Whats with labelling?

Manoj's engagement date was almost coinciding with Sandeep's marriage date. This was some four years back. Both Manoj and Sandeep were my friends from my workplace. Both north Indians; Manoj being a marwari from Rajasthan and Sandeep a punjabi from Dehli. As i had never personally attended any north Indian wedding i thought it was an opportune time. I first went to Jaipur to attend Manoj's engagement and then attended Sandeep's wedding in Dehli. Both events were case of contrasting lifestyles.

"Kanjoos Marwari" has been a phrase that we have used since childhood. Anyone remotely stingy promptly acquired this label. And Punjab was always associated with spending and extravagance. If you have seen Mira Nair's movie "Monsoon Wedding" you'd realise what i just said.
So when we went to Jaipur i was expecting a simple ceremony with limited quests and stuff. And basically Manoj was a very simple guy and never flashy. So only when we saw his engagement ceremony we realised how (filthy) rich he really was. We (the guests) were checked in a 5 start hotel and the treatement was as royal as it gets.
On the other hand Sandeep's wedding was pretty simple and conducted in a very subdued environment.

After this event one small reality struck me. Never go by "labels". We generally associate pre-concieved notions with a cast or a race or a religion or a nationality or even a political party. Thats not always the case.
From my own personal experience i can tell you that i have never seen a kanjoos marwari or a kanjoos sindhi etc in my life. If at all, all the marwaris and sindhis i have befriended have been pretty benevolent if not extravagant. On the other hand i have seen the worst possible stinginess in some of my Maharshtrian friends and South Indian friends; both of whom have not been labelled so.

Point being, there's more to it then labels.

When we came to America we had pre-concived notions about its culture. We were bombarded with its 'liberal' image via TV and movies. When i started working here and got to know more about my colleagues i realised they were as conservative, and in certain areas even more, then Indians.

Also one of the more common myths i find amongst the desis staying in US is that Bush administration is anti-India and that Clinton administration was good for us. If you observe closely our ties with US improved with NDA at the center and Bush in US. Infact we hit a nadir in relationship when a certified anti-India hawk Madeleine Albright was at the helm of affairs under the Clinton Administration.

But people generally go by what is fashionable, isn't in? So i was not surprised when Massachusetts Democrat (and hence supposedly "pro-Indian") Ed Markey introduced a resoultion in Capitol opposing the Indo-US nuclear deal. Again a good example of the myth about Democrats in US.

We have Sardarji jokes in India (like how they have blonde jokes in US). But frankly i have seen more intelligent blonds and Sardars then not.

So whats really about all this labelling. I guess we as human beings enjoy judging and labelling others. We think its our divine right to sit on a higher pedestal and be judgemental.

Indian politics is a classic case of Labelling. Specially for people who take English media news on face value.

I had written an article on Bombay after it was hit by floods in last July. I made a mention about BJP/Sena's rule saying -

The BJP-Sena government ruled Maharashtra for only 5 years. But what they gave Bombay was priceless.Imagine, had it not been for the initiative taken by the dynamic PWD minister Nitin Gadkari during their rule, would we have seen Bandra-Borivili connected so well? Would we have seen those innumerable number of flyovers which now hang over the city landscape and which in effect removed so many traffic bottle necks.

Lot of anti-Sena people will argue that it was the previous Congress governments plan. The hard fact is, it requires political will and foresight to carry out such major investments in infrastructure,and not just plans on paper.
Sadly the anti-BJP media never focused on this achievement of that government and far more tragic is the fact that the same mumbaikars who should have been thankful to this government, voted them out.


Thanks to newspapers like TOI and channels like NDTV which most "educated" middle class follow, what Sena/BJP achieved in those 5 years was never putforth for public knowledge. Shiv Sena was labelled as a "fascist", "rogue" party who's only achievement (it seems) was changing names. (In the meantime Calcutta became Kolkatta and Madras became Chennai, but thats irrelevant, because according to The Times of India, Communists are "progressive,secular and educated")

So only Sena was associated with name changing sydrome while the "progressive seculars" had a ball with name changing elsewhere. It became a permanent label, like how BJP acquired a permanent label of being a "hindu communal party" - the fact notwithstanding that it was the best 6 years of governance India had ever seen in its political history - financially, administratively or other wise. Infact the word "Governance" became a routine phrase in India's political lingo after NDA's rule. It was unheard of before.

Take another example of Gujarat. Its NOT a common knowledge that Gujarat is doing great under Modi - who by the way is English media's bete noire . Apart from the fact that Gujaratis love him (BJP swipped all the elections in Panchayat and Municipal Corporations recently) it was also acknowledged by Rajiv Gandhi foundation as being the best governed state . Its a different story that one of its director Mr. Bibek Debroy was asked to resign under duress from (mother saint) Sonia Gandhi.

Thanks to the likes of Mahesh Bhatts and Teesta Setalvad and NDTV,TOI,IE et al Gujarat is still and will always be associated with riots.

I guess people who do not have the capacity to think or analyse beyond headlines and labels will be perpetually doomed in their limited knowledge and understanding of any subject. And that sadly is the majority of the readers i am talking of here. The masses, if you will.

Newspapers like TOI who target the young breed (yea that explains its semi-porn nature) cannot be taken infinitely seriously as far as real political analysis is concerned. Until the time it comes out of its obsession for India's longest running soap opera - The Gandhis - it will always play mischief with journalism.

Its not an irony that after the "progressive, secular" government of Congress came in Maharahstra, it got the worst power problems ever. The infrastructure development is at a stand still as power woes continue for once the most industrialised state of the country. Barring Bombay, there's power cut for as long as six hours every day in Maharashtra. Budget deficit is at an all time high. No significant highway was built in last 7 years of its rule after Pune-Bombay expressway was built almost 8 years ago under Sena-BJP govt.

But yea we will have to live with this. Because the collective intellectual bankruptcy of our country will always favour the wrong guys.

Communists are labelled as pro-poor , may be that explains why West Bengal is amongst the poorest of all States. Yea it does suit communists that it remains poor for ever.

Gandhi family is labelled as "secular", "sacrificing" band of people who would do anything for the country. Yea right - Bofors, Volcker et al explain that.

Yea right, Sena government "only" changed the names and Congress governement was reponsible for all the development in the state. Yea right :-) Power supply anyone ? Roads anyone? Bombay floods ? what was that ?

I should really bow down to the Indian "intellect" and its "mastheads" in journalism. I did not have to go too far to discover mediocrity of staggering proportions at one place. :-)