It is too easy to forget what it really means to be the world’s largest democracy, especially for those of us who remain relatively unaffected by the vagaries of Indian politics because we can buy (or bribe) our way out of most problems the government can’t solve.

For the past few decades, India’s educated elite have taken less interest in politics than the uneducated masses. And this has probably been the greatest reason why India’s infrastructure, health and basic education have maintained 3rd world standards even while the educated elite have rocketed up to international levels of wealth. India’s intellectuals have been too busy making money for themselves to bother with societal issues, and so some of the most challenging problems in India remain unsolved. But it is time that we educated elite realize how valuable our freedom is to our continued prosperity; the world’s largest democracy will crumble if we do not begin to participate actively in its well being. We must understand that the plight of the uneducated masses is our own plight, and that it is our responsibility to raise all of India to greatness. If we – who can read and write, who understand why minority rights must be protected, why women should have equal standing as men, and why religious tolerance is essential – do not vote, then how do we expect our democracy to continue to function in a sensible manner? Uneducated voters are more likely to be swayed by manipulative politicians with corrupt agendas and are less likely to understand which government policies will benefit them in the long-run. If we hope to see any improvement in things like water quality, health, education, and sexual freedom, we must make our voices heard by ballot, not just on blogs. A successful democracy encourages voting by all its people, but it demands the active participation of its most educated.

So GO ROCK THE VOTE in the 2009 General Elections!!!

Oh and before you vote, do a quick search on your favorite politicians and make sure they’re not criminals:

http://www.nocriminals.org/

http://www.google.co.in/intl/en/landing/loksabha2009/

A few of you have requested that I give my thoughts on the qualifications of the various candidates. I started to write a post along those lines but soon realized that most of my judgments are not really based on outward qualifications or claims. All the candidates say they want to improve water quality, increase jobs, use technology, etc., so what’s really different about them? Although we have always been taught that we should vote for candidates “on the issues”, it’s nearly impossible to do so when there are hundreds of people all saying basically the same thing. Of course there are some pretty significant differences (e.g., fundamentalist jackasses saying they will cut the throats of India’s Muslims after they are elected), but most of the publicly-approved talking points all have a similar quality of sounding too good to be true. The truth is, all politicians say manipulative things and promise too much. Such is the nature of politics. So how do we wade through all the shit? Should we really vote “on the issues”, or should we just cave into our temptation to vote for the guy (or gal) we’d most like to have chai with? When I choose a politician, I generally ask myself the following questions:

1. is he / she a good person (or, does he / she seem like a scummy, corrupt bastard)?
2. is he / she at least as intelligent as I am?
3. is he / she at least as educated as I am?
4. is he / she open to new perspectives?
5. is he / she tolerant towards opposing beliefs (or, is he / she a fundamentalist)?
6. does he / she understand economics?
7. does he / she genuinely view poor people as humans who deserve basic rights (or, is he / she just trying to win their votes)?
8. is he / she aware of the world, and the importance of our country’s relationship to other countries?

I do not give my vote to anyone who does not pass with a “yes” answer to all of these questions. So I guess it’s a bit of both — I choose on broad issues and on my own affinity towards the person, with a recognition that no politician is perfect and that it’s okay to disagree on some things, as long as we can agree on the most important. Ultimately, I vote for the people I trust to make laws and spend money in ways that are consistent with my beliefs about what is right and wrong, what is important for my personal freedom and what is best for my fellow citizens now and in the future.

Jai Hind.

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There seems to be a strong nationalistic sentiment amongst many of you, often accompanied by a fear that India is being subsumed by Western culture. Slumdog Millionaire, some insist, won international accolades only because it was a movie made by a Western director, from a white man’s perspective. The Pink Chaddi movement is a symbol of the contamination of Indian culture by Western modernization. Perhaps there is some truth to these claims, but if so then we have only ourselves to blame. We are the ones who continue to worship white skin.

I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma, at a time when racism was still openly expressed in the “heartland” of the United States. From preschool through high school, I was the victim of racial persecution in varying degrees, and from many sources (teachers, coaches, dance instructors, white kids, black kids, and even red kids). I was brown and nerdy, and the oldest daughter of a relatively wealthy, conservative, immigrant household, giving almost any native of this barren Bible Belt town plenty of fodder for derision. But as I began to establish my identity in the community, I felt most of the explicit racism slowly melt away. The white people began to accept me, and even respect me for my differences. By the end of high school, I was considered beautiful by many of my peers, and I was even nominated as a Football Homecoming candidate my senior year (this is essentially a school-sanctioned popularity contest; the other two candidates were white girls, and a white girl won). That year, I was also voted “Most Likely to Succeed” and “Prettiest Smile” by my classmates. I had crossed racial barriers and proven my worth as a brown girl in the white man’s world.

