Transition

Something I'd written a couple of years back. Somehow never published it. 

If life is full of contradictions, then India is full of life.

Consider the traffic signal in front of the Navrang theatre, Rajajinagar, and enjoy the contradiction, the conflict. Be confused. Fact or fiction? For real or a face-wash? Lines of eunuchs, assertive ones at that, waiting for the signal to turn red and continue their demand for alms. The click-clang of the nearby digger neatly and mechanically shifting mud at extra-ordinary rate, to make way for the state of the art "Namma Metro". Long stretches of impatient, poorly managed traffic, men dressed in rags on century old scooters as well as men in suits within the confines of their personal, air-conditioned BMWs, both drumming their fingers impatiently, eyes glued to the signal, already revving up their engines. Women covering their faces with veils to girls at whose sight you would be thankful that anything is covered at all. The gates of the theatre which shows James Bond movies along-side Anna Bond. One would have to pity the judgemental foreigner attempting to form an opinion about this new country he is visiting. And he wouldn't be too far from the truth if he labelled it as third-world. Nor would he be far from the truth if he labelled it as "developing". Soaring. Rising. In a hurry.

Well, one can do nothing but pity the poor soul who has taken it upon himself or herself to judge India. He could be driven to ITPL and readily made to believe the country is as advanced as any other, as well to do. Or he could be escorted with a closed nose through Dharavi, and equally readily be made to believe that the country is poor to the last molecule, rivaling even the destitution of sub-Saharan Africa.

So where exactly do we place India. Contradicting, surely. Unequivocally. Developing? Perhaps. Changing? Again, unequivocally. It is quite befitting that a country so diverse, that presents such contrasting images of itself should find an identity in change. It happens everyday in India.

So what has changed? People have turned more proactive. As the faltering "India against Corruption" lead by Anna Hazare showed, ineffectively proactive. Or in better, less cynical terms, the activity of the average Indian is evolving.

Evolving slowly, but surely enough to make Darwin proud. You see it sporadically on the streets, you see it deep in the mind of the urban youth, armed with a self-confidence and an assurance that the India of old would look unto as arrogance.

Indeed, it is still looked upon as arrogance. The India of old is still very much among us. In majority perhaps. As we put the years between the liberalisation of the economy in 1991 and the present, a new India is taking shape.

How do we gauge this change? Look what India has brought to the world of cricket. IPL. In nearly every home, families crowd around the TV, rooting for their favourite team, as the cricketers go through the grind, doing what was thought to be impossible, with the same self-confidence mentioned above.

So what made it possible for us Indians, just one generation off the grafters like Sunil Gavaskar, to hit a mind-boggling 200 runs in 120 balls, when equally gifted cricketers of the past considered bringing up the same score after a whole day’s play in a test match a day well spent.

And there can only be one answer, the mindset. Back when Mr. Gavaskar and Co. plied their trade, every ball was a threat. The ball was malicious, spiteful, ominously bobbing up and down. Every delivery was dangerous. To hit the ball in the air went against all societal norm. Denying the bowler your wicket was stressed on. We have seen great stroke makers in the one day game over the years, Sir Viv, Jayasuriya etc, but test cricket has perhaps never seen true freedom of batting and fluent stroke-play until the advent of those men with no feet and a great eye for the ball their only strength, Sehwag and Dilshan, who prefer to take the shine of the ball rather than waiting for it to happen.

T20 is a whole different ball-game. Every delivery is seen as an opportunity than as a threat. A ball not sent flying beyond the boundary ropes is considered wasted. Flamboyance is not looked down upon. The conservatives continue to harp on the demise of the classic formats, the loss of technique in the modern game, but the mindset has changed.

Not only in the cricketing context, also in the Indian context. What previously was perceived as threatening, as a risky endeavour, is today relished as an opportunity. A golden age, heralded by visionaries such as Narayan Murthy and Kiran Mazumdhar Shaw, who were among the first to break the shackles and show the rich dividends that a little enterprise can pay.

Indeed, it is time every young Indian adopted the T20 mode of living, taking a proactive role in society rather than waiting for things to happen.

In the words of Swami Vivekananda, one of the first men to truly take an effort towards making us proud of our country and our heritage, "Arise, Awake and stop not till the goal is reached!"