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.
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