Wounded Civilizations
I live now in the United
States for the last two years. Prior to that, I used to visit and return. The
question has always haunted me: Why Indians are still in awe of the white
race? Is it because we still have the wounds of the ‘wounded civilization’?
'Wounded Civilizations’ as a term was used by VS Naipaul in his book India: Wounded Civilization.
When the British came to India, Imperial Modernity, a product of Western military power enabled by economic growth and technological progress created a deep sense of emotional insignificance and backwardness of the 19th century in India and China. While China has largely overcome it, it is still alive in India with hurt feelings in spite of recent economic growth.
While we should have been proud of our traditions and culture, we could not stand the constant onslaught by the westerners. They made us feel stupid, made fun of our traditions and looked down upon us as primitive. If that was not enough, they became our rulers. They had weapons power and material success in their favor.
Our caste system divided us. Our then rulers, mostly dynastic, Hindus or Muslims, divided on the basis of religion or cast gave the fodder. Indians were not materialistic as a way of life.
But that is past, 70 years behind us but the master-servant relationship is yet to break. The moment we meet a white guy we squeeze in our seats. While the change is visible in the workplace particularly after the grand stride Indians have taken in the IT field, the fact remains that we are yet to assert our equality if not superiority in many fields. Indians are here because they earn more than what they could in their country but the fact remains that they are also here because they are prepared to work at lesser remuneration as compared to the locals, particularly whites. But that is beside the point.
'Wounded Civilizations’ as a term was used by VS Naipaul in his book India: Wounded Civilization.
When the British came to India, Imperial Modernity, a product of Western military power enabled by economic growth and technological progress created a deep sense of emotional insignificance and backwardness of the 19th century in India and China. While China has largely overcome it, it is still alive in India with hurt feelings in spite of recent economic growth.
While we should have been proud of our traditions and culture, we could not stand the constant onslaught by the westerners. They made us feel stupid, made fun of our traditions and looked down upon us as primitive. If that was not enough, they became our rulers. They had weapons power and material success in their favor.
Our caste system divided us. Our then rulers, mostly dynastic, Hindus or Muslims, divided on the basis of religion or cast gave the fodder. Indians were not materialistic as a way of life.
But that is past, 70 years behind us but the master-servant relationship is yet to break. The moment we meet a white guy we squeeze in our seats. While the change is visible in the workplace particularly after the grand stride Indians have taken in the IT field, the fact remains that we are yet to assert our equality if not superiority in many fields. Indians are here because they earn more than what they could in their country but the fact remains that they are also here because they are prepared to work at lesser remuneration as compared to the locals, particularly whites. But that is beside the point.
The main point is that
we have not been in a position to reconcile to the truth that whites are no
more our rulers. We are still in awe, an unpleasant gift of the wounded
civilization.
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