Millionaires off our own slums

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Slumdog Millionaire is all the buzz now. India is visibly excited about the movie. And the media hasn’t been helpful in distracting us from it either. If anything, they’ve been fueling us further on.

In the last 2 days running up to the Oscars, India’s most popular news channel NDTV, couldn’t get enough of it. The news reader today was unable to wipe the smile of her face, verging on coy at times even. All other national and international news was suspended for these last 2 days, with 15 minute bulletins, every hour or so. Instead, they repeated the same footage over and over, which their reporter in the US had sent them.

It wasn’t just the media who was celebrating. Several images and videos of families and random people, in a state of jubilation, because of the success of the movie, were being circulated.

Sometimes I feel so disconnected, and wonder if the problem is really me.

I wasn’t celebrating the success of the movie. And when it won the 8 Oscars that it did, I wasn’t happy. I was not jumping in my seat for the movie, because it is yet another white man making money out of us. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the world thrives on disparity.

The success of the movie was not ours. Indians nothing. It was directed by a non Indian. The screen play was by a non Indian. The movie was financed too, by a foreign company. Its their creativity that has been showcased in the movie, not ours. It happened to be about Indians, set in India and used stumble-upon Indian actors in it.

And yes, thank goodness there happened to be an Indian musician and sound mixer on set, who were talented and got recognized. Of course I’m happy for Rahman, Pookutty and the kids. But what if they had not won? We here in India were celebrating the movie even before news of Rahman’s victory. We were celebrating the movie because we thought it a big deal that such an Indian flavoured movie should have made it so far in the Oscar race, when several earlier entrants by Indian directors, had failed to cut it.

I was very agitated today, with this news. I picked up a conversation with a bunch of friends, but was literally asking for a fight, and wanted to find if I was judging this situation wrongly. One of my friends said something which accurately summed up what was going on in India. He said that people in India are seeing this as a Bollywood/Indian movie making it to Hollywood, when really it is Hollywood that has come down to Bollywood. And Hollywood won, but we think Bollywood did.

Danny Boyle doesn’t ‘love’ India, and so came with the noble intention of taking an Indian story to America. He came with the sole intention of creatively challenging himself. And the movie got points not because of highly unusual concepts, amazing special effects or jaw dropping acting. Sure it had a good story with universal appeal, and hey, there’s a million bucks involved! But this movie got points for the novelty of it. I don’t think even Danny Boyle thinks he has done India a service, by drawing attention to our immense poverty. He’s just made a movie. There’s nothing wrong with what Danny Boyle did. Nothing wrong in directing a successful film, that makes a lot of money. So I have no accusations of him. My only accusation is of the Indian public, that is being so gullible and weak.

Why didn’t Lagaan, Taare Zameen Par, or a much older Malayalam movie called Kala Pani get this far? They definitely had better stories, and great acting too (presuming these are some of the criteria involved in picking Oscar winners).Were they too brown for someone's liking?

Everything about this movie was characteristically Bollywood. If a person who was unaware of the details of the movie had watched it, he would have presumed it was directed by some Chopra or Mishra. There was song and dance. There was even a train scene at VT, so dear to Indian cinema.

Any Indian could have made this movie.

It so happened that the foreigner was smart enough to make Indians act in a movie about us, but in English, so that it reached a larger audience, who were intrigued by a culture they had never been exposed to before. He mimicked us. The style is ours, the glory is his. The slums are ours, the millions are his. He is the millionaire, from our slums. The foreigners are always smart. That’s why I’m so sore.

And what’s also sad is, that Indians have made movies about the trash in our backyards before. But we failed to appreciate and encourage it. As another friend of mine said, we here in India are always quick to rush off to Switzerland to shoot, when we have so much here that we can showcase. And finally, a wise white man came along, who saw the potential in our slums, and used it to his advantage.

