Rohit’s Weblog

‘Foreigner’ that I have been for four days now, I realised that there were too few Indians(comparatively ) that people around would really consider me a foreigner. But this couldn’t last long as I had to change my mind when I went to the Festival of World Cultures held here last weekend.There were Indians and more Indians and making there presence felt.Be it the Bhangra Blast or the crowded Biryani stall or the Sikh Martial arts display, Indians just stole the show. The Festival had a brilliant display of folk arts, handicrafts and music from around the world. The Indians had enough exhibits to keep the Irish impressed and happy.The festival Tshirt’s back had a quote-”Be the change you want to see in the world”. If you were wondering what the relevance is then you must know that was our Bapu’s quote.
Music never sounded so good. Music from different continents and Music which had a league of its own. Some sounded familiar though. Maybe they were inspired(read copied) by some other music director. But this was pure and inspirational.One such rare display was a combination of the scotland pipers and the samba dancers which was literally music for the ears and feet. It just stuck me how two things so different could bring about such a splendid creation together. Was never an expert in music but always wondered if a a single instrument sounded better than a medley.
Coming back to the festival. It was an ideal get away for someone like me who has just landed in Europe. I not only could travel a bit but also could experience the best of so many different cultures. It was perfect till someone had to play spoilsport. It was a dear old friend of the Irish-The rain.

An uninvited guest to my party, rain could not play so much of a dampener for the proceedings of the festival but it turned so cold that I could just wish there was an Indian stall which could give me the weather back home. But I guess that was too much to ask for. The Irish seem just not bothered as it has become so common to them that it has become something expected. So I clarify my stance in the earlier post. Dublin weather is awesome as long as it doesn’t rain. Because when it rains it just leaves with no choice but get used to it.:)
But a festival had to be celebrated and suddenly the next day the sun was out in the sky and so was Dublin out on the roads. The festival had all its colors and people were just happy to bask in the sun and enjoy  music from round the globe. The visitors were many on this day and it surely looked like a celebration of the world.
I was lucky to have such an entertaining first weekend. I surely could get a lot of pictures and videos but I guess with a colleague of mine flaunting her photography like this. I just was happy carrying the umbrella for her.:).

So much excitement, restlessness and one long journey. This is the start of my travel story. It has not even been 24 hours since I landed in Dublin and there is so much I can talk about. Atleast the journey part there were many firsts.

12:30 am 21st August,Hyderabad-This was the first time I was at the not quite ‘new’ Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad. With a parking area that sprawled more than the terminal area it really looked impressive. I was super restless and my mom was super worried. I guess any journey would feel incomplete without such an expression on my mom’s face. After bidding farewell to my family and friends whom I won’t be meeting for sometime now I started exploring the airport which was the topic of one too many controversies and discussions during recent times. But for me it was more than impressive at the least if I compared it with the previous one. But I guess it requires the right comparison to take a stance. My friends could only compare it with the Beijing airport which was opened during the same time and supposedly had a terminal size 5 times that of Heathrow Airport. ‘Comparison’ has an unknown power to it. It can make or break anyone or anything.

Soon I was in the Royal Dutch Airlines-KLM. It surely considered itself royalty and its passengers commoners. The service was substandard. I guess they need a lesson from Indians in this aspect. The only thing good about the flight was that they played the movie-Kungfu Panda which I enjoyed even while watching it the second time. Probably because of my excitement, I could not manage more than 2 hrs of sleep. The food served was boring.Thanks to that I was super tired when I got off at the Schipol Airport in Amsterdam. But then I realised why there needs to be a ‘Comparison.’

The Airport could put the best of shopping malls to shame. It took me three hours to span the length and breadth of airport and I felt that I hadn’t seen enough. It was too organised that I could easily get lost in the order. After some ‘extra’ checks and some tiring explorations I managed to get on the AerLingus flight which is the low cost airline to Dublin. But one thing which struck me majorly was the ‘Euro’sion I was going to have on my pocket. I had to force myself not to convert and count or just forget math for sometime so that I don’t have a financial heartburn .

Dublin is beautiful. Be it the bird’s eye view from the flight or the view during the drive in the S-Class mercedes my company arranged to pick me up or the view from the balcony of my apartment. It is definetely classical Europe. A very small city with people from lot of nationalities. It is a place to visit. I tried to catch up with some of my colleagues once I got a little fresh in the apartment and with the welcome they gave me I did feel really fresh. I surely will have some difficulty pronouncing the names but a smile is surely a way to connect and connect well.

