The Instinct to Upgrade

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BeeJay,

Sorry! There is little else to say, I guess. Talk about triggers!

HN

Harish:

Obviously, I wrote the last interact (#11) when I was extremely angry. The choice of some of the strong words is of course lousy and I would not have used them if calm, nevertheless they only reflect how I was feeling at the time. I also should not have brought in issues not related to this article, sorry about that! The general thrust of the criticism stands.

#10 Harish,

When “Temporal” calls you a crafty old devil, he is right on the spot! You took a bit of trivia mentioned at the and of a long interact of mine (while ignoring and evading 99 percent of its content, talk about “journalistic” integrity!) and went on with it in your own merry way on your own merry joy-ride to push your own precious little ideology!

Dear Sir, I was not pushing Mandal and analogous “triggers” (like you seem SO happy to be doing)! Since you confidently profess that you have such great insight into making a distinction between humor and sarcasm – for your information, my trivia about Mandal WAS sarcasm (which fully eluded your “supersize” powers of deduction by about a mile). While you see a divine value in the “triggering” power of getting one’s butts kicked out of where one has lived for generations (just the way Farzana Versey (and her imaginary little Pakistani nick (won’t one know it, after all that’s where the heart yearns to live, ain’t it so? As long as one doesn’t REALLY have to live there)) sees in the Kashmiri Pandits getting their asses unceremoniously kicked out of their ancestral homes, the REAL experience of such disruption is highly, highly painful and tragic!!!

Get it through your little heads, both of you! There ain’t nothing GOOD about being forced to leave your ancestral homes – be it Godhra, Kashmir, or Bihar! Perhaps it will be a nice little “trigger” for both of YOU too, if you were forced to do some real work (may I suggest, for example, being a janitor) instead of hauling your asses around the country on a motor-bike, or buying ridiculously-priced cups of coffee and becoming fat on chocolates filled with wine (oh, how Indian! No wonder we occasionally need to throw in a few “patriotic” gimmicks like a bunch of lousy photo shots, while doing everything in our power under the sky to warm the hearts of the enemies of India)!

You also seem to have taken umbrage at the mention of the number of interacts – clearly a sore spot for you! Again, sorry to invoke another author’s name, but my intentions were good – since I felt (and perhaps you do so inside too) that your stuff is better than hers – but being less full of “mirchi”, it doesn’t get the hits that she gets from her entourage! I would also like to remind you that most of this stuff of yours I have been wading through (over the last fifty or so installments of yours) is eminently BORING! (Just telling you like it is – and your other “friends” on this site are telling you that too, only in “nicer” words!) That, sir, in case you missed it, was criticism!!!

Wish you real good luck – a highly needed commodity in your case!

BeeJay.

Thank you for a rather illuminating dissection of my work. And rest assured, I will not misunderstand any humour/sarcasm/criticism from anybody.

About Bihar, that was an interesting thing you said about the reverse or blowback advantage of Mandal forcing forward castes to look for greener pastures. Somehow, there needs to be some trigger in the home state for talent to really flourish otside. Tamil Nadu`s pro-dalit, at times ebullient and bellicose movement, had many Tamilian upper castes to move out and strike out on their own.

Kerala`s industrial limbo sent out Malayalees in droves to everyother corner of the world.

The IITians went out when there was not enough jobs that kept their cutting edge college standards alive.

Gujaraties and other enterprising people are the only ones that went out to flourish on their own, in most other cases they had reasons to go out, and then found success. At anyrate, the hit rate for success for most people seem to quadruple once they are away from home!

t,

Yes. There is a lot to look forward to among the new generation of parents. In a sense they are the products that have lived through the upheavals of pressured education, socialist economy and later self-made wealth that is different in scale from that of their parents. They straddle both the middle class tenacity of their parents generation, and the new confidence and ``will do`` attitude that the nineties brought about.

dost,

That is a very interesting thing you brought up about the divergent directions anti-caste movements took in various states and where they finally deposited the states. Yes, Maharashtra and other states had social reformers at the forefront of change. I am not too clear about Tamil Nadu, wish Harimou could help. But, there is a huge difference in what was achieved and what remained outside the scope of these movements.

And yet, the biggest dalit leader was an intellectual of prodigeuos ability Dr B R Ambedkar. He of course brought that to the Constitution of India, but the movement of political empowerment that he started is in tatters in Maharashtra. They are fringe players in effect at cabinet formation.

And yet, Maharashtras social reformers seemed to have played a far significant role in the state`s progress.

It is interesting that Ambedkar never could win his seat to parliament from Maharashtra and had to be elected by dalits of Bengal. Kanshi Ram often used this to chide voters in Maharashtra. Somehow, the home state of dalit political empowerment, has escaped the kind of cynicism and sheer heartlessness of the Northern states` polities.


HN

Obiter dictum: Gandhi`s was the first social reformation kind of blow against casteism that was more pan-Indian. How the movement took shape after independence in individual states tell you about the diversity in the realities of each state.

Harish:

Some very refreshing insights here!

``I think that the striking out for economic betterment has quietly become a mass movement with no spokesperson, flag, emblem, or party.``

This is probably the best hope for India. Nobody, the communists, the saffronites, the secularists - genuine or pseudo - will be able to change the course of India as long as this mass movement is alive.

