Sharing this from Intent Blog.

https://www.intentblog.com/archives/2008/08/im_filled_with.html


Im filled with light. Cut me...I don't bleed, I shine

Gayatri Jayaraman - August 16, 2008

I-day came and went, but the euphoria lingers. Abhinav Bindra, all of 25 took the gold, and though as Indians we all feel proud and take credit for him, fact is we never took responsibility for his talent when it was being nurtured, we played no part as a nation in contributing to his success. Funded solely by his parents' substantial means, overcoming medical injury, seeking out confidence building classes in Germany, Abhinav is symbolic of a generation of young Indians who won't stop chasing their dreams just because of the odds. India's gen-next is a kick-ass bunch!

I spoke with Yuki Bhambhri over the phone the other day. This 15-year old (or is that 19) Indian tennis sensation is headed to Wimbledon entirely on his own steam. His funding is scarce, barely enough, and as a teenager, he feels deeply for the financial strain that he puts on his parents each time he's playing.

The question that many sports pages will ask many times over with far more expertise, is of course, what is the government doing for them? Why does the system fail potential talent time and again? When will it step up?

My questioning is down a different line - it is this: have you noticed what is happening? have you noticed the magic in the air? - whether it is education, sports, entrepreneurship even social enterprise - Indians in the age group 15-28 are finding ways to make a difference and live their dreams at the same time. It is a time of magic.

You, I or the much maligned 'system' can do all we want, or as little as we want. We can blunder, fail them, but this is a generation that has its aim firmly on the target and is finding its way there. Abhinav's composure or 'arrogance' as it has variously been called I feel has been much misunderstood. The generation is confident, and makes no excuses. Hence it also offers you no excuse for failing them. If Bindra has succeeded, he has struggled to succeed and hence he takes credit for his success too.

It is not a question of ego. It is a question of having assessed and assimilated fact.

Because of this attitude, there is nobody to blame or praise for one's success or failure. Each one is an individual and takes responsibility for his or her success or lack of it. hence, while bindra brings in gold, teenagers and 20-somethings across the country are each following their dreams.

It is a liberating attitude this one-mindedness. And the euphoria i feel about it is for this - yes india is at this stage strugglign with the ills of any rapidly developing society that is suddenly finding freedom, money, globalisation and success. Marriages are breaking up, families are disintegrating from joint into nuclear families, more and more couples are opting for career over kids, alcoholism is shooting up and infrastructure and inflation issues are affecting everyone bringing in obesity, stress etc etc. That list is endless but is mirrored in societies across the world.

But at its core, Indian youth have a strength. You can feelk it in the air in the rang de basanti generation. There is magically enough, very little negativity. The 20 somethings have little time for that. They are solution seekers, doers. There is a tough inner spiritual core, there is a strength of confidence, of the need to be meaningful as well as successful. Both have ceased to be mutually exclusive.

So you will find riuch medical practitioner couples also doing their bit to society on the side, students doubling up at NGOs, intelligent entrepreneurs discovering ways to make money and profits out of a service that renders affordable meals to millions. Just lke Bindra found a way to make a gold for the nation off his passion and his dream.

Its not so much the gold, but that balance that I find amazing and that marks us out from any other nation. I DON'T have friends who are jaded, but I have plenty who have suffered life's knocks with a smile. I look a round me and I find people who smile, work hard, play hard, earn hard, spend hard. They may be divorced, serially dumped, injured and had to change careers for no fault of their, incapable of settling down already, financially inefficient, but they are all wonderfully positive people.

And that makes for a wonderful brand of patriotism. I stand next to people at the theater when the National Anthem is playing, and I see and hear them SING in glee, proudly, happily. It's okay to feel that the odds aren't against you, that hey whaddya know the system not only works, or it may not, but it workers because of ME, and people like ME. It's MY system, MY government, MY country, and Ill be damned if you try to sell me another.

My press is free and staid and capable of accommodating voices old and new. I can mock the Olympics relay on DD and then flip over to a private news channel. My political parties range from Communist Marxist to the voices of the marginalized-but-not-for-long Mayawati's BSP. My Right To Information Act works, and the moral police have as much of a voice as Vik Doc and his Queer Rights Parade. Karan Johar and RGV quibble now and then, but my cinemas have place for them AND Persepolis. Yes I have Coke in my supermarket but I prefer Thums Up when I drink. Yes I know I can choose to fall in love, but I would LIKE to have an arranged marriage. And like my friend Priya, it's No thank you, Im very flattered you'd offer me a fab job in San Fransisco, but I have my Madurai and Mumbai to choose from. I am a single woman and I drive, I earn, I have male friends and a loving husband and go on an all girls holiday when I want to because I choose to have the life I want to. I have seen the world, I travel, I read, I perceive, I reject. I stay home cos the waft of biriyani from the khau gully is too tempting for me to leave. And this is the one part of the world where I can lick my fingers afterwards! This is the best of times and the best of times to be Indian.

Im stealing a line (and modifying it) from adrian mitchell when he said 'I am filled with light, cut me and I shine'.

This is my India today. The things I can find wrong with it, I know we can fix.