Something that we have been taught to believe in since we were kids. Accepted, its a good tradition.. very Indian, very cultured. But is this a blanket rule that we follow?!
Unfortunately no!! Well it depends on the guest.. if the guest is indeed god, then yes, other wise maybe.. could be.. or a str8 NO!!
What brought me to think abt this topic?!.. the impending visit of George W Bush, President of the US of A to India!! Leaving aside all patriotic jingoism and socialist preachings, the fact of the matter is that the world today is dominated by one country . The US of A!! Every other country in the world either has to accept this fact or is forced to accept this fact. It is a cycle in history that at some point of time some country is on top of the world. Like the Greeks during Alexander's time , the Romans later, the Arabs n Mongols in the medievial
Today the world is ruled by American policies. Like a famous Dubya statement - "You are either with us or against us"
Now that would make Mr.Dubya, the most powerful person on Earth and ergo the God!!
And when God himself is our Guest, we bend over backwards to please him. Entire roads in Delhi and Hyderabad are being spruced up. An entire hotel has been taken over by US Security Personnel. IGI International Airport will be shut down for 1 whole hour every time Air Force One lands or takes off.
The same would happen, when lesser Gods like Tony Blair or the Saudi King become our guests. the last time the main road @ Madiwala in Bangalore saw a coat of tar, was when Tony Blair visited the infy campus in 2002!!
Would we do the same thing if the President of Ivory Coast or Papua New Guinea were to visit India? Can we expect the same treatment from US/UK when our President or PM visits them?!! .. It wud be interesting to see Heathrow Airport being shut down for an hour coz the Indian President is arriving!!
If you are way down the international pecking order, there is not much that you can do!! But it wud be gr8 if for once we could stop acting servile to the west and show some pride in being Indian.
1 comment:
Your blog title is very apt. Money does all the talking. It pains me too to watch how money and power gives people and countries hubris and the right impose their whims upon others and how we as not so rich watch as mute spectators.
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