When PIGS worship dogs, and dogs act maturely

These are interesting times that we are living in. The awe of the ‘west’ is largely over and the developing countries are moving towards economical and somewhat cultural convergence with the developed world.

As this convergence unfolds there would be so many situations that would be so nostalgic for the citizens of the south bloc. Many would be reminded of the past when they were treated as inferiors and often ridiculed.

It is true that it would still be a couple more decades until when such treatment would be vastly over but things seem to be moving in the right direction.

One notional instance that came to my mind as the Eurozone crisis unfolds is the coining of the term ‘PIGS’ to denote the debt-ridden countries of Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and Spain. Well it is true that this term is an acronym but at another level it is also symbolic of the structural malaise in these nations.

This then is far turn around from the times when Indians were considered on par with dogs. During the British colonisation there apparently were notices outside places mentioning ‘Dogs and Indians not allowed’ and Mahatma Gandhi was thrown out of his first class compartment in a train owing to this belief held by the Britishers.

Today nobody dares call Indians dogs. Instead everybody is wooing India and the Indian market and this includes the PIGS. Over the past few years most of the indebted developed nations have embarked on an ‘export oriented growth’ path as domestic demand vanished. Heads of state of most of these nations have come to India with huge business delegations to get a pie of our domestic demand.

India, however, is maturing in its attitude along with its economic maturity. It is not retaliatory or revengeful but is opting for all such options that are broadly good for its masses. This is best captured in the decline of the ‘left’ in India. The left quit the central government formed by UPA-I when it opposed the nuclear bill in 2008. The Communist Party, however, apparently misjudged its strength and suffered a serious blow in the 2009 parliamentary elections. 2011 turned out to be worse. The left was wiped out in the state elections in the last two remaining left bastions—Kerala and West Bengal. In Bengal, the left had been in control since 1977 and the defeat this year marks the end of an era.

At another level, and to be candid, India itself is manifest with so many forms of discriminations between its people – the lower and the upper classes, the minorities and the Hindus, the rural and the urban, the women and the men – and so on and so forth. Aravind Adiga’s acclaimed ‘The White Tiger’ provides a glimpse of such an India. However, as any observer of India would agree, significant strides have been taken with respect to reducing all such biases.

These are glorious days for India and all (an increased number of, if not all) its citizens. Days of opportunity when we can redeem our esteem and also show an India grounded in a higher value system.