The other day I was sitting in the lounge of a fancy hotel, waiting for my father to come back from a meeting he had with some Chinese guys. They had apparently not gone through with a deal properly. Whatever, I hardly cared. All I wanted was to get my father and go shopping for my very own laptop. Honestly, that was all that kept me in the sterile and overly formal place. I was flipping through a magazine with a nearly naked celebrity on its cover, wondering what was about it that made it so different from those cheap C-grade magazines I saw on stands. But before I cud conclude my thoughts, there came a Chinese chap, about as old as me and sat on the sofa next to me.
We both exchanged cursory glances. He smiled and nodded, I smiled and nodded right back. Then there was dead silence, as I fumbled through the magazine in which I had no interest, and he looked about, probably wondering why he wasn’t in China where he could have some noodles or something. So as you would expect, we started chatting. Here’s an excerpt (lets call the Chinese guy X, cuz I wouldn’t be able to remember his name on my life!) :
X: Hi. I be from China. I have come to India for first time! Nice place!
Me: Oh, really? Where in China are you from?
X: I be from Beijing. Have you heard of it? It is capital of China!
Me: Yes, yes! I sure have heard heard of it! (to myself: then what the hell did he like in the smallest town in India??)
.
.
.
(some formalities later)
Me: So the crowd you see here must be very normal for you, eh? After all, population is an issue in your country too!
X: Yes. But China found an effective solution to the rapid growth of population. The one child policy is brilliant! You will beat us in population!!! Ha-ha!
Me: But I feel that India is on a better course by not forcing her people to have only one child or two children only. I feel it should be a matter of conscious decision by each person and people should be about the ill-effects of a large family.
X: Maybe, but of what good that be? Look at your population growth. You people are going to overtake us in terms of population in just a few more years. Is that something to be proud of? Our country believes in taking effective measures. That is why we are more successful!
Me: Achha? More successful? Success is a rather relative measure, don’t you think?
X: Relative measure? How can “measure” be your relative?
Me: I meant it depends on each person’s point of view.
X: Hmm.
Me: I mean, we can call ourselves more successful than you’ll in many ways.
X: WHAT??? How that be? We have more money, stronger economy, bigger army, better weapons, bigger land and … and … yes we have all this. What do you people have?
Me: Humare paas “Maa” hai! Hahaha!!!
X: What???
Me: Sorry, that was just an inside joke. But seriously, I agree you have more money and a bigger army and all, but at what cost?
X: What do you mean by that?
Me: I mean look what you all have had to sacrifice for this “achievement”. You people were no better than any other Asian country to begin with. What you’ll have done is taken up extremist Communism to force yourselves into a mould.
X: Be you implying that Communism is bad and that we are extremists?
Me: Well not “bad” per se. But yes you are extremists. Look I believe Communism was good for its time, but the way your leaders took up violence to enforce it shows that it’s not a peoples’ method. You would not have to enforce it if people wanted it. You’ll have the blood of hundreds of innocents on your hand.
X: TRAITORS ARE NOT INNOCENTS!!!
Me: Hey! Cool down, will you? I am trying to have a discussion here, not start World War III! See that’s the problem with you’ll, you all have been brainwashed to think in the way your leaders want you to think! There’s no room for original thought!
X: Of what good is that?
Me: You know, that’s why I think we are much better off. Atleast we have freedom of thought. Yes India has less money, corrupt politicians, etc, etc. But this is one place I can be whoever I want to be, one place I can practice any religion/belief I want to. One place where I can put forward my views and not be afraid of an entire army coming after me! Here I can be a Communist of Capitalist by choice, not by force! Yes, we may end up having a larger population, but heck, atleast we did not force people and make their family choice for them and WE DID NOT KILL BABIES to force such a law!!! My heritage speaks of Gandhiji, an common man rising and leading the people of India to gain Independence without violence, not of a leader who killed people to get what he wanted. Come to think of it, Gandhiji alone got more without a gun than your leaders ever could with an entire army. Look, I don’t mean to say all Chinese people are bad or something, but yes your current systems represses individual thought and basic rights of a person to believe in what he wants. And I also know people in China want to change it, or else the Tiananmen Square incident wouldn’t have taken place.
(Enter: my father and probably his too along with a handful of Chinese guys)
Me: It is time to leave, but I ask you this, what would you rather have, a poorer nation with the freedom to do anything you want, be anyone you want … or a richer nation with no option but to follow the government because it has a gun pointed at your head? A poor master or a rich slave? And, hey! We will reach the economic status and our army will be the best, in time. But we believe an innocent man’s life, and a free man’s thoughts need not be sacrificed for it. Ciao!
… And I left. Last I remember he was red-faced and fuming. I knew getting across to him would be difficult, but he seemed to be on the verge of punching me in the middle of my, well, “speech”. But I guess he remembered then, he is on my turf!!!
India Rules!
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