Yet another friend said that no matter what, she was proud because ‘India made history tonight.’ I can give the movie credit as a movie. But saying that it is of historical importance to India or has ‘put India on the international cinema map’ is naïve. I just don’t understand how this was an honour for us.

When the Namesake began to do well at international film festivals and awards, was Australia celebrating because Jacinda Barrett had played a role in it? Are we celebrating every time Kal Penn gets a role in an English flick? Also, in the hypothetical situation of an Indian making a movie about Guatemala, it would only be a cause of celebration for India, if the movie won big. However if only won of the Guatemalan actors won awards for his acting, it would not be our party. And in a role reversal, it would be the people of Guatemala who will be celebrating.

The movie wouldn’t have been as effective if a rich man had won a million bucks. It needed a poor man in squalid conditions to win it. And welcome to India!

I know I cant generalize, but a lot of the western world already thinks India is over populated, polluted and under developed. A movie like this, even though it has only depicted the truth (and I don’t have a problem that it did), has perpetuated this notion of India being Third World, in thousands of under developed minds. And we are dancing in the streets about it?!

What I want us to realize here, is that in this movie, India was only a subject.

What of those children who were recruited straight from the slums, Rubina and Azhar? They are going to grow up thinking that a white man changed their lives. And indeed he did. But when they think that the white man saved them, they’re also going to think their country abandoned them, thus perpetuating the cycle, of us coloured people constantly feeling subordinate to the ones without colour.

Why are we clamouring so? Why are we fawning for attention? Why do we need a pat on the back from the white man, to feel good about ourselves?

Some of the ideals that Gandhi built this country on, are Swadeshi: of one’s own, self sufficiency and self reliance. These ideals do not just pertain to not purchasing of foreign goods and wearing of khadi. It also urges us to take more pride in ourselves, and what we have. Nothing we are today is truly indigenous. Everything is a leftover from an earlier invader. But when are we going to have confidence to be original and take pride in our own Indian kichidi?

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What good can possibly come out of what happened at Mumbai?

Don’t beat me up for asking such a question.

We claim that unity in diversity is our specialty. Up until today, I saw many examples of diversity, but few of unity.

What this attack in Mumbai has done though, is to bring unity in adversity, as the people of Chennai are calling it. It is grief that united.

Did you see how local Mumbaikars, cheered with every truckload of army men that came in? Every time they shouted ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai,’ I got goose bumps. India has never been an aggressor. We have been at war only a few times in the last 60 years: The ones with Pakistan in ’65 and ’71 and then Kargil. This is why we have never given a thought to our troops. Thousands of young men and women sign themselves up to the army, in times of peace, with no guarantee that the future will remain the same, prepared for any circumstance.

Unlike the USA where their troops are in much use every day all over the world, India never got to see action out of hers. In the US not supporting their troops is considered an offence. Not legally. But the troops go into war confident that they have their whole country behind them and their country is grateful to them.

But today, these men and women who we never regarded, today we learnt how indispensible they are. We suddenly became aware of their presence.

It took terrorists to make us aware.

In times of peace, when a pacifist preaches his message, no one wants to hear it. Today, when one gets up onto his soapbox to preach peace, he has an audience. The audience knows that he either accepts to follow the path of peace and still maintain some hope for tomorrow. Or he accepts that violence is the order of the day and nothing can change it. And I think more of us want to see the victory of peace today than ever before.

What this attack in Mumbai has done is that it has brought the urgency of seeing the success of peace to the top of everybody’s mind and wish list. There is nothing more anybody wants.

It took violence to make us aware of peace.

Initially, the fear was that communal riots would break out.

It did not happen. At least not so far.

This time, those who dare make discriminatory comments are being hounded down.

Instead, all anger is being channelized towards a new target. I never thought this would happen, but it has. We have taken our politicians to task. This is how, this times attack, was different.

Politicians usually manipulate every situation to their convenience.

This time we didn’t allow it.

Scour the internet. Remember I said that’s where the youth of India lives? Every young person is suddenly demanding answers out of them. They are not all sitting back and complaining.

