Sunday, November 23, 2008

Passing thought

Slumdog Millionaire. The new movie everyone's raving about. Probably deservedly so(because I haven't seen the movie and am in no position to judge it). It talks about a slum kid who appears on Kaun Banega Crorepati and wins the show.
But my point is not the book, nor it's premise.
When I read stuff about this book, it's the way people say the slums and the poverty and the sheer apathy shown in the movie/written in books such as Maximum City, Slumdog Millionaire etc is the "REAL INDIA".
I agree totally when you point out that India has slums, poverty and more than it's fair share of unscrupulous people, but in compensation, India also has brilliant infrastructure, a strong foundation of education, India has some amazing cities and beautiful sights and historic places.
What I mean to say is, you cannot simply magnify a singular part of an entity and identify it with that single attribute. The "REAL INDIA", is the sum of it's parts. It is an amalgamation of villages, slums, towns and cities. Of poverty, mediocrity, riches and more. Just like you cannot say for example that New York City is the "REAL AMERICA" or for that matter that Eastern Europe is the "REAL EUROPE".
Examples taken are purely those that spring to my mind immediately and may or may not appear relevant or conclusive to you.
But the message I wish to convey is, India is more than just the sum of it's parts. When even the sum of it's parts cannot completely depict India, how can you try to summarize our country in a single strata of society.
Peace.

2 comments:

Neha Dhavale said...

i guess what u have expressed is an apt way of having a wider perspective towards a society...
its time people start looking towards things with such an outlook..

The Explorer said...

Je vous remercie, ma dame!
:)