My Country's Apathy
When I first landed in the United States, my first observation was of the courtesy extended to me not just by people I interacted with but by just about everybody on the street. As I settled in I also heard from all Americans about how friendly Indian people were. Now well yes I could accept that Indians in general are extremely hospitable people but in my opinion this hospitality only came to the fore in personal interaction. The society at large when in public were caught up in their own microcosms, courtesy being the last thing on each person's mind.
Now that I am back in India, I wanted to observe for myself if perhaps I had somehow missed something! But my opinion still largely remains unchanged. At least I did not have to wonder for long why foreigners thought otherwise. As soon as we had disembarked from our flight and awaited the customary immigration check, we fell into the separate lines for Indians, Foreign Nationals and Diplomats. My mind rewound to the day I had entered the United States. I had observed the citizens breezing past the immigration desk while the rest of us had our documents scrutinized as per procedure. I smiled to myself thinking today the tables would be turned. But was I in for a surprise when I noticed how easily foreigners went by greeted by such amiable smiles while the rest of trudged along slowly hoping it would be over soon. My 'Hello' fell on deaf ears and my smile was met with as straight a face I had seen and my 'Thanks' just wafted off in the wind. I might have ignored it thinking perhaps the guy was having a bad day. But the treatment meted out to my other countrymen at the 'Indian' counters didn't seem any different. I brushed the thought aside though as foremost on my mind of course was reuniting with my family.
It has been a week now and as much as I had prepared myself to not compare my country with the one I left I cannot but make certain observations. After all I question not the governance or the infrastructure or any other entity that may distinguish a developed nation from a developing one. Rather I question certain behaviour and the most basic manner of conduct. This past week I have found myself yielding to confused pedestrians, halting at imaginary stop signs, sticking inside solid median lines, opening doors to ungrateful passersby, disposing trash in a trash can at a public place - all actions that seemed to be a lost cause amidst the chaos and nonchalance. Another annoying thing I noted is that commuters seem to have their fingers glued to their vehicle's horns. It appears that nobody even seems to remember why horns were made for, so they stick to using it all the time! Not that driving was already any enjoyable what with the high temperatures, pollution and volume of traffic! I guess all my frustrations surfaced after I saw this movie "Lage Raho Munna Bhai". I went to the movie thinking that it will just be a good entertainer but I was pleasantly surprised at the refreshing story. I am not really a great fan of Gandhi but I will hand it to him that he was someone who was able to take popular religious ideology and apply it in action, thereby setting a good example to his countrymen. Yet the zealousness of his followers at the time seems to have been lost on successive generations. Or perhaps they just needed him to secure independence and then conveniently forgot him!
I feel sorry that I lose my patience when I look around. What irks me is that when people from my country travel outside, they just know how to conduct themselves so perfectly and the same so-called educated people join the ranks of everyone else when they are back home! If no one makes an effort, how can anyone be expected to change? We have no dearth of people who have travelled the world. If then you know how to do in Rome as the Romans do, why can't you bring Rome home?
Now that I am back in India, I wanted to observe for myself if perhaps I had somehow missed something! But my opinion still largely remains unchanged. At least I did not have to wonder for long why foreigners thought otherwise. As soon as we had disembarked from our flight and awaited the customary immigration check, we fell into the separate lines for Indians, Foreign Nationals and Diplomats. My mind rewound to the day I had entered the United States. I had observed the citizens breezing past the immigration desk while the rest of us had our documents scrutinized as per procedure. I smiled to myself thinking today the tables would be turned. But was I in for a surprise when I noticed how easily foreigners went by greeted by such amiable smiles while the rest of trudged along slowly hoping it would be over soon. My 'Hello' fell on deaf ears and my smile was met with as straight a face I had seen and my 'Thanks' just wafted off in the wind. I might have ignored it thinking perhaps the guy was having a bad day. But the treatment meted out to my other countrymen at the 'Indian' counters didn't seem any different. I brushed the thought aside though as foremost on my mind of course was reuniting with my family.
It has been a week now and as much as I had prepared myself to not compare my country with the one I left I cannot but make certain observations. After all I question not the governance or the infrastructure or any other entity that may distinguish a developed nation from a developing one. Rather I question certain behaviour and the most basic manner of conduct. This past week I have found myself yielding to confused pedestrians, halting at imaginary stop signs, sticking inside solid median lines, opening doors to ungrateful passersby, disposing trash in a trash can at a public place - all actions that seemed to be a lost cause amidst the chaos and nonchalance. Another annoying thing I noted is that commuters seem to have their fingers glued to their vehicle's horns. It appears that nobody even seems to remember why horns were made for, so they stick to using it all the time! Not that driving was already any enjoyable what with the high temperatures, pollution and volume of traffic! I guess all my frustrations surfaced after I saw this movie "Lage Raho Munna Bhai". I went to the movie thinking that it will just be a good entertainer but I was pleasantly surprised at the refreshing story. I am not really a great fan of Gandhi but I will hand it to him that he was someone who was able to take popular religious ideology and apply it in action, thereby setting a good example to his countrymen. Yet the zealousness of his followers at the time seems to have been lost on successive generations. Or perhaps they just needed him to secure independence and then conveniently forgot him!
I feel sorry that I lose my patience when I look around. What irks me is that when people from my country travel outside, they just know how to conduct themselves so perfectly and the same so-called educated people join the ranks of everyone else when they are back home! If no one makes an effort, how can anyone be expected to change? We have no dearth of people who have travelled the world. If then you know how to do in Rome as the Romans do, why can't you bring Rome home?
posted by Mel at 9:21 AM
2 Comments:
simply awesome Mel
wow that's really interesting mel.
while you know i do appreciate politeness and also the western concept of "personal space"...i also noticed on my last trip to delhi that when indians do meet and take an interest in you, is with much more natural and immediate warmth and concern which would take a while for someone to develop towards you over here. i don't know if i explained that well. but there doesn't seem to be as much of a need of "getting to know you so i can care about you" time over there as it is here. which can be annoying but also nice. but i agree with the traffic thingy. i don't envy you that.
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