Suddenly every young person is aware of their rights. Their right to information.

Every young person today is resolving to go and vote at the next elections.

Suddenly every young person is aware of their duty. Their duty to vote.

NOW we have finally agreed, that ‘Enough is Enough.’

It took terrorists to make this happen.

Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte, Vijay Salaskar and all the other police and army personnel who died fighting for our security.

It appears to me, that India would not have been so shaken up if their deaths hadn’t happen. This reminds me of the movie Rang De Basanti. Talking about the movie later with a friend, I complained that the ending should have been happier. He said, “It just wouldn’t have been as good if they hadn’t all died in the end.”

So thick headed India required 102 deaths, along with 12 police and army men and 300 injured, to actually feel and be affected.

Why did it take an attack in our own country to get united? We see terrorism all over the world. But we had to wait for this to happen, to be affected?

If we continue on this path of reconstruction, those 102 deaths would not have been in vain. Or else, they will remain as wasted unfulfilled lives. They will remain statistics. And their blood, and the blood of more to come, will be on our hands.

I don’t think those 40 men anticipated that they would actually stir up the people like this. They dug their own graves. 1.13 billion people(according to the latest estimate made, in March this year) and more, are waiting to throw mud on it.

As one man said on NDTV, “The fire is not on in the burning buildings, and the many funeral pyres being lit. Now it is on in our hearts.”

Ask me again, what good could possibly come out of what happened in Mumbai.

Gripped By Terror - Part 5

Did you listen to the Prime Minister’s address? Sonia Gandhi made her address even before his. I had been waiting eagerly for it. When he finally made it, I didn’t know what to think.

'Strongly condemns.' These are the 2 words everybody used (Barack Obama included.).

I’d like to know what exactly they mean by it.

Just how much is their condemnation worth (Or us swearing for that matter. Everybody’s swearing at the terrorists.)?

If words of displeasure could end this, I’d have enough to say for you and me, and we would be in a happier place now. These are not little boys with genteel natures, to be insulted by our contempt.

Manmohan Singh said, “We are using the strongest possible measures to ensure that this is not repeated.” Then he said something about how confident he is that the people of India will maintain their unity and integrity.

Wasn’t this what he said last time? That this wont be repeated?

Why all this airy talk?

If the law can’t protect us, who will?

At this point, I’d like to tell you of some very strong things that Shobha De had to say.

“Enough is enough. I want to tell all politicians not to use this as an opportunity for their political agenda. Do not come to Mumbai. We pay millions to give these politicians Z level security (I am yet to find out what this is.). Remove security from them and give it to us. Let even a hair on these politicians be touched by this crisis.”

Too true.

With regards to politicians.

The virtual world is ablaze with arguments frustration and emotions you may never have thought could be emoted through the www.

Young people today do 2 things- party and have fun. Or stay indoors and online.

And pretty much everybody is bashing up the politicians.

Whose side am I on? Certainly not the khadi-clads. But this is addressed to all the youth who have been lamenting. I’ve heard “India is never going to change its so corrupt” a lot in my little life. And I hate it.

Did you go out and vote? Because if you didn’t, then you are in no position to hold by the collar the man you had no part in putting into office. If you did vote, you have every right and responsibility to do so. But if you did not, you are not in the right place for bad mouthing.

So don’t whine. Don’t complain. Bite your tongue and stay put till the next elections.

Either vote. Or contest.

Its not called a democracy for nothing.

Some more questions, for anybody who can answer them.

So far only big cities have been targeted. Why? What if they decide to target less popular cities, where they can easily cause the same number of casualties, and things will be much easier for them since no one was expecting it? Is anybody thinking about this?

Where are these weapons being manufactured?

Who supplies them?

How are they smuggled?

Who is sponsoring this?

Why wasn’t our intelligence able to pick up on this?

How did the terrorists get into the hotels, with all their weaponry?