the highest levels of power beyond the confines of what the caste system or sociological challenges would allow ! There is a subtle acceptance that the powerful will serve their own interest blatantly. What else can explain the number of politicians who get re-elected even after they have been convicted of accepting kickbacks or indulging in crime.
The chapter on Wealth explores why pursuit of money and entrepreurialism flourish in India. Hinduism philosphically sanctions the pursuit of material wealth. Even the Ramayana says, "There is no difference between a poor man and a dead man." Indians have had little option but to be street smart about making money. In a country where nine out of 10 people are self employed - the street is the biggest employer. From the food vendors to rickshaw pullers. 60 percent of India's gross savings come from the unorganized sector. Indians are entrepreneurial by nature and have been ambivalent about morality. While they condemn it in public they just shrug when they need to bribe someone to get past the system. In a country where education (especially in English medium schools) has the ability to propel someone to the top of social hierarchies, it is easy to understand why even those who can ill afford it will spend money sending their children to "English medium schools". When the TV show Kaun Banega Crorepati - the Indian equivalent of Who Wants to be a Millionaire became a rage, there were coaching classes that "coached" aspirants on strategies that would guarantee them some level of success. Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and Ganesh, the remover of all obstacles are widely worshipped.
Where the argument is a tad weak is when he goes on to explore why India has become the a world power in IT despite having the largest number of illiterates. Indians naturally break down things into finite categories - nine kinds of emotions (wonder, terror, disgust, humor, pathos, anger, love, heroism and peace), women are of four kinds (lotus like, conch like, elephant like and variegated), men are of 4 kinds (sincere and devoted, cruel, one who distributes affection equally and shameless), the list goes on. Each one of these classifications has further sub classifications. Hence the inate ability that Indians develop in understanding the interconnectedness of things and the inter-relationship among them helps them to be intuitively good at computers, says Varma. Yet, the rationale may be more simply that a career in IT is seen to be the fast track for upward mobility. Given the Indians growing love for consumerism this is inevitable. Will we only be a land of "software coolies" or will we become a centre for innovation and development besides being just a call-centre superpower is the moot question.
The final chapter on panIndianness says that the new supranational Indian culture is influenced by elite aspirations without being controlled by them. It is hybrid. Borrowing from whatever that makes it work for the lowest common denominator. The development of mobile technology has made the realization of the economic dream within reach of the masses. The middle class can now see the good life within affordable reach. Despite the motley group of political parties that make up the coalition government, we need not be apprehensive of going back on the economic reforms agenda. The masses will make sure that no political ideology will make them step back.
What is my recommendation? If you have to read just one book that helps to make sense of why Indians are what they are - then this is the book I would recommend. It may not be always what you want to hear but it surely will set you thinking.