Sounding like a Sadist............

Suneeta Williams is in India. Media has been chasing her right before her arrival on Ahmedabad airport. We saw the footage of jostling still and video photographers to take a glimpse of Suneeta. It has been publicised all around that a great charismatic personality is coming and we all should be up in arms to welcome her. This is not the first time we have witnessed such kind of euphoria when some highly acclaimed PIO reaches India. Suneeta Williams is the latest in the list that already includes Amartya Sen, V S Naipaul, LN Mittal etc. The underlying whispers behind such euphoria is,” Oh! What a great personality is this. So highly placed, so rich, so famous, Green Card holder, so successful. But still he or she is obliging a poor, corrupt and underdeveloped nation like us. Oh, how generous is he (she), that he (she) still recognises his (her) ties with us.” This is in fact an extension of the British period servile mentality, which we are still struggling to get rid of. I, very easily, remember Mr. Naipaul showing his scorn about his links with this country, when he was here to participate in the Pravasi Bhartiya summit. His proud attitude was all visible everywhere, like he was obliging this country by coming here. Steel king LN Mittal had once corrected a journalist who asked him a question identifying him as an Indian. He told the journalist that he was a British and no more an Indian. But we never get tired showing our proud about Mittal or Naipaul being and Indian. Consider a fact. Somebody studies Maths, some history, some business administration and Suneeta Williams studied astronomy. Some become engineer, some doctor, some mathematician, some historian, some CEOs and Suneeta Williams became an astronomer. And everyone tries to excel in their respective profession. Some of them get success. Suneeta Williams was one of them. So, I completely fail to understand what great thing has she done. Well, if she wants to visit her ancestral home, why should she be a national event? And now our intellectual Prime Minister has also invited her to meet him. But I don’t think anyone in this country expects him to do something revolutionary. So he must float in the current. Yesterday (21st Sep.) NDTV was running a questionnaire. Who among Narendra Modi and Suneeta Williams is the pride of Gujarat? Anyone can understand the hereditary leftist xenophobia of NDTV for Narendra Modi. One might debate if Modi is a boon or bane for Gujarat, but how can Suneeta be a subject of proud for Gujarat. It is like bestowing Nelsan Mandela with Bharat Ratna. And our government and bureaucracy has already done this also, so I can understand the mental bankruptcy of NDTV for asking this question. Rabindra Nath Tagore, Rakesh Sharma or C V Raman are our national prides. Similarly Naipauls, Mittals and Suneetas might be a great talent like Shakespeare, Neil Armstrong, Mark Faber. But they can’t be our national pride. And as far as the question of other media groups are concerned, the only thing I can say is to turn against tide is not ordinary. And unfortunately, we don’t have any extra ordinary voice in our system.