Since high school, I have felt quite comfortable assimilating into white communities and have made friends of all skin tones with whom I share a very natural, unprejudiced kinship. Yet there are certain times when I still feel that my beauty is under-appreciated because of my dark skin — when I am around Indians. I am always a bit taken aback when I see a commercial for Fair and Lovely, or when an auntie advises me to avoid the sun. As the rest of the world chases the exotic beauty of dark skin, Indians continue to  treat fair skin as the epitome of female beauty. Why?

This obsession with light skin is a relic from a time when light skin meant that you were wealthy, because you didn’t have to work outside all day in the sun. And I’m sure this bias was reinforced by the British occupation. The relationship between light skin and wealth continues to be unnaturally propagated in India today, because rich people still prefer to marry light. And so this baseless obsession feeds on itself. But this archaic distinction makes no sense in the modern economy, where a nice tan is likely to suggest that you have the leisure to go on beach vacations rather than wasting away all day in a cubicle under glaring fluorescent lights. I think it’s preposterous, and somewhat scary, that we are still brainwashed by these backwards notions of beauty.

Dark skin is beautiful. I hope we can start to see our own beauty, because we will never ascend to greatness until we embrace ourselves.

I was amazed by the passionate responses this post elicited. Reading through your comments was much more interesting than reading my own post =) There was so much brought up through the various comments that I’d like to continue this discussion by highlighting some of the responses and giving you all a chance to react to them.

I’ve been conflicted about whether or not to showcase this particular comment, but I decided that it’s better for us to address it upfront rather than run away from harsh words. So, here it is – straight from the horse’s mouth – a response by a Hindu fundamentalist [not appropriate for children]:

JAI BAJRANGI Wrote:
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:48 am

You are a bloody bitch which was borned out of a cross between a swine and a dog you must be a secular bastard which is being F****D by MANY Katalas and now you are addicted to being F****D by those BASTARDS and that is why you are saying these things otherwise how can any PURE HINDU because HINDUS were slaves to Muslims & English for many centuries and were being F****D by these BASTARDS they have become IMPOTENT and ready to give their Daughters & Sisters to these MUSLIM BASTARDS like SHAHRUKH KHAN, SAIF ALI KHAN, MANSOOR ALI KHAN PATODI, AMIR KHAN etc.

What stands out most to me about this comment is the sexual insecurity this poor fellow seems to be suffering from. According to him, the only way I – a Hindu – could possibly be saying something like ‘let’s all unite and why the f*** do we need to fight’ is if I myself am having sex with a Muslim. For the record, I’m not having sex with a Muslim and never have (not that I think there’s anything wrong with inter-religious sex). But that’s besides the point. This obsession with sex betrays, in my opinion, the baseness of the fundamentalist psyche. They are being completely driven by prehistoric evolutionary impulses and have lost all ability to control these impulses through rational thought. The fundamentalist says “they steal me women, me kill them dead”.

Where is the religion in all this? Well, I think the “religion” comes into play when these folks meet in groups. There’s something very powerful about a herd of angry men chanting and raving together. An orgy of anger can be perhaps even more intoxicating than one of love.

And, so, to answer some of you who think I am naive….I am not naive. I know what hatred and anger exists in the world. Here you can see it directed towards me. But I refuse to believe that we cannot evolve beyond this baseness. I would choose an orgy of love any day, and I believe there are more people in the world like us, than like them. Gandhi fought with love, and I believe so can we.

A few hours before Barack Obama’s inauguration, I sit and reflect on what this moment means for South Asians across the world. On the one hand, we have before us an undeniable proof that our society has taken a huge step forward, towards not only racial tolerance, but racial indifference. With the support engendered for Obama around the world, the human race has shown that we have evolved to such a level that we can appreciate an individual’s strengths and weaknesses, race / gender / citizenship notwithstanding; indeed, we can love someone who looks and talks and acts differently from us, as our own.

Yet the dust is still only settling from the demoralizing Mumbai attacks. And what does that say about us? How can we still be suffering these attrocities? Why do we still kill in the “holy” name of salvation, enlightenment and universal love? Perhaps we have not yet evolved that much.

I am Indian. I am also American. I was raised Hindu, but I have a deep admiration for and sense of kinship with Muslim culture. The sweet music of Ali Akbar Khan, the awe-inspiring Mughal architecture in Delhi and Rajasthan, the beautiful Urdu language which I can hardly distinguish from that spoken in my own home — how can I not consider these my own? I have often thought how I would love to give my future children Muslim names. And, why shouldn’t I? Shahana, Saif…Shahrukh. Aren’t these names Indian also?

And so this fighting makes me sad. Really really sad. I believe it is up to us — the younger Guptas and Khans of the world — to stop this madness. And I hope that connecting on social networks like Yaari will help us come together.

Perhaps, a few years from now, when the first female president is being inaugurated in Washington DC, we will be able to celebrate as one, human race.

I wanted to give you all a chance to voice your opinions on what matters most to you, and offer a common platform to bloggers discussing social issues affecting India. Leave a link to your blog in the comments below, with a post on a topic of your choice. We look forward to reading your insightful posts!