Culture Vulture

Watching the news these days causes my hands to itch too often, not to slap the presenter, which I would gladly do given a chance for other reasons, but to write all that is churning inside my head. But these kids keep me on toes and I cant even turn my head to the PC. Today I just had to find time to puke out the matter or be dyspeptic.

I really get irritated the moment I hear the word culture, I might even turn violent one of these days. The BJP's monkey army's talibanisation of India has been played out umpteen times on the news channels, I cant blame them, when they get to shoot the scene, almost as if pre-arranged even with a cameraman shouting 'action', it was too irressistible for the media wolves. Who would think of calling the police when the real 'show' had just begun. It was almost like a cheap thriller played out, some enjoying the 'doing' part, others watching it. And now the CM himself backs up his 'fellow brothers' in condemning the 'western culture' that has 'corrupted' our country.

Let me take this time to just look back on our 'great Indian culture' that we so often trumpet or honk around.

The great Indian culture that we see in every lane and even on the main roads, peeing away sometimes turned to a wall and at times facing you.

The culture that teaches us to keep our house and compound clean but to throw the garbage in the neighbour's plot. To use one's neighbour's potted plant or doorstep as a spittoon and the neighbour's gateway as the dog's toilet.

Our 'moral' police condemn women wearing western dress but wouldnt mind enjoying the sight of sari clad women exhibiting their midriff and navel, as long as the face is covered by the 'Ghunghat'.

The great culture where desi and videsi women are quite unsafe. Indian women (barring a fortunate few) face violence, abuse, discrimination, sexual violation, harassment while their videshi counterparts have to think twice to pay this country a visit even as a tourist (think Goa, Gurgaon, Delhi, Chandigarh).

Our culture is so great that we boast of tolerance, secularism and then destroy all those who do not stand under the same umbrella. Hope you have'nt forgotten Godhra in Gujarat, Manoharpur village and Kandmal in Orissa and many others which went unnoticed as they never stimulated the media.

Our culture is so wonderful that we kill our own leaders, no, first we call them Mahatma and then reduce them to atmas.
A culture where young widows were (are) allowed to commit suicide in their husband's funeral pyre and are later worshipped. Elsewhere widows are abused, exploited by the society, never allowing them to live on their own terms. Where educated men are sold like cattle in the name of marrriage and women have to pay up to get married and dare they fail and they end up paying with their lives.

A culture where women have a secondary status in many households and a girl child often not welcome. Where female foetuses are discarded heartlessly in rubbish bins in hospitals or even buried alive in the backyard.

A culture where a century back, devadasis were trained at an age as early as 4 years. The temples built with seminude figurines, promoting eroticism more than anything spiritual.
Why the culture even describes paradise as a place where the 'gods' get drunk as they watch skimpily clad nymphs dancing away. I could never see any high calling in that.

The 'clean' culture which condemns the west for all the 'wrongs' while secretly ogles at the 'phoren' women tanning in the beach and drools over porn. Is there any 'clean' reason that can be given for the statisitcs that point at our nation as one of the fastest growing in AIDS? And why do you think we have redlight areas in almost every city, prostitution being a profession for many destitute women if our culture was the best?

The culture that teaches us to bribe our way through the government system. And what about all those politicians and ministers who are caught in the act of bribing, being bribed, who later deny and are conveniently forgotten?

Our culture teaches us to live double lives, the goody goody face in public and take out our frustration in private. Never be assertive, keep that plastic smile, butter up all those whom you might need help from and grind your teeth and curse them and do a bit of backbiting in their absence.

Our culture teaches us to be greedy and selfish, how else would you explain the way the locals helped themselves with the belongings of victims of a train accident down south before lending a helping hand? And what about those men and women who gleefully waved, winked, smiled at the TV cameras accompanying reporters and called family on their mobiles to let them know "I am live on TV!!!" immediately after the 26/11 attacks??? We push each other in a line, elbow our way to get into a bus and dont mind stepping on fallen bodies of women and children in a stampede.

Yeah our culture does add up to be pretty much impressive, so why not condemn the westerners. Out with the pub culture, out with the west. longlive our great culture pooh!

NB: Someone said somewhere, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her..." John 8:7