I’m an admirer of the USA. America is the greatest success story in history. It is a vibrant democracy, which has done so much for humanity.
Sigmund Freud, in one of his careless statements, called America a “gigantic mistake”. He could not have been more wrong. But what is undeniable is that the US makes gigantic mistakes and the world has to pick up the pieces.
I am writing about what impact America’s tensile culture has on metropolitan India. This particularly applies to the middle-class youth. This makes not only me but many other Indians uncomfortable. I am not uneasy about the sartorial invasion. Levis-ation is harmless although the youth is abandoning the graceful sari. Rock music, enthusiastic gyrating one can live with.
There are, however, other less appealing aspects of American “culture”. America consumes the largest amount of drugs. The divorce rate too is among the highest. The family has disappeared. Life is measured in dollars, not in values. Promiscuous sex has now got to 14/15-year-old boys and girls. American English becomes less and less comprehensible. One could go on.
The tragedy is that what is good in the US has less takers than what is bad. All this fast living is visibly changing the mindset of the middle-class youth of metropolitan India. I am neither prudish nor an ascetic or a spoilsport. But I do know that in many cases, the Lakhshman Rekha has been violated. For example, sex is not simply an activity, it is cause and crusade combined.
Why is the slippage taking place? The sociologist will give one reason and the academic another. Let me give mine. How many youngsters are acquainted with the Gita, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Bible, the Koran and the teachings of the Buddha? Do they know what Vedanta is? (south India is less ignorant). How many can name a single play by Kalidas? Gandhi, in India, is passe. This is nothing to be proud of.
According to our heritage and the values of our civilisation, we should be sensitive to literature, music and art.
Profound are the teachings of our seers. Pay heed to satya (truth), vidya (learning) tapa (penance for wrongdoings), daan (charity), gyan (intuitive wisdom, knowledge), sheel (character), guna (merit, virtue) and dharma (code of righteous conduct).
Do I follow these sublime principles? I try. I seek awakening, I seek enlightenment, detachment and serenity. Am I being didactic? Perhaps. But I do believe that Plato was right when he said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” However, he forgot to note that life is a journey without maps.
Now to Australia. That country has been in the news for the wrong reasons. Australians have very many virtues. Civility is not among them. Irreverence is one thing. Nastiness another.
Finally, the government has called our high commissioner (HC) for consultations. The HC’s presence in New Delhi will inevitably make the government focus on this issue. The prime minister and the foreign minister are busy people. They are required to deal with a very large number of countries. Australia is one of them. Having called their HC from Australia to the headquarters, they have to, per force, find time to meet her. The Australian authorities will most certainly take note. So will their media. In diplomacy, signals are important.
I do not know at what level the Australian high commissioner in New Delhi has been received. Since the matter is arousing both annoyance and concern, the external affairs minister should send for him. The diplomat should be told that while India greatly values her relations with his country, our patience is not inexhaustible. Parliament will be meeting soon. The mistreatment of Indians will most certainly be taken up. Bilateral relations have already suffered a setback. The damage-control must commence in Canberra. The sooner the better.
Why have the Indians been singled out? Australia is a multicultural and multiracial country. Large numbers of Chinese, Pakistanis, Vietnamese, Sri Lankans live in Australia. Not one has been harmed. Do the Indians behave in any different way than the nationals of the countries mentioned above? This is a tricky one. The government must go deep into it. Is it doing enough? No. Verbalising is not the answer.
Tailpiece: I received my Padma Bhushan in 1984. The individual who has been bestowed the same honour this year does not inspire. He has put the government in a pickle. The rumour is that the senior-most member of the Prime Minister’s Office lobbied for Mr SS Chatwal. I earnestly hope the rumour is baseless. If it is not, then it is an exceptionally serious matter.
The author is a diplomat, writer and former foreign minister
