All Talk and No Action Friday, April 10, 2009


Aapki Mumbai ne toh meri naak mai dum kar diya hai !

Naah...Indian Summers don't suit my skin anymore...

Uffooo...Itna kachra? Kaise reh leti ho itni gandagi mai?

Yahan kuch nahi ho sakta... the city has gone to dogs !

Hamare yahan toh aisa kuch nahi hota...it's a LOT more organized you know...


All the above have been uttered by a few friends and relatives that have been staying abroad.

Some have been settled in the US/UK since the past twenty years while a few others have been globe trotting since last two years...

Most of them have been born and bred in India for the first 20 years of their lives...

I agree with them.

Yes, there is dirt here. There is corruption. There is bureaucracy and apathy.

But the most important thing is - WE.

We are dirty, corrupt, bureaucratic, apathetic.

And We are cynical. We think things won't change.

We throw rubbish on roads, We spit, We treat all public properties as "baap ka maal", We break traffic rules, We bribe, We don't perform our duties.

And then We say things won't change.

But yeah..when we go abroad - we stand in queue for bus, we don't spit (maybe we are afraid of the fine), we are polite and courteous, we don't discrimanate on the basis of caste/religion, we don't mind if our neighbour is black/asian/hispanic, we drool over the traffic rules and the absolute adherence to laws, we go ga-ga over the legal system, we appreciate civic liberties, we respect our house maids (In fact I don't think we call them "maids" at all !), We participate in "Earth Hour" and other such initiatives to do our bit for Global Warming.

So basically do we become "nicer" and more conscientious because -

  • Koi chara nahi hai (It is enforced by law)?
  • Hawa Paani ka asar?
  • It's a new experimentation
  • We want to "fit in"?
  • We actually were good at birth but India never really gave us a chance to show it?



5 comments:

ashkd said...

i think most of us are just followers.. we all donot think what is right or wrong in certain situations and also are escapist.. when caught in india, doing something wrong.. we just say that others are also doing the same.. aur then.. ki india mein sab chalta hai.. taking onus for your actions is missing.. also the law, democracy give a little room to the things to be more strict.. a strict law is always taken aback due to so called democratic non-support by the people who can be at the target by the enforcement of that particular law..

when we go to other countries, we don't see people doing it.. and as we are lacking initiatives, we don't do it ourselves as well.. i am quite sure if one of the indians would start doing something which is not caught be law and can be done, then other indians would surely follow.. for example, taking a U-turn in USA.. some indians do it when they can break the law without seen by the cameras.. others donot as they haven't seen people doing it..

the last thing could be that we are not process oriented.. we always try to find out the loophole in the system.. when things are process oriented, then its difficult to find out the loophole.. and the cost to find that out becomes huge task.. in india, we can find out the loopholes as most of the rules are made when the loophole is found out.. example, share market scams.. and SEBI's guidelines.. in other countries, people find it difficult to find out the loopholes.. so over the time, when you cant find it out, you cant translate it to your next generations.. you can only suggest them to follow rules.. here our older generation itself is suggesting to follow the rule of chalta hai as they could easily work with that out.. so people who follow rules are not considered as smart people..

so effect of law, democracy, lack of processes, lack of initiatives make us like this over the generations.. :-)

Dhawal Shah said...

well, this post is very similar to the one by President Kalam, all of this is true, however, i dont worry much because:

- the wealth of the nation is no longer measured by roads, traffic, gdp and all those statistics that you read in the newspaper, but by happiness, and i guess, indians are the happiest bunch of people.

- all nations go through a transition, so go before, some later, the americans were free for a couple of centuries, whereas we have been since 1947, hence, we will be a much cleaner country, city and neighborhood in the next couple of decades.

when you watch american gangster you know its the same problems india is facing now, that existed in the 1970.

so relax, all your indian origin -- global citizens can have a gala time adjusting to freezing weather in summer, high taxes, different languages, changing diet and getting accustomed to celebrating festivals, they have little to do with.

What is Hong Kong going to do with all its free markets AND democracy, when most of its teens are smoking.

As far as my contribution goes, I stop everybody from spitting in the bus, train and explain to them. a lot of people argue and counter argue, but i win as humiliation works stronger than any rationality. ;-)

I am here in Italy and as I understand a lot of people are rude, arrogant and have connections with the Italian mafia, but that doesnt make Italian any less prosperous state.

I am keen to understand the reason for this dilemma.

india unbound said...

I dont know whether we are really good at birth.

If that would have been the case we would behave the same way in India as we behave abroad.

We Indians love to keep our home clean but would not care about our locality.

I hope we learn civic sense from these western countries.

Ye manzilen !! said...

I dont know about others but I am tired of so rules, regs and ordinances here.

Why the hell I have to signal before taking a U-turn or a left? Why cant I just bribe and speed away? I am dying to buy ticket without standing in line...

I miss India...

LOL..

All Talk and No Action said...

@ashkd - I think your thoughts are perfect !!

@Dhawal - I don't agree that Indians are high on the happiness quotient... go n live in rural areas...am sure the survey almost excluded that section of the masses.

Also, Comparing India w the US doesn't serve the purpose. However, try comparing it w its real peers and you will see the difference.

@India Unbound - True...

@Ye Manzilen - Hahahaha.... That's a good one :)

@All - Indian scriptures and religions have always preached the virtues of bravery, sacrifice, truth, etc etc...Maybe had they spoken about following rules and keeping our neighborhood clean.. The situation would have been different today.