Homecoming..

Original date of blog: 14th November 2008. 

Its nice to be back home after one of the longest trips (vacation+work) i have ever had. I cant remember another time when i have been away from work/studies for almost 4 weeks (2 days shy of 4 weeks). Towards the end of the trip i couldn’t wait to get back to india (even though i was with a friend who helped me have a really fantastic time in NY and Washington during the end of my trip). Woow it feels good. It feels good to be back in a country where old men who seem well educated and speak really good english are fighting with other older men at the baggage claim belts for a position right besides the belt. I love my country.

I don’t know what it is about the air in our country. I believe we breathe-in “oxygen” in india, which is what they inhale in the US too. My flight to the US was filled with as many Indians as my return flight to Mumbai. But i did not see these same Indians fighting at JFK airport for a position right besides the belt. I could hear the same Indians, using “excuse me” and “thank you” at JFK, but all of a sudden when they are back on Indian soil or inhaling the air in india, all that courtesy goes down the freaking drain. It couldn’t be the water of india that screws up our brains, because nobody had a chance to have water between deplaning and baggage claim. i knew i was back in india when i heard passengers shouting and fighting at the Mumbai airport.  

Mumbai, the business capital of india, and probably the airport through which maximum number of people “officially” enter into India and boy, the welcome we give them is absolutely mind-blowing. I dont think this is because of an unorganized system. I think our authorities are soo freaking smart that they planned this chaos at the airport, i think they intentionally make people get frustrated and have long queues to “Exit” the airport (this long queue is after customs and immigration is cleared, juz to get out of the darn airport). I think it is classic thinking on the part of authorities, so that Indians coming back from an excellent vacation or returning for a brief vacation and the international visitors know what awaits them once they leave the airport (chaos, queues and a dogfight for everything). We dont pretend in this country, at the entrance itself we show you how it really is out there. Give them credit for this phenomenal concept that none of us could even decipher. I’d like to take credit for finally deciphering it. lol

I knew there is a reason why i am fond of my country. Its organized chaos, and i am as much a part of it as anybody else.

I came back to a video of 5 college students beating up another helpless student with sticks (more like baseball bats) till he was almost dead. It was absolutely gruesome and there were other students and policemen standing there watching. This video is over all the news channels. I say, F**k the guy who was shooting the video and hang the cops who were standing there watching those animals beat up a helpless student to death. What did our government do?? Suspend the police officers and transfer the police commissioner to another city. And is this supposed to be enough punishment for the police authorities who instead of protecting the student were enjoying the show? And besides, those animals who were beating that guy up are caught on video but are roaming the streets free as a bird.

I came back to the headlines of a german mother pulling back the case of “rape of her daughter” against a ministers son in goa. If a girl cannot have a decent trial of rape against whoever goddarn’s son it is, then screw the system of our country. There needs to be a change, and it better come quickly.

The chaos is fine, but law and order in a filth, is not what you call a democracy. You cannot be proud of hosting the worlds biggest democracy, when your law and order system has gone to the dogs. And then, we wonder why more and more people choose a life and career outside india. What option do we leave them???

We are a country where if you are moderately rich and influential, you win, and if not, you are left in a dog fight to survive your existence. As extreme as it sounds, it feels that way today to me.

I am lucky enough to barely fall into that first category, and so i will stay here and keep fighting through the system, but i absolutely understand why millions of Indians leave for a better life outside india.

And hey, despite of all that i have said, i still am fond of my country and appreciate the thousands of wonderful things it has to offer to me. But today, it hurts to come back to this.

I will end this by admitting that it is as much my fault as a citizen of India as it is of the politicians and bureaucrats since i choose my career and personal life before trying to do something about it.

Maybe, Someday. :-)