Brownie's Points

Like anything else in the world there are good and bad apples in a truckload. More good than bad I would like to believe since most of the latter would not have left the orchard. So when an Indian gets beaten up in Down Under I wonder and sorry folks for thinking like that, was there an issue behind the violence or was it plain robbery? The recurring events however is proof that the violence is focused and perhaps there is a n element of racism in all this.

But racism is a strong word and can have different dimensions. When an Australian beats up an Indian its white vs. brown. When a Lebanese student beats up an Indian in Australia what would you term it to be? Brown vs. Brown. Or say if a African Australian beats up an Indian it would be Black vs. Brown.

Pardon my perpective, but I feel a lot of times its we Indians who perhaps bring this on to ourselves. This could stem from a variety of reasons. Decades have gone by where we have been ruled by foreigners giving rise to some sort of an inferiority complex. Then on Television the other day I heard Prasun Joshi saying that nowadays Indians are more confident and perhaps that's coming in the way. Would it be a case of misplaced superiority complex?

The fact of the matter is that we Indian do not understand cultures beyond our boundaries and therefore most often than not we are not able to mesh in an alien society, keeping our individual cultures and traits intact. Somehow we are not able to project ourselves as equals. Hard Kaur an infamous rapper said that we Indians are more intelligent than others!! In the software industry, I often come across discussion with the same trail of thought amongst developers and engineers. I find similar traits in other industries too where there are plenty from the sub continent. We do suffer from extremes!!

A lot of times I feel that we Indians are perhaps more racist than most of the other cultures. Maybe I am wrong, but we have divides in terms of language, the way we dress, what we eat, whom we marry and more. The matrimonial colums in newspapers or websites is a prime proof of us being racial. Castes, Tribes, Skin Color, Vegetarians vs Non Vegetarians, Marathi vs Bihari, Hindu vs Muslim, Delhiite vs Madrasi, we have it all.

So when on Television shows respected people come and talk a lot of sense while the same sensibility is not practiced in their own backyard, I have this wierd feeling. I think we need to understand that we are not holier than thou. The day we understand this, our debates, discussions and actions would be a bit different.

In our own country we are not mixing with others, and we have the gall of complaining against others. Charity starts at home, but we seem to be always looking for donations and sympathy. I am not justifying the OZ incidents. It's just that I have strong feelings against hasty unfounded conclusions. Sphere: Related Content