It really isn't a very nice feeling, being ever so flustered at the egregious way your own motherland functions. A week or so back I was taking part in this mock parliament in this fest called Vaayu (perhaps some of you have heard of it?) and I found myself debating a topic that's been rather popular among the cynics and intellectuals for a while now - about the Indian sensitivities and censorship yada yada yada. The educated have closely linked the Salman Rushdie incidents and the Jay Leno incidents and have come down heavily on the Indian sensitivities and perhaps even going to the extent of accusing India of being an abattoir of free expression.
In that mock session I was forced for the sake of participation to take up a conservative argument and support the view that such furtive behavior towards certain impudent opinions was justified and that the authorities only did it in the interest of the citizens at large. Surprisingly it wasn't a very hard argument to construct given the fact that I'd fancy myself more as a part of a more liberal school of thought.
Somehow this Saturday all that came crashing down, and I now come to the reason why I feel all this anger towards Incredibly yours, India. See up until now I could always put up an argument as to why curbing the freedom of expression is bad but I never really felt for it this passionately, in the course of these few days however I seem to have become more angered at the situation.
It all started when I went to the Juhu crossword to pick up my weekly issue of the economist. As uncanny as it was the shelf still had last weeks edition. I asked the ignoramuses that worked at the store but they hadn't a clue as to what was wrong. I quickly rushed over to the Andheri branch only to be disappointed again.I asked a few friends to check a few other outlets, no one in the city had the economist. Strange.
It was while I was talking to a friend who actually subscribes to the magazine that I got to know what the matter really was. This is an excerpt from the mail she received from the economist -
"We deeply regret to inform you that we will not be able to deliver your subscription copy of the February 11th issue of The Economist.
This issue includes a special report on Pakistan and features a map showing the disputed territories. India does not allow us to show the current effective border, requiring us instead to show only its territorial claims. As a result, the issue has been seized by the Indian customs authorities."
Now there is this gargantuan chagrined feeling that I've been having for the last couple of days, but what can one do? Not every one can fast unto death to fix whats wrong like some astonishing and intriguing leaders we have today, nor can we print revolutionary articles in papers like the visionaries Chetan Bhagat or Suhel Seth for example. We cant even go on talk shows and advocate how 'Baapu' would react to get the country back on track like Tushar Gandhi would do. So I have to live with this chagrined feeling although the entire matter sickens me now, repulses me to say the least. Once again, I present to you Incredible India.
In that mock session I was forced for the sake of participation to take up a conservative argument and support the view that such furtive behavior towards certain impudent opinions was justified and that the authorities only did it in the interest of the citizens at large. Surprisingly it wasn't a very hard argument to construct given the fact that I'd fancy myself more as a part of a more liberal school of thought.
Somehow this Saturday all that came crashing down, and I now come to the reason why I feel all this anger towards Incredibly yours, India. See up until now I could always put up an argument as to why curbing the freedom of expression is bad but I never really felt for it this passionately, in the course of these few days however I seem to have become more angered at the situation.
It all started when I went to the Juhu crossword to pick up my weekly issue of the economist. As uncanny as it was the shelf still had last weeks edition. I asked the ignoramuses that worked at the store but they hadn't a clue as to what was wrong. I quickly rushed over to the Andheri branch only to be disappointed again.I asked a few friends to check a few other outlets, no one in the city had the economist. Strange.
It was while I was talking to a friend who actually subscribes to the magazine that I got to know what the matter really was. This is an excerpt from the mail she received from the economist -
"We deeply regret to inform you that we will not be able to deliver your subscription copy of the February 11th issue of The Economist.
This issue includes a special report on Pakistan and features a map showing the disputed territories. India does not allow us to show the current effective border, requiring us instead to show only its territorial claims. As a result, the issue has been seized by the Indian customs authorities."
Now there is this gargantuan chagrined feeling that I've been having for the last couple of days, but what can one do? Not every one can fast unto death to fix whats wrong like some astonishing and intriguing leaders we have today, nor can we print revolutionary articles in papers like the visionaries Chetan Bhagat or Suhel Seth for example. We cant even go on talk shows and advocate how 'Baapu' would react to get the country back on track like Tushar Gandhi would do. So I have to live with this chagrined feeling although the entire matter sickens me now, repulses me to say the least. Once again, I present to you Incredible India.
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