At 62, India is an exceptionally robust nation comprising of (un)enviably vigorous citizens who have made blowing their fuse at the slightest tripping of sentiments a huge virtue. Come, this independence day, lets thump our chest and say with pride that we are an immensely responsive (not responsible, dummies) lot! We are so ready to burn and break, huff and heave and take matters to a point that gives our starved media rollicking times with simmering sentiments and boiling over emotions. You cant blame the channel wallahs though; after all they need to run the show 24x7 and if people are giving them fodder on a platter, they are only too pleased to lap it up, discussing, dissecting and in the end whooshing over to something else when it has been sufficiently done to death.
Even as the H1N1 show is running successfully, we have been subjected to detailed reportage of how a popular Khan (from millions of other Khans in the world) was ‘humiliated’, ‘angered’ and ‘discriminated’ insensibly by a nation that despite considering itself above everyone else on this planet, is today terribly paranoid.
Yes, it is scary to be held and questioned in a foreign country for no apparent reason and it can freeze your very life in its tracks with fear, but times are such. If you are on the wrong side of luck, anything can happen to you once you stray out of home. It is frightening and distressing; there are no two ways about it. But to cry foul and make an over the top reaction because it happened to a Khan who considers himself above the rest of the Khans in the world – it smacks of some egocentricity. And worse, the entire Indian janatha is ballistic because according to them, it shouldn’t have happened to this Khan. He is an icon, after all.
This puts me off. This high end profiling of people based on their public, larger than life stature. This nauseating culture of putting people on the pedestal, not just by their dim-witted admirers, but also by centres of power and intelligence.
Actually, it was the way the whole incident was portrayed and played out, as something that stripped the icon of his self respect, got him embarrassed and left him humiliated, that irritated me. Come on, he is not the first person on this earth to have gone through such experience and emotions. It could be just that he hasn’t had a taste of it in a long long time, not after the DDLJ days. Not after adulation and idolization became his staple. Not after anything he spoke made it to the headlines. It must have stung him sore because he had so long been insulated from the inconsistencies of the new, lopsided world. Welcome to the real world, Mr. Khan - the grueling world of ordinary people. For once you will know what it means to be unknown and anonymous.
Will anyone dispute if I said that for the lay man, in which ever part of the world, humiliation and persecution is an everyday reality and he endures it at different levels, in different forms without a whimper? He is destined to be crushed and killed by injustices because he is no icon with a wax statue to his name. He can’t afford to be embarrassed, because his self respect is subordinate to those around him. He can’t go to the media and create a ruckus about his woes because he simply isn’t saleable. And lastly, the ordinary man, ever intimidated by social, political and economic factors, simply doesn’t have it in him to take the power horses on. So he merely surrenders, puts his head down and carries on with his small, insignificant existence.
I am tempted to relate an incident that took place at an airport in India when my husband and I were on vacation. But that would mean a longer posting and so I pass it on. But the incident was in no way less gross or humiliating than what Mr. Khan went through at Newark airport, although the issue in question was slightly different. The writing is clear for common citizens like us – if you are pulled up for any reason, no matter how unjustified, just apologize, cooperate and if need be, eulogize the system that has such honorable men at the helm. We fully understand your sense of duty and respect your position, sir, you mumble humbly. A word of protest or a gesture of impatience and you are done. It’s the way the world works, dearies. Whether at home or abroad.
You stand no chance where the power of your persecutor is ultimate and if it has to do with sovereign power, the less said the better.
The issue we recently saw was a clash between the personal pride of a man who considers himself slightly above the ordinary and the collective paranoia of a country that despite its tall claims and bravado still knows that given the slightest chink, any wily, wicked rodent can crawl into its innards and have a party.
It’s fear and ego on one side and power and paranoia on the other. It is this old, lethal combination that is driving our world and there is very little one can do to change it. Those who can afford it, can raise a din; those who can’t, can just continue living the way life pans out for them. Without a demur.
It’s not about being meek, it’s about being realistic in an irregular matrix that the world is.
Even as the H1N1 show is running successfully, we have been subjected to detailed reportage of how a popular Khan (from millions of other Khans in the world) was ‘humiliated’, ‘angered’ and ‘discriminated’ insensibly by a nation that despite considering itself above everyone else on this planet, is today terribly paranoid.
Yes, it is scary to be held and questioned in a foreign country for no apparent reason and it can freeze your very life in its tracks with fear, but times are such. If you are on the wrong side of luck, anything can happen to you once you stray out of home. It is frightening and distressing; there are no two ways about it. But to cry foul and make an over the top reaction because it happened to a Khan who considers himself above the rest of the Khans in the world – it smacks of some egocentricity. And worse, the entire Indian janatha is ballistic because according to them, it shouldn’t have happened to this Khan. He is an icon, after all.
This puts me off. This high end profiling of people based on their public, larger than life stature. This nauseating culture of putting people on the pedestal, not just by their dim-witted admirers, but also by centres of power and intelligence.
Actually, it was the way the whole incident was portrayed and played out, as something that stripped the icon of his self respect, got him embarrassed and left him humiliated, that irritated me. Come on, he is not the first person on this earth to have gone through such experience and emotions. It could be just that he hasn’t had a taste of it in a long long time, not after the DDLJ days. Not after adulation and idolization became his staple. Not after anything he spoke made it to the headlines. It must have stung him sore because he had so long been insulated from the inconsistencies of the new, lopsided world. Welcome to the real world, Mr. Khan - the grueling world of ordinary people. For once you will know what it means to be unknown and anonymous.
Will anyone dispute if I said that for the lay man, in which ever part of the world, humiliation and persecution is an everyday reality and he endures it at different levels, in different forms without a whimper? He is destined to be crushed and killed by injustices because he is no icon with a wax statue to his name. He can’t afford to be embarrassed, because his self respect is subordinate to those around him. He can’t go to the media and create a ruckus about his woes because he simply isn’t saleable. And lastly, the ordinary man, ever intimidated by social, political and economic factors, simply doesn’t have it in him to take the power horses on. So he merely surrenders, puts his head down and carries on with his small, insignificant existence.
I am tempted to relate an incident that took place at an airport in India when my husband and I were on vacation. But that would mean a longer posting and so I pass it on. But the incident was in no way less gross or humiliating than what Mr. Khan went through at Newark airport, although the issue in question was slightly different. The writing is clear for common citizens like us – if you are pulled up for any reason, no matter how unjustified, just apologize, cooperate and if need be, eulogize the system that has such honorable men at the helm. We fully understand your sense of duty and respect your position, sir, you mumble humbly. A word of protest or a gesture of impatience and you are done. It’s the way the world works, dearies. Whether at home or abroad.
You stand no chance where the power of your persecutor is ultimate and if it has to do with sovereign power, the less said the better.
The issue we recently saw was a clash between the personal pride of a man who considers himself slightly above the ordinary and the collective paranoia of a country that despite its tall claims and bravado still knows that given the slightest chink, any wily, wicked rodent can crawl into its innards and have a party.
It’s fear and ego on one side and power and paranoia on the other. It is this old, lethal combination that is driving our world and there is very little one can do to change it. Those who can afford it, can raise a din; those who can’t, can just continue living the way life pans out for them. Without a demur.
It’s not about being meek, it’s about being realistic in an irregular matrix that the world is.
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