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Incredible India..its not about slum-dogs

Posted on 11. Jul, 2009 by Abhishek Daga in India

Is it only for the movie Slumdog Millionaire that India has been making headlines? Or India has always been a sought after nation? Maybe the concept of an American director adapting an Indian diplomat’s work managed to grab a lot of attention. Or maybe a mix of Hollywood crew with Bollywood star-cast appealed to the masses across the globe. Whatever the case, the fact still remains.

India is and always will be an exemplary third world nation for the first world countries who fail to comprehend what it is like for a culturally rich and wealthy nation to be robbed of it all at one point of time only to rise up to an envious position where all that the world does is look back and gape.

It is not that we have evolved by luck rather we have got back what has been due to us for long. For the ill-informed who express surprise on hearing an Indian speak fluent English, here’s a shocker! More than 70% of the India’s urban population can read, speak and write this foreign language right from their early childhood.

It is not a surprise for an Indian to be asked by an ignorant outsider, ‘Are there only bullock carts and bumpy roads in India?’ To this the humble Indian shall reply in crisp and diction-perfect English, ‘Sir, India is a concrete jungle like any other nation, on the verge of becoming one of the largest developing economies of the world. Not forgetting to mention, a superpower in the making.’

What is it about this country that sets it apart from others? Undoubtedly the first guess would be its diverse religious potpourri mushrooming from half a century old democratic virtues. Second would be its population. Agreed, it’s too much but looks at the plus side! We are a young nation with a fierce potential to grow and expand at the speed of light.

All our kids are either engineers or doctors. Some even venture into becoming astronauts or capitalists. Whatever they become, they do not leave their homes when they are fifteen, neither do they spend their early childhoods making babies.

For most of Indians the family system is the most stabilizing factor. You know it’s like the life of a building elongates if the foundation is strong?? Family-system spares kids from making some atrocious, disheveled choices very early in their lives.

For international learned scholars the Indian history aka the four Vedas, the Varna systems and the epics Mahabharat and Ramayan may appear intriguing. But that that the teachings are still followed by Indians knowing/unknowingly will make their jaws drop.

These days however concepts of Globalization and Capitalism center on us. Literary work has been produced and lectures have been delivered all round the world discussing us, Indians and our unbelievable progress.

Hola! That’s not all… We are even making news, as the world’s largest film industry ‘Bollywood’ thrives in the suburbs of Mumbai which again is popular as the New York of the India.

For discoverers and travelers, India is a land with limitless possibilities. Whether it is adventure sports in the Himalayas, Kerala or Assam or a life-transforming spiritual experience in Rishikesh or Haridwar, whether it is studying medicine or serving selflessly in an NGO, whether it is about analytical research or simply surrendering to the baffling ways of the nature, India never ceases to fascinate. It gives what the receiver has come for and much more. It quenches the searching soul. It elevates the intellect and feeds the needy.

The workings of this country may seem strange and unusual to the non-residents. But logic and analysis doesn’t work every time. Sometimes letting loose is more mindful.

And that’s what one realizes when he paves his way through the gutter-lined roads surrounded by foul smell and slums in India. Because just when he has given up on trying finding comfort in the unfashionable-rickshaw with hunger-pangs full on, he chances upon a MacDonald’s and quickly forgets about the discomfort. That’s India for you: A Modernistic Desi.

Here’s to all those who have India on their list of must-visit destinations… Come here with an open heart. You will be surprised by the warmth and hospitality people exuberate free of cost. Be tolerant, that’s what every Indian is right from birth. Leave your defense-wall behind, the people here are innocent beyond your imagination but be aware, just like a tigress they are fiercely protective of what is theirs.

And for the movie, here’s some food for thought; as much the film has received international acclaim, the lesser intellectuals still find reasons to crib about such a marvelous piece of cinematography. They conveniently ignore the narration, the story-line and its wonderful depiction. To them, its time the perceptions shifted and gone a level up!

Tags: India