Political Diary

New Delhi, 17 October 2015

London Vs Delhi

CREDIBLE OR INCREDIBLE INDIA

By Poonam I Kaushish

Make In India! This poster stares one in the face as one departs Delhi airport. Our globe-trotting Prime Minister Modi’s big new idea which extols multi-national corporations to shift manufacturing to our country, the next big economic power. Juxtapose this with rabid communalism of fringe Saffron groups upping the anti-minority diatribe, ban on eating beef and cow slaughter, love-jihad and garnering votes by playing the caste-creed card. What to speak of reducing education to a toss between merit vs mediocrity a la reservations. Indeed, Mera Bharat is Mahan!

As one lands in London nostalgia gripes. If one thought Delhi airport was bad, none can beat the serpentine queues at Heathrow. It takes over an hour-and-a-half to clear immigration. The staff is inconsiderate to the point of being rude. Put it down to paranoia of terror, but to us desis who live and breathe terror on a daily basis they seem to have gone over the top. Like their counterparts in the US. Whereby, the fear of being attacked again has added a frightening dimension to their mechanized robot-like lives.

Yet, our khaki vardiwalas could do with a lesson or two from the London Bobby. There is no visible VVIP racism. Such a pleasant change from screeching sirens atop lal batti cars and innumerable road-blocks. There are no ugly security barricades around Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street (UK PM’s residence) and British Parliament. In fact, celebrities, not politicians, are the raison d’ atre for cordoning thoroughfares and theatres.

Besides, whether you walk into haute couture parlours or pubs brimming with locals mixing their seekh kababs and chicken tikkas with Cobra beer, India is omnipresent. It comes as no surprise that desi curry and bhangra rap are the joy de verve of London. The British love Indian food with most desi restaurants enjoying top ranking

Indeed, Asians today are the revered ‘rich’.  There is awe mingled with jealousy and a bit of animosity displayed by shop staff on Oxford Street and famed stores like Selfridges and Harrods as they attend to Indians with bulging wallets, who till the other day were disparagingly dismissed as poor immigrants.

Call it sweet irony or double revenge, but as the sun set on the British Empire in India it led to the sunrise of the ‘Indian Empire’ in UK. Undoubtedly, the BBDs (Britain-born-desis) are making their mark of brilliance, dedication, loyalty and integrity. They have virtually taken over the remnants of what was once the Great Kingdom

Rich Indians are swarming all over in the quintessential search for the pot of gold. Walk downtown London’s Mayfair, Piccadilly, Leicester Square and the latest Shard every other person is a non-Brit and every fifth person is an Indian.

From giant conglomerates to store chains, food stalls, kiosks are either run or manned by Asians --- Indians, Bangladeshis, and Pakistanis etc. The reason is not far to see. The locals are lazy, love their pubs and lager and don’t think or plan for the future. Unlike their Asian counterparts who work hard and save money to go up the economic ladder. No job is lowly or menial.

Any wonder that in the list of the 50 richest in Britain, a majority are Asians. In fact, the richest man in UK Lakshmi Mittal is a much-feted PIO (Person of Indian Origin) and an NRI (non-resident Indian) as is Lord Swaraj Paul who serves as the Chancellor of Westminster University. So, is the sun finally setting on the Empire? Seems so.

A classic case. Enterprising Asians are running parallel taxi services to take head-on the famed London cab. By undercutting the price and giving passengers the option of selection of cars ----from S-class Mercedes, BMWs and “normal” cars. One can book a mini-cab prior to departure from any country and have a car receive you at Heathrow to your destination. All for 30-40 pounds compared to a London taxi which costs 80 pounds!

Yet it’s not roses all the way. To get a pulse of life in London, an Afghani mini-cab driver who migrated to London in 1996, put it succinctly: “I came to London to give my family and myself a better future. Things were difficult and there was always an undercurrent of xenophobia. They pick out Asians and put them behind bars, without a shred of evidence.

“I know of four migrant cab drivers who were knifed by their passengers. I too was attacked while driving. I overpowered my assailant and took him to the police station. However, they refused to file a complaint since he was British!” But, it is not only xenophobia per se, jealous locals make matters worse. Yet Asians don’t view this as a deterrent and continue to flock to England

Moreover, what endures Indians to Britons and vice versa is a shared belief in Parliamentary democracy being an effective system of governance. It is not for nothing that it will take a long time for Raisina Hill to hold a candle to Westminster. Architecturally, both Houses of Parliaments maybe formidable institutions but the distinction between what happens inside is not difficult to notice.

The Parliamentary discourse in Westminster is in tune with what is happening across the country and indeed the world on a daily basis. And its quality compels the Government to try and stay on the right side of public opinion.

Obversely, we need lessons on political courtesies whereby even serious issues are reduced to a verbal torrent of tu-tu-mein-mein between rivals. Sadly, Parliament is increasingly becoming a tamasha wherein crores of tax payers’ money is being swept away by walk-outs and pandemonium. In fact, not a day passes in our Lok Sabha without below the belt abuses, smirks et al.

The irony of it all is that even as PIOs and NRIs yearn for their roots back home, Indians are evocative about life under the British Raj. What makes matters worse is that our polity shows little respect for the aam aadmi and tramples on his pride. Day in and day out we are afflicted by our Right Honourables nauseatingly flaunting their power via elaborate power trappings and freebies that go with it.  Sic. Demands for an end to VVIP racism is like water off a ducks back!

The immigration counters at Delhi airport say it all. While there is a separate fast track for the PIOs and the NRIs, the true-blue desis have to join long serpentine queues for their turn. It makes ones blood boil. Are we unwanted? Pertinently, even as 21 Century Super India beacons we still have a long way to bring asli Bharat and Brand India together.

Clearly, India is Incredible. While UK reposes it faith in its citizen and treats him royally, our polity glibly talks of Incredible India when it should actually be serenading the Incredible Indians! ----- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)