``Unfortunately, the political empowerment of the backwards in these two states could not directly confront the social backwardness. These two states have the most feudal and caste ridden societies, but the political clout of the backwards have not translated into social upliftment, or mainstreaming.``

The question is why have things turned out so differently here than in Maharasthtra and the South? Could it be that the anti-casteists movements in those places were led mainly be intellectuals and social reformers who wanted to change the society, whereas in the case of U.P and Bihar, they have been led by politicians whose real interest is in maintaining those divisions to retain their political power?

harish:

It is this self-assurance of the above-thirty, young parents of India that is a great cause for hope against the blanket saffronisation or religious polarization across the country.

this sums up this instalment

i smiled

( i have a strong hunch where you will go with this later)

keep them coming

t

Harish,

Sorry I have been away. Here are my two bits on this segment.

I must compliment you on one thing. It’s very sneaky the way you slip in serious contemplative reflection into your account of travels (or perhaps from the point of view of most (not me, though) chowkees (based on the resounding number of interacts) – travails). I find this (and have mostly found your work so in the past) a much-needed breather from a lot of made-up garbage that takes place around here (including even as I type these words). Your ability to reach into individuals (that you meet or know of) and summarize what makes them tick (without adding on any mirchi) is quite impressive. As human beings, it is impossible for us to completely disassociate our very own thought-processes and perhaps deeply-felt ideals, ideologies, and even passions from such portrayals. However, you certainly do more than a commendable job! You are also willing to listen to criticism (valid or otherwise) without getting your antenna or dander up. This is how I really think about your work. Therefore, any time I say something “funny” (intentionally or not), please don’t mind me.

I think this piece was brilliantly done. The contrast between the Raos and Ashok is brought out very well indeed! In my view, it essentially (and very succinctly) captures why India is rapidly moving into two different directions at the same time. The answer is plain to see – the Raos prefer to accomplish things the “old-fashioned” way (by earning them) whereas Ashok prefers the easy way – whatever comes handy.

Since we are talking the wild, wild “west” here, I will make two absolutely “wild” guesses about your friend Ashok. One, he is a “forward caste” and two – his last name is leonine! I am also sure that if you were to question him some more, and if he can overcome his wariness, he will come up with a LOT of excuses for why he does things the way you describe him doing. For example, he’ll say there are very few jobs for engineering graduates – perhaps none for a “forward caste” graduate in that state. There is corruption and crime all-around, so his father is more of the rule rather than an exception. If one does find a job, then one has to deal with the same corruption and same mafia on a day to day basis anyway! There is also the financial side – how does one marry off one’s daughters if one is broke, so what alternative IS there? Ashok will say that “forward caste” engineering graduates in Bihar come dime a dozen! If marriage/family connections provide an easy alternative, what’s wrong with it?! The bottom-line is – even though a part of him feels it is wrong, an Ashok will NEVER break the mold because his role models are all screwed up and he does not have an independence of thoughts and the surrounding environment perpetually keeps it that way! Therefore, to the Raos an engineering degree is a testimonial to a trade learnt with a purpose and the institution where it’s earned is not critically important. To Ashok, on the other hand, it’s a piece of paper which ensures and boosts his own “marketability” in the marriage market, which essentially guarantees his own survival by mooching off two sets of families instead of just one (and if at least one family is well off, no matter how that wealth was earned, he considers it all the better for him).

Obviously, not all people from the “south” are like the Raos and not all young men from Bihar are like Ashok (in fact, in my view, quite a few new generation “forward castes” have indirectly benefited from Mandal by being forced to go the entrepreneur way (due to a lack of government jobs) although most talented ones (who could) simply left the state). Unfortunately, there are LOTS of Ashoks there, enough to keep it down for a while!

tobateksingh,

Thank you! Glad some of the more excruciating part of writing is noticed!:) And thank you for being this far with this rather long series!

bongdongs,

Yeah, college and its memories can actually fully destroy an evening or day with old friends...when memories gather like a rapidly thretening sandstorm..and common sense deserts you....:)

poolani,

There are several, in fact many words, in this entire work that might shock you with their illegitimate parentage! May I suggest ``coolth``!

That said, I am not too puritanical with my choice of words. There was no chutnification in the OED. I like to imagine that I know enough rules to break them wantonly....of course, agreement then can`t be my primary goal!

Thanks for reading the intro though....it was not the intro!:)


patwari,

Thanks! The old Wren & Martin definition of an ambassador as ``the man who lies for his country in another``...sic...comes to mind. Also that odd word plenipotentiary...

I have attempted to go public with my limited perception, a rather panoramic take on contemporary, modern, conflicted and conflicting India. My journalist`s sensibility must explain the topicality, but my pretentious literariness seem to have hit home with you. It is encouraging...please do stay.

ferozk,

What do I tell you Feroz? You have authored some of the most illuminating material on a a neighbouring country that I have read. I am happy if I do not dissappoint. PLeasing, of course, is a bonus!

HN

A very illuminating article.

Ciao

Harish you have turn out to be great literary ambassador of india on chowk and if only our real ambassadors in both India and pakistan could be this balanced...this was yet another great read...looking for more.

there is no word called `upliftment` as you mention in the intro; it should be `uplifting`

Man Xviers brings back memories.

When I was in college in Mumbai, Xaviers had this drive to make girls dress better. Anyone found wearing shorts or skirts above the knee was made to line up outside the college gate and given a ``challan``.

It was always a pleasent start to your day to walk past the morning ``parade`` ;-)

``I was trying to find any sense of shame or even discomfort in his voice, when he talked about his father’s predicament. He seemed to be similarly looking at my face for any reaction that might suggest some kind of surprise. I cloaked mine, and he remained impervious to any twitch of the conscience.``

This was perfectly captured.