Systemic versus
Incidents of Exclusion
Went through 25 days of charming and exhausting days of
travel spanning three countries. At 1:00 AM the roads in Bangalore were smooth. The Toyota Etios cab seemed as spacious most
in US. The AC worked well. Our previous Uber in NY was a Tesla with a
translucent sunroof. The car was driven
by a Nepali Sherpa – his last name as a sherpa.
An hour of commute was peppered with conversations about US and India
and Nepal and treks The Uber drivers in US and
France seemed to come from many countries – and many religions. It is said that the US is a melting pot – and
so it is. Different cultures drawn from
across the world seemed to melt into this pot, and come out homogenized, mostly
accepted, and mostly conform to an American identity. Any person who intends to live in the US –
student, visiting professionals, immigrants implicitly subscribes to such a model. While personal freedoms and privacy reign
supreme, the question is, are there unsaid limits to expression of identity of the sub-cultures they come from. But the collective American identity in its intent is
inclusive – so how much is lost.
India had started with a different legacy. Being a tropical country with abundant
resources – of spices, textiles, crafts, India was one of hubs of global trade
for centuries. Buddhism emanated from
its shores and spread to many locations – especially the far east. Hinduism found its branches in Cambodia and
Bali. Christian, Zoroastrian, Islamic
and Jewish traders immigrated and thrived along India’s coast. While there were chapters of invasion and
colonization. The prevailing culture in
India, at the time of independence in India was a mosaic – of cultures, languages
and religions. The founding fathers of India protected this
legacy fiercely. Many liberals including me carry the torch farther, taking the enormity of space and freedoms given for
religious and cultural expressions granted, barely acknowledging what has been preserved since 1947, and what
has been carved out as an Indian version of diversity and unity for centuries
prior.
France was our first port of call. The city taxi cab counter at the Charles De
Gaulle airport had its string of drivers who accosted us saying there is heavy
traffic and it is going to take 90 minutes and therefore a fare of 140
Euros. The Uber app mentioned 66
Euros. After plenty of back and forth with
cancelling drivers we found one who asked us to come to the departure
gate. We got dropped an hour later at
the hotel. The hotel was managed by an
immigrant of of a French colonial origin.
With long locks, excellent English, and helpful to the bone – he got us
the room, offered a pizza – and gave tons of help to explore the city on our
own. The cobble-stoned streets of
MontMartre, with its ancient churches and cemeteries and restaurants and shops
had us hooked, a small dinner and a glass of dinner made it a
text-book Paris evening. And thus went
the remaining two days in Paris – the Rodin Museum, the Versailles Palace, Bastille
monument and the jewish quarters and the Louvre – Paris seemed welcoming,
accessible, charming, replete with history all rolled in one. About 10% of its citizens practise
Islam. What is seen on the roads is quintessentially
French culture – a blend of modern and the old – of churches and the gothic. The Louvre and Versailles are emphatic
examples of the same. But there was no
evidence of religious diversity.
Amsterdam is European to the E, a country whose terrain is
as flat as a very successful flat stomach, blessed with answers for
sustainability that blow in the wind, with wind turbines, and windmills,
bi-cycling tracks that have primacy over
cars, and where public transportation rules.
It was interesting that we did not use an uber or a car during our stay
in Amsterdam and around. It was easy to
blend in at Amsterdam. By now much of
western Europe is multi-cultural. But Amsterdam
has done a brilliant job holding on to its way of life – of superposing an
efficient modern mobility system, with sustainability being a mantra (27% of commutes
by bicycles!), in a landscape replete with historical heritage. The Rijswijk museum, like Rodin in Paris and
the Met in NY and historic Boston, had
school excursions of boisterous school kids shepherded by enthusiastic school
teachers. The school group in Boston had only Asians (Indian and East Asian origin).
In Netherlands there were a couple of girls wearing the headscarf – the only
4 or 5 spotted after 3,50,000 steps in 25 days in France, US and Netherlands, and
saw one structure with Minarets in Netherlands and two synagogues – one in
Manhattan and the other in Jewish quarters in Paris.
Which brings us back to inclusion or exclusion, systemic or
incidents thereof in the different countries and continents I am exposed
to.
Coming to India, which I am at home in, which I criticize squarely
like a quarrelling family member, I need to acknowledge that there is an
in-your face vibrant diversity that is part of the landscape, flowing in our veins, and everywhere one looks. While
money flowed out in buckets from my wallets, I was on top of bank and credit
card balances – accessing it through portals from across. And watched the stock market too. It was closed on Eid, the facebook and
whatsapp pages had Eid Mubarak from many within the country. A day that seemed altogether
ignored in mainstream media in US. Our
schools and offices were closed on Good Friday – march 29th, which
we landed up in the US on the Easter weekend – with hotel prices heading north
for a festive weekend. We quarrel with
India as it works now, based on exclusion events – some violent – which grabs
headline and eyeballs. It could be a past
case of lynching, it could be remission of convicts, it could be on CAA (is it a systemic tamper at an inclusive society?). But the system makes space for
every religion which seems as natural and part of the landscapes as cherry
blossoms in spring or tulips in Netherlands.
So are we conditioned to challenge sporadic events while we gloss over the freedom of expression that is inherent to India? It is importtant that we acknowledge that because then our voices become more credible. Is there a nucleus for a change
for the better? For getting past violent
events that pop us so regularly in India? This is a question to India. Of exclusion and violence as part of a systemic
history, the New York Met museum seems to have an interesting take – of showing
to the choir (after all who goes to Met?) a mirror of what is great from across
the world – Ganesha over the ages, Islamic art. The renaissance from Europe,
American realism, and spaces for misses too - that show case the Native Indian
art from across tribes, and the Harlem Renaissance movement – showcasing the world
of arts from African Americans. But outside the New York Met the question that really needs to be asked is are freedoms of expression of subcultures truly ingrained in day to day life? Or is dissolving oneself in the larger whole, the current terms of endearment. These are of course gentle puzzles and questions, that need to be ponder over in our different corners of the world.
