Independence Day

On August 15th, India celebrates its independence from its European colonizer.  Many among the populace of the small little island in the northern latitudes, which is increasingly irrelevant in the world, are now perhaps horrified at the prospect of a grandson of one of the colonized brown people becoming their next Prime Minister.  (My hunch is that he will lose the race.)

August 15th was when I, too, was liberated from the old country.  So, I interrupt my vacation to bring you this:

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In 1987, the Singapore Airlines flight that I was on took off from Madras (as Chennai was known then) a little before the midnight that made made the transition from the 14th of August to the 15th--similar to India's birth at midnight.

I stepped into a "Jumbo Jet" for the first time in my life. Up until then, I had flown only twice--short domestic flights. The Jumbo Jet was something else. I felt like I had entered a huge hotel lobby. And there was a staircase, for the privileged travelers to get to their seats!

My seat was in the rear of the plane, only a couple of rows ahead of the "smoking section." The stress. The excitement. And everything new. I don't think I slept much. Not in the flight from Madras to Singapore, nor in the long haul from Singapore to Los Angeles with a stop in Tokyo.

After the plane landed in Los Angeles, the disembarking took forever.  I joined the long line snaking its way to the immigration counters for visitors. Finally, it was my turn. I gave the officer my papers and my passport. My life in America commenced with the official stamp on my passport.

One can, therefore, easily understand why I refer to August 15th as my personal independence day too!

My friend picked me up from the airport. It was a long drive to his home, mostly on freeways. I was excitedly looking all around. I was impressed with everything. I had never seen such an uninterrupted flow of traffic. In India, cows and goats and humans all claimed the road at the same time. But, not here.  Impressive it was that all the vehicles were speeding in one direction within well defined lanes, and across the barrier on the other side there were vehicles speeding in the other direction. Everybody stayed within their lanes too!

Though it took me a decade-plus to become an American citizen, there was no doubt in my mind that when I left India on the night of August 14th, I was leaving to make myself a new home. I looked forward to the new identity that would result. 

Coming to America took a whole lot of planning--from thinking about what I wanted to study to where I wanted to study.  Los Angeles was, thus, no simple accidental happening.  Of course, as much as we plan, life unfolds in its own cosmic way; there is not much for me to complain about at this stage in my life.

Summer vacation

After my former employer laid me off, it is up to me to take a break.  The days of the week and official holidays make no difference when I have been exiled to premature retirement.

It is now up to me to determine my own schedule.  I am going to take a short break from blogging, dammit!  ;)

(By this time, you know well where this cartoon came from, right?)

Do five different fingers not make a hand?

As much as I have been a fan of globalization, I have been equally supportive of people's fights to maintain their identities.  To me, it is not a contradiction by any means.  One can be fiercely Tamil or Kurd or Scot, or whatever, and be appreciative of globalization in all its facets--economic, political, cultural, ...

When nationalists complain about the loss of identity, I wish liberals would not be condescending towards that emotion.  Instead, it would be wonderful if liberal political leaders took the time and effort to explain why we can have our cake and eat it too.

Of course, I have even written commentaries that discuss this theme, like the following, which was published on December 12, 2006:

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To understand ethnic and religious tensions in faraway places such as Iraq, Lebanon or India, we need look no farther than our own northern neighbor – Canada. 

The Canadian parliament recently acted to formally recognize the Francophone province, Quebec, as a nation within Canada. Prime Minister Stephen Harper introduced the motion, which passed overwhelmingly. 

The move explicitly recognizes the ethnic nationalism that has been the driving force behind two failed referenda that called for a formal separation of Quebec from Canada. 

For years Quebecers have maintained that their language, history and cultural traditions were being systematically ignored, put down and forgotten by Canada's English-speaking majority. It's like Rodney Dangerfield's complaint: "I don't get no respect." Quebecers felt so intensely about this that in 1980 and 1995, they voted on proposals to formally secede from Canada. The prime minister's hope is that this formal recognition of Quebecers as a nation within Canada will preclude further independence efforts. Recognition of Francophone Canadians as a nation within the country comes almost 140 years after the country was formed. 

This recent development is a reminder that humans value and cherish their respective identities – in this case as members of a group with its own shared language, history and cultural traditions. Once we grasp this, we can begin to understand why there is a great deal of commotion along ethnic and religious lines in many other parts of the world. 

Take the case of Iraq. During World War I, the Ottoman Empire supported Germany, and after the war the empire essentially was carved into territories, one of which was the territory of Iraq. 

Iraq was placed under British control, as per the agreement developed by the League of Nations – the forerunner to the United Nations. Iraq then went through different forms of government, many of which were externally imposed. The modern-day Iraqi republic was established in 1958 after a military coup. In 1979, Saddam Hussein emerged as the president; as they say, the rest is history. 

During all this time, the many "nations" within Iraq not only were ignored by the government, some were in fact systematically abused because of their culture, language and religious beliefs. 

The Kurds are one of Iraq's ethnic groups; as a people, they also are scattered across Iran and Turkey. They want to be recognized as a "nation" as much as Quebecers did. Saddam's government killed many Kurds simply because they were Kurds. 

Turkey does not want the Kurds in Iraq to gain independence because of the worry that Kurds in Turkey will demand recognition of their status or, worse, join hands with the Kurds in Iraq and form a greater Kurdistan. These "nation" issues are not unique to Iraq or Turkey. 

These are found all across the world. In Quebec, the struggle for recognition is nonviolent. Unfortunately, that is the not the case in a number of other struggles to establish national and state identities. 

And even if a people's nationality is well recognized, achieving formal statehood is not always an orderly or peaceful process. Take the case with Palestine, where violence has been endemic for decades. 

Even in Bhutan, regarded by outsiders as a Shangri-la, there are problems related to ethnicity and nationality. Ethnic Nepalese have left Bhutan in large numbers because the monarch's policies do not appear to recognize differences in the way the Nepalese look, the Hindu religion they practice and, of course, the language they speak. 

We have been so wrapped up with our fascination with globalization that maybe we assumed that ours is a homogenous world. On the contrary, we have different languages, religions, beliefs, histories. And sometimes, people want explicit recognition of those differences. 

It has taken Canada 140 years to formally recognize that Quebecers are a nation within their country. How long will it take for the Kurds, for instance, to be recognized as a nation within Turkey? 

So, let us use the opportunity that Quebecers have given us and understand not only the thirst for recognition, but the similar feelings that various "nations" have in all corners of the world. This recognition is a fundamental step in achieving peace and stability, particularly in the violent Middle East.