What is India? How do we define it? Who is an Indian? Amitabh (Mitu) asked me these questions about 2 years back when I was at SIDH. The larger question was how do we define a nation, and more specifically how to define India? India still can be defined to an extent, but how to define Hindustan or Bharat? These questions have been bothering me for sometime now.
I thought of number of possible parameters that can be used to define a nation. The parameters of culture, language, geographical boundaries, religion, the way people look etc. But they all seem to fail when it comes to defining Bharat. The culture at a level changes every 10 miles in any direction one travels. Yet at the same point the deeper culture remains same here, in Pakistan, Bangladesh or any country in this region. The same is the case with language. Geographical boundaries are also no barriers. Be it the mountains or the seas, Bharat extends beyond them. Religion is again that changes from neighbors to regions. So how do we define our country? Where do we draw the borders on the map. Interestingly the borders of present day India were not drawn by any Indian. Our borders were drawn by British officers. The validity of parameters based on which they drew the line is for us to decide individually.
I read a blog recently which was written on the Tibet issue. The writer of the blog wondered why India is failing to take a stand on Tibet? What stand should India take, I thought. The Chinese have reasons of their own to believe Tibet to be part of them. The Tibetans have reasons to have a free nation. How would a third party like India decide whose reasons are more genuine?Will the parameters we choose to take sides, remain the same when it comes to some other country or even within India?
From an individual perspective the question is where do we relate ourselves and where we do not? We relate to any reported incident in a village in Punjab, but going further west a few miles there might be another village in Punjab (Pakistan) for which we may not feel concerned. How did we draw this line in our minds? Tomorrow if another division happens in the country, will we stop relating to another set of people?
So why does an individual like me worry about all these questions? Why don't I leave this for the politicians or bureaucrats? At an individual level I think it's a matter of my identity. It's how I identify myself. The answers to these questions may not effect my salary or my grades in anyway, but it is true I can't let them remain answered. All my fight for grades and packages is for my identity, and this is one of the fundamental issue relating to what I am.
The questions still remain. What is India? Where does it start and where does it end? Who is an Indian? Who am I?
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5 comments:
Hey Harsh
I heard a lecture by Shashi Tharoor on a similar topic on the 125th year of Stephens and go the lecture on the internet.
Check out the book by Tharoor on the same topic.
http://www.shashitharoor.com/books/midnight/lecture.html
I'd like to put a spanner of sorts in your thoughts.
Why must my identity be defined by
ANY boundary in the first place?
Don't you yourself, attach with your google id, "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam!!"
Not only that, why must I have, or should I say be anchored by an "identity", why can I not be without an identity at all....???
@anirudh
my identity is not by a boundary.infact i'm trying to raise a question on the boundaries itself. i think my identity is from my thoughts, which are greatly influenced by my culture. whether at all i need an identity is not an option i have. since i'm there, my identity is there.
i'm still in the process of thinking all these issues. don't consider them my final word.
I havent read completely what you wrote.
Well, the idea of country is like the idea of having a religion centuries back. Now people have started moving away from religion. Similarly, they'll care less about their countries in times to come. This is like when you are small, you are always with your mother. When you grow up, you can move freely.
You should read the speech of Martin Luther King 'I have a dream' (google video is also available) and the race speech of Obama which was delivered recently. Obama talks about a perfect union. He says that we should be able to go anywhere without any visa. Both the speeches were excellent and historic and will help you to understand the concept of a country.
You should look at Europe. They have started the process of merging into a single country (at least in implementation).
Hi Harsh,
The culture is the thread that intertwines land into a nation or country or in other words we can say a country is physical interpretation of a culture. You can see a similar glimpse of oneness spread across India. As far as india is cocerned the following is the verse which defines Bharat geographically (PS: this also considers Bhartiyata) though many highly developed intellectuals may discard it
उत्तरम यद् समुद्रस्य, हिमाद्रिश्चैव दक्षिणम
भारतः तद नाम, भारतीयाः तत्र संततिः||
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