Food is an unfamiliar territory for me in this region. For someone who has lived all his life in South India suddenly a soul mate called spice has become an imposter. Very difficult to find spicy food here. But as of now I am enjoying the difference and hope will be able to experiment for long enough. Especially when you are not a non vegetarian until you eat beef and not eating out until you booze it should be an interesting challenge to stay interested. All said it feels good to be here. Not for long though I guess. As Mohith says- “I am an Indian and I miss my chaos”

Just when you thought my blog has become boring, repetitive and monotonous. Just when you thought you had enough of me preaching. Just when you thought why you needed to listen all my cynicism and sarcasm- I have something ELSE to write about!!!! Though it would not change my writing style which is soooo INGRAINED in me, it would definitely change the things I would be writing about. The reason- I am going to Ireland and that too for an official reason.

This is the first time I would be travelling abroad. I am finally putting my passport to some use. I always said to myself that I had so much to see in India that I would only go abroad when I finish exploring the whole of India which in itself contains every diversity present in this world(and also turns out cheaper). But I just got blinded by this offer. I am going to explore the west and hopefully write about it too. It should be interesting to meet the Irish about whom a lot has been said( like seriously!!!)

This is one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no use whatsoever.
         Sigmund Freud (about the Irish)

In Ireland the inevitable never happens and the unexpected constantly occurs.
         Sir John Pentland Mahaffy

The problem with Ireland is that it’s a country full of genius, but with absolutely no talent.
         Hugh Leonard

Isn’t this enough for me to raise my expectations. Don’t know about meeting expectations but I will surely be meeting a lot of interesting people. To add to this, the team I am going to work with has already given me the warmest of welcomes. I am sure I would be making a lot of friends and surely there will be stories to tell.

On the eve of celebrating our 61st Independence Day there are so many of my ‘as usual’ questions that trouble me. There is so much that this young country has seen in this time that there is very little I can distinctly remember. Be it any field we have seen the highest of the lows and lowest of the highs. Independence is a state of the mind.  Dependence on an external nation has stopped but we still are dependant on ‘the system’ to teach us what to do. It is this very system which teaches us how to find loopholes. But as I said earlier, change is inevitable. The constitution makers were very selective in the usage of adjectives to describe an Independent India. Little did they know that the same rules which could be watchdogs for the national integrity could be divisive policies for the lawmakers. Socialism has become an excuse for strikes for oppositions, Secularism has become the slogan for all anti-BJP parties( atleast for the public view) , Sovereignty has become ‘anti-globalism’ for the communists, Equality has become the underlining principle for reservations/minority appeasement( a sophisticated term for vote bank politics) and Republicanism a way to show the world that we can elect a rubber stamp from varied minorities. Otherwise what would explain us having one non-Hindu PM in 61 years and many Presidents in this time. I am not holding anything against the ones who sat in those chairs but some things are so in-built in our system that we fail to understand that they could be changed.

All we would need is Practical patriotism rather than Emotional patriotism. Now you can hold it against me for even dividing patriotism. But don’t blame me. I am an Indian and I should believe in identifying myself with a group. But what is the difference between the two. Wearing traditional clothes on Independence Day, celebrating a sporting victory, singing the national anthem with vigour, tying up a tricolor on the top of our houses only to remove it the next day, watching movies like Border with tears, singing patriotic songs all are in one way or the other emotionally patriotic. I am not saying these things are wrong but are these enough to say you are a true Indian?  When we can respect our motherland so much why don’t most of us respect other Indians?? What have we done that we could support our nation. Patriotism would be paying our taxes, it would be not offering a bribe, it would be following the rules, it would be keeping our motherland clean, it would be preserving our heritage, it would be voting for the right candidate( and proving to the politicians that we are a force to reckon with) and many more. We don’t need someone to tell us this. It is a part of our ‘Fundamental Duties’ which everyone of us has studied in school. I guess it is also one of the mugged up material which is easily unlearned as we become more ‘educated’.

I know its our Independence day and we have to be optimistic about the future and not cynical about teh past. SO coming back to what I set out to write. The Goldman-Abhinav Bindra. Not only has he done us proud but also has told us an imminent truth we need to be Independent enough to ‘afford’ a medal. I am not saying he has bought it but he has done it with no kind of support from the Govt. He is being flooded with all the money now but what is the point. Isn’t it better to use that money to sponsor a talented poor kid? Changes will come. At least for the ammunition’s market it has. The sales of rifles has apparently increased by 400% after the victory. Yes, we do follow the bandwagon. But it is a success story of Independant India. Be it the Indian private sector which on the name of globalisation is taking over the world or the achievers who have made it to the top of the managements of all the major companies in the world. Indian insurgence into the world stage is here to stay. Just wish someone would just Lead India the same way.Wish YOU a Happy Independence Day. Keep up the patriotic spirit.