[Reader-list] The Epitaph of a Mind: Vir Sanghvi

[V Ramaswamy]

Thanks Yousuf for your comment on the Singhvi article. Just like the Peter
principle, which says that every employee rises to the level of his
incompetence, there would be an equivalent with writing too: every writer
rises to his level of senility, or some such. Perhaps we could call that the
Singhvi principle - though looking at so-called writers and columnists in
India, there would be quite a bit f competition in this respect, what with
the overall intellectual morass that defines much of Indian English-language
media...
We Indians love to take credit where no credit is due at all. And its so
pathetic... Singhvi's piece is as pathetic as the Bollywood projections of
communal amity between Amars, Akbars and Anthonys. He should send it to
Narendra Modi to use in one of his election campaign speeches.

After Delhi 1984, Ayodhya 1992 and Gujarat 2002, instead of boasting about
our o-so-wonderful "secular" fabric and ethos, Indians should simply keep
quiet and if there's anything to be done, that should be done silently and
diligently; and there is work to be done that can take several lifetimes
before any claim can be made about anything creditable here.

Singhvi needs a dose of "Yahaan Sey Sheher Ko Dekho". Since its unlikely
that this would could ever happen on its own, the only option is to kidnap
him, render him (temporarily?) amnesic and throw him into the situation of a
Muslim slumdweller in one of the metro cities. Or even into the situation of
a studious lower-middle class Muslim youth. And thus have him experience for
himself the meaning and ramifications of institutionalised prjudice
prejudice and bigotry.

I am reminded of an article called “Palestinian like me” by an Israeli
journalist, written about 20 years ago, who assumed the identity of a
Palestinian and explored the meaning of being a Palestinian. I wait for a
Hindu journalist to assume a Muslim identity, and investigate first-hand
what being Muslim in India entails, and thus write “Muslim like me” for the
education of his co-religionists.
But conversely, there is something to celebrate, but it is not the likes of
Mr Sanghvi who could do that, with his pathetic vision. Many true Indians,
Hindus as well as Muslims - no, not the "innocent" common folk of Bollywood
stereotype, nor the so-called "secularists" of India, who provide so much
pseudo-secular fodder to the Hindutva mill - are indeed silently but
steadily building another culture, another India, through intercourse.And
they exist and act despite India and the general lot of Indians.

V Ramaswamy
Calcutta



On Thu, Mar 26, 2009 at 12:13 PM, Yousuf <ysaeed7 at yahoo.com> wrote:

>
> Thanks Wali Arifi for posting this write-up.
> I am amazed at the shallowness of the analysis made by such an experienced
> journalist. If