e-Nagar

In Europe, I have met so many people who are really interested in Indian culture. They repeatedly ask me how is it done in Indian culture. I find it so hard to explain that there is nothing like a single Indian culture. For all practical purposes, each of the 28 states/regions of the country have totally different language, culture, tradition, history. Even inside a state, the rural India and the cities are totally different.
Two words have always amazed me:
“Dada”: In North India it means Grandfather, In the Eastern India it means elder brother and used to address a person with a lot of respect and social standing. However in the Southern India Dada is used to brand a notorious muscle man or someone who lives in the wrong side of the law and terrorizes the people.
Second word is the name of a loaf of Baked Bread. It’s called Double roti in the Northern Western Part of the country which means it is twice the size of the Roti (or the standard wheat dish) While in the south Western part of the country it is called ‘Pav’ or ¼ the size of the standard Roti. Incidentally the Roti in both the regions as well as bread are of almost the same size and shape.
Coming back to the discussion: It makes me ask the question what keeps the country together? Is it that Indians are too lazy that they don’t care about their governments and policies and want a status quo? I would not like to agree to that hence I tried to find some universally practices cultures and passion. The only 2 things I could find were our love for cricket and bollywood movies. But then is our rich culture so shallow that these two frivolous passions can keep us united?

During the world wars German war machinery successfully manipulated the media (newspapers and radio) to rule over the greater Germany. Even this day counties like China tightly control what information/news reaches the public and what does not. If done properly and consistently over the years, this propaganda can successfully and dramatically change the beliefs, perception and the public opinion. Sometimes even to the extent that young german kids thought they were doing their parents a favor by reporting their activities to the Gestapo.
It was only now I have realized the importance of good education. The more one has access to international media (internet, newspaper, tv etc.) the more international languages one can read and write in, the harder it is for the government to poison and condition one’s mind.

Without access to international media and people with diverse opinions a person will not only be biased. What’s worse is that by accessing only the limited information, they would reinforce their perception. Net result is that everybody has a different view about the same thing, yet they all will be convinced that this is the right view.

I believe that video photography is a waste of time. Unless one hires a professional to record the moment, one of the family member would have to sacrifice him for the video. In order to get a good shoot the camera will have to keep rolling for the entire duration and that person would not be able to take part in the celebration. What’s worse is that even though it will be labeled as “My kid’s first step” in reality it would be like the 10th or the 15th step. This is because an amateur videographer typically has to witness a wow moment, break away and then go to retrieve the camera and request the people around to restage the entire sequence. Sometimes in their enthusiasm, people make hours and hours of video footage not realizing that most likely no one will ever watch the whole movie ever.

Still photography on the other hand leads only to a momentary disruption of the normal course of the party and the photographer can join the gang again. Also one can save, cherish and display the select portions of the zillion photos that were shot. Hence the chances that a particular photo is shared, preserved and viewed is more likely than an hour long video of a stupid birthday party.