Why Did Coldplay's Rendition of 'Vande Mataram' Give Us Goosebumps?

Most of us millennials heard either live or through social media about Coldplay singing 'Vande Mataram' and 'Channa Mere Ya' during the Global Citizen concert on Sunday. Did you get goosebumps? I most certainly did. I am a huge fan of Coldplay. Although I have heard Rehman's version, this one just felt out of the ordinary, it just clicked. Was it Chris Martin's charming voice, or was it the acoustic strumming? When Chris waived the Indian tricolor while rendering one of it's chartbursters, it was probably the rare third time in a year that we felt patriotic. Why did so much emotion boil over in one evening? Was it because all this was carried out by a Gora (White Man)?



For centuries and generations together, us browns (Ya the brownest in the Fair and Lovely Fairness Meter) have been abused, harassed, tortured, looted, enslaved by all kinds of foreigners, be it Britishers, Mughals, Portuguese, French. There is huge prejudice associated with Indians living abroad for years and till date. India was and still is a third world country (although they call it developing which is a positive spin to under developed). In recent times, the outsourcing boom has resulted in Indians to serve the demanding Gora clients, who can be extremely difficult to please. Simply put, we have been neglected, looked down upon, mistreated, insulted, abused, harassed by all sorts of Goras (say First World Countries).

Given this backdrop, it's second nature for us to be fascinated by Goras. We are just happy to see Goras come to our country be it for leisure, work or for whatever reason (David Headley would have experienced this first hand!). We will go out of our way to help them cross the road or give them directions. We might go out of the way to impress a Gora client. We take extra interest in knowing them, making them try our extremely spicy food, and asking them excitedly 'How did you like India?' (Poor us, so needy!).If you really want to know India through the eyes of a white man, just watch any bond movie shot in India or the recent Coldplay video (Hymn for the Weekend) shot in India.

So Ya, when Chris Martin sang one of our brown anthems and held high our flag or when Jay Z rapped on an Indian song, we suddenly felt embraced, respected, touched. It's like a neglected brown child who's suddenly cuddled by his high handed, dominating, white skinned 'Sautela Bhai'. It hardly mattered if a part of the flag was tucked into Chris Martin's bum pocket, the embrace was warm and the thought mattered beyond everything. We experienced such an overwhelming wave of emotion; imaginary tears of joy running down our faces; pride beyond expression! Similar feelings erupt when Trump praises India, when USA wishes us Happy Diwali or when a white man plays the Ashique title track at his wedding!


There is no doubt that Indians will eventually rule the world, run governments, run corporations across the globe and eventually become the ' new first world country' for the rest of the world. We are still work in progress and it will take a few decades to be a finished product(country). It will certainly take time for the Goras to understand what Indians are capable of. But perhaps it will take longer for us to come to terms with adulation, appreciation, respect from fairer skin, since it will be a mindset change, or even a genetic one.

Comments

CRD said…
Must have been the cold :p