And yet some more from Delhi
I have posted many, many things for Delhi – and this is some more. Bored? I cannot help it. I am sort of stuck here, tramping the corridors of power in this power crazy city of Delhi. It has always been about these corridors in this city; for far too long this has been the centre of power of the Indian subcontinent.
In the ancient times, during the Hindu epic of the Mahabharata (about five thousand years), Delhi was a seat of power. It has continued being a seat of power throughout, with relatively minor breaks of a few centuries.
The Muslims conquerors from Persia, Turkey and the rest of Central Asia, when they finally captured power in north India around the 10th century AD, merely continued the tradition – they built their own castles, forts and praying places in this city.
And in the 15th or 16th century came the grand (and glamorous) Moguls. This ambitious dynasty really spread their empire to the rest of the country; however, their work was undone by the restless last grand Mogul, Aurangzeb.
Final in a list of conquerors were the shopkeepers – the British. This is an amazing and pretty sordid tale in history. A nation coming to trade and ended up with the vast Hindustan under their rule; I cannot imagine any other instance of something similar. They shifted their capital to Delhi in 1911 (prior to that it was Calcutta) and independent India inherited this capital in 1947.
Please understand that the colonial Brits have gone, but there is a lot of continuity in the present system of governance. It is still pretty high-handed. Delhi is a city of wheeler dealers, of slick power brokers, of powerful men who wield vast authority over the people of this country.
However, some things have changed. India is a pretty dysfunctional democracy – but in its own crazy way, it works. The poor are downtrodden and money is worshipped, but shout vigorously enough, and have enough people to shout along with you, your message will be heard and paid heed to. In this manner, many previously repressed groups, castes, etc. have gained a fair deal of respectability. They have managed to garner a modicum of grants, concessions and such things for their people in this manner.
My post is in two parts; the first is about the system of protest in Delhi and the second about one of the old Muslim monuments.
Hope you like them.
Protest in Delhi
A whole street (the Parliament Street, no less) was cordoned off because a group of leftist workers were protesting about poor working conditions, pay rise, etc for working women. Mind you, this is not illegal in India so long as you are not too violent about it. You are perfectly free to shout and speak.
And why protest here? For the same reason as my visit to Delhi – the Parliament is in session and all the Members of Parliament and ministers are in town. Organize something like this, get enough media coverage and your matter is bound to come up. Do this enough and who knows, you might see some real change in society, working conditions, etc.
We arrived a little before the action started and found these people sitting patiently for the leaders to give lectures. These people are the middle class of India – not rich and not poor either. This particular group is articulate and media savvy – they are not to be cowed down by the state, if it tried to act funny with them. Of course, many of them have vested interests, in garnering power for their own personal gain.
A different protest – this time, in front of the office of DLF, one of the biggest real estate companies in India. The head of DLF is one of the ten richest persons in the world (at least he was before the recession). This is a more affluent crowd, upper middle class possibly. I am not sure what they are protesting about. However, both the protests drew media men and this being Delhi, the coverage in TV channels and newspapers is almost guaranteed. This results in pressure on the whoever they are trying to influence.
A visit to Qutb Minar
I was in college in this city and so was my friend. Surprisingly though, we had never seen this monument. My friend dragged me down this time to see it along with his wife and adorable kid, and I am glad that he did.
It is a massive monument and one realizes it immensity only when you come near it. I wonder how they built such a big structure in those days; it must have cost the sultan zillions. Of course, the sultan was making a grand statement in constructing – 'Look at high mighty I am, and don't dare to play around with me'. The other fact is that India was not poor country in those days. Recent studies of history tell us that we had nearly 20% of the world economy as late as the 17th century, along with our eastern and worrisome gigantic neighbor, China. Our poverty is a modern phenomenon, and it was the result of our own stupidity, greed, lack of cohesion and the astonishing ruthlessness of the British to blame for it.
This was a Saturday and it was full of people. School kids, tourists from Japan, from all over my own country and from everywhere.
Another group having fun at the monument – and no, they are not Chinese or Japanese. They are either Nepalis (from either India or Nepal) or from one of our own North Eastern states
Yet another group – these are from South India. Note darker skin, typical of the southern states.
School girls near the monument, running up a grassy mound. I guess they are from a nearby state and they are on a school sponsored trip.
An unfortunate footnote in history – the Qutb Minar complex was built on an existing Hindu temple. It is quite likely that the temple was destroyed. The photo below shows one of the pillars of the temple with the Hindu god that was left alone (note that the face was defaced). This is an ancient and unfortunate conflict that resonates down to the modern day. It was the result of monotheistic Islam faced with a complex and antique religion, Hinduism. Both religions co-exist in the country today, and prosper. But tensions remain and there can be no denying that the ancient clash is by no means dead today.
My friend and his family – they are the typical new economy Indians that you probably read about these days. Both of them are MBAs, he is a senior manager in a big multi-national, they have careers that span Asia, Europe, the US and Africa and they fit in everywhere. They are the elite of my country, and I believe, are second to none.
India opened its economy in 1991. Till that time, we were an inward looking nation. In my childhood, we looked upon with wonder at the shiny, bright 'West'. Anyone traveling abroad was envied and those returning were feted upon. Then came the crash of the Soviet Union, the free fall of the Indian economy and its forced opening. It also resulted in vast numbers of Indians traveling abroad for studies and pleasure. And when they did, they found that the 'West', impressive as it was, was not all that unattainable. The elite of this country who went abroad found it easy to operate there, easy to make money, get degrees and so on. By around 2000, the awe was being replaced by familiarity. This is a new type of Indian, flitting in and out of countries, striking deals across the globe, speaking the language of commerce as fluently as the best of the Ivy Leaguers (many of them are Ivy Leaguers to start with).
What does that mean for India? What about the grinding poverty? The heinous and degrading caste system? The appalling living conditions for the vast majority? Well, they still exist, or are being alleviated at a snail's pace. But this shiny aspect of India cannot be ignored either.
This is how the 'Shining India' lives – in nice condos with all modern amenities, continuous electricity, clean water, broadband internet – the works.
