India: The Many Indias

Having lived overseas for more than half of my adult life, I have often been asked the question “What is India like?” I always find this question difficult to answer, because India, unlike many other countries in the world, is very difficult to categorize.

There is nothing homogenous or uniform about India. When people want to categorize India, I often tell them to think of India as Europe – if Europe had been a single nation. India has fifteen (or is it sixteen) different languages (each with its own unique script), thousands of dialects, and dozens of ethnic groups. Culturally, ethnically and linguistically, Hungary and Iceland have more in common than Tamil Nadu (a South Indian state) and Uttar Pradesh (a North Indian state). Western India is more economically prosperous than Eastern India, Southern India is better educated than Northern India, and then of course, there are the “seven sisters”, India’s North-eastern states, beautiful but distant, with warm and hospitable people but populated by separatist groups. Culturally, the North-eastern states have more in common with Tibet and Myanmar than India.

This same diversity applies to India’s urban and rural areas. Urban India has its face to the West, and sophisticated Indian cities have some of the finest restaurants, entertainment and nightlife on offer anywhere in the world. Parts of rural India on the other hand (especially in economically backward Northern and Eastern India) are as backward and poor as sub-Saharan Africa. Real estate prices in Mumbai and Delhi are among the highest in the world; on par with cities like Tokyo and New York. An Indian corporate magnate recently constructed one of the most expensive buildings in the world, and converted it into his residence. He is among the fifty richest men in the world, I think. Yet, barely a hundred kilometers from where he lives is one of India’s poorest districts, where malnutrition and hunger cast a dark shadow on the lives of the rural poor.

Is India a rich country? Yes. Is India a poor country? Yes. Are primary education standards in rural India abysmal? Yes. Does India have some of the finest universities and scientific research institutions in the world? Yes. Is a large percentage of the Indian population illiterate? Yes. Does India have the largest English speaking population in the world? Yes. Is India’s government venal, corrupt and inefficient? Yes. Does India have some of the best-run private sector companies in the world? Yes. Does caste and religious discrimination still exist? Yes. Are some of India’s most distinguished people (including the country’s Chief Justice as well as former President) from these communities? Yes. Does religious bigotry exist in India? Yes. Are all religions equal under the law in India? Yes. Is India one of the most densely populated countries in the world? Yes. Are parts of India among the most sparsely populated places on the planet? Yes. Is India a hot country? Yes. Is India a cold country? Yes.

You see how difficult it is to categorize the place. All this diversity causes huge problems that would daunt many nations. Yet somehow India endures. I would like to say that it thrives, but that would be too strong a word to use. It is my fervent hope that India can and does start thriving soon. In school, we were taught that India meant “unity in diversity”. That cherished idea is still alive and well, despite many organized attempts to kill it. India can and should thrive, because no other country in the world is as diverse, as unique and as flawed. But this diversity also means unlimited potential; a latent ability to show the rest of the world how so many different cultures, races, ethnicities and religions can co-exist and prosper. It is an honor for me to call myself Indian. To paraphrase Nobel Prize winning Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore, may India thrive and “into that heaven of freedom, My Father, may my country awake”.

Environment: Are You An Environmentalist Yet?

Many years ago, when I was a university student in the U.S., I had a Native American friend from the Shoshone tribe. Like me, he was getting a degree in Business Administration. We became good friends, and one year during Thanksgiving, he even took me up to an American Indian reservation where his family lived. I do not know of too many Asian Indians who have visited American Indian reservations. But that visit (or what I remember of it after so many years), will have to be the subject of another blog.

I was curious as to how Native American tribes viewed the American Gold Rush, the “discovery” of America and the West by people from Europe, and their view of American history. While talking about land ownership rights, my friend said something that has stayed with me all these years later: “Native Americans do not believe that people own the land they live on. Instead, we believe that the land owns us. We are only temporary custodians of the land we live on, and it is our responsibility to take care of it and nurture it for future generations”. I thought that this was one of the most profound things I had ever heard.

As a citizen of one of the most densely populated countries on earth, I have seen first-hand the devastation caused by overpopulation, greed and environmental degradation. Thirty years ago, Bombay (Mumbai) was still a scenic city, with the sea on one side and green, rolling hills on the other. The population of the city in the late 1970s was about eight million people. Today, thirty years on, all the open spaces are gone, filled with buildings or slums. The population has risen to twenty million people, though the infrastructure of the city (roads, public transport, electricity, water supply) was designed to cater to only about five million people. The beloved city of my youth is gone, forever.

When I go up to the Himalayas every year, I am distressed by the increasing vehicular pollution, the sprouting of ugly concrete houses on the hillsides, and the trash generated by uncaring tourists. It is infuriating to watch city tourists in their gas-guzzling sports utility vehicles defile the calm of the mountains, with their blaring Indi-pop music and their amazing capacity to generate mounds of garbage. The least they can do is to respect the sanctity of their beautiful surroundings, but I guess that is too much to ask for.

I usually head out into the wilderness very quickly to soothe my soul. The fewer the people I have to deal with, the better. Luckily, there is a growing awareness of the environment in India’s Himalayas, as locals also realize the economic value of conservation of trees, as well as the value of preserving and replenishing traditional sources of fresh water such as springs, etc. But India’s burgeoning population means that environmental conservation is always a challenging task, as the competition for finite sources of water and energy (such as firewood) intensifies with each passing year. There is much that the government can do in terms of environmental awareness and education, but then there is much that the government can do in all spheres of public life which sadly isn’t being done.

The Native American tribes were among the world’s first environmentalists because they revered the land they lived on, and took care of it. They learned to live in harmony with nature. There is much that we could learn from them. In this day and age, as global warming and climate change begins to manifest itself, there are simple things we could do to stave off a catastrophe. Plant and care for trees where possible, use public transportation where safe, clean and efficient public transportation options are available, judiciously use electricity and water – to name a few. If we don’t, the land we live on will continue to exist (in some form), while we will become extinct as a species. The pertinent question to be asked therefore is not are you an environmentalist, but are you an environmentalist yet? Because if you do not care for the land you live on, pretty soon it will not care about you. And that would be the end of the world as we know it.