eastern promises from a western lens

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At a recent Diwali celebration here in Manhattan, I found myself in the midst of the all-too-familiar debate on India’s or Asia’s ascent versus America’s decline. Furious arguments were exchanged lauding the rise of the “East” and statistics brandished on world economic shifts. Some of us argued that no matter any economic shift (which in itself is fairly arguable), the cultural imperialism of the West still stands sound and until that changes nothing can really shift. The debate then quickly devolved to the question of Indian identity and whimpered down when someone announced that “I feel Indian because its as simple as I miss my help in the kitchen.” Ouch! The irony of this is I’m sure not lost on you. The desi swish set pontificating the benefits of living in posh Bombay or Delhi versus Gramercy Park and concluding that India is where its at. This irksome debate managed to assuage some of that nostalgic dull ache that resurfaces in me on occasions like Diwali...where I wistfully long for a Bombay that I left; that I know doesn’t exist in any place except my imagination. 

Sumedh Munghee on the other hand decided to not only live out the debate we were having, but also blog about it, and New York Times loved it so much that they decide to post it. The thing is Mr. Munghee was so driven by all these feelings of nostalgia and inspired by Friedman’s flat globe that he decided to move back from the U.S. and settle into urban India. Unfortunately, even though he surrounded himself with all things Western-like, he found that he was quickly deteriorating into a savage Indian. This horrific realization got him to pack his bags and return to the burbs of CA, but he kindly added an ode to India’s future success something he will regrettably have to bow out of since it entails being Indian in India. I’m not going to recount some of the atrocious statements in his blog post. I’ll leave that to your reading displeasure. But what ran as a common thread for me between this article and the debate was the acutely narrow accounts or ideas of economic or socio-political shifts coming from a privileged and mobile set of Indians having utterly Westernized, classist and bourgeois perspectives. Apart from having no real intellectual depth, it is appalling that the discussion never accounts for the vast section of Indian society below the upper crust. Munghee’s dehumanized maid, for instance, did not really get the memo on India’s economic boom and has anything really changed for her in the last decade?! I think not. When will we stop viewing Eastern promises through a Western lens?