Signposts of a country

WORDS WORTH/ BOOK EXTRACT

Add Peggy Holroyde to the list of Indophiles whose directory (for want of a better explanation) of Indian 'signposts' makes endearing reading because of her obvious admiration for the country and its culture.

It is in one broad sweep both a dictionary as well as a chastising editorial on Western inability to understand India. It is these delightful (and delightfully subjective) swipes at Western superiority and laziness (Gandhi's "name is prone, sadly, to be misspelled even in leading world newspapers as Ghandi", she notes) as well as the ease with which she explains more complex issues that will make Holroyde's work a must-have bedside read. That her choice of subjects on which she writes is eclectic, ranging across people, places, history, geography and politics, makes it a subjective work "" not so much a selection of Indianisms as a personal memoir.

KUMBH MELA ...Personal footnote - February-March 2001

I can well understand the outburst from Francois Gautier (correspondent for the French press in India) on the Western media coverage of this extraordinary event.

Capturing the attention of the Western audience bombarded with a plethora of media signals is a major problem. My own husband agonised over this within the BBC Current Affairs programs half a century ago.

'Exotic', 'bizarre', 'picturesque' is the Indian stereotype...

The Kumbha Mela... demonstrates once again to which extent Western journalism, when it is applied to India, harps on the anecdotal, the superfluous, the derogatory, deforms everything and transforms what is beautiful and noble into a show of freaks and fanatics. And wasn't that the headline of The Independent of London: "A freak fair?"

News agencies in Europe and the US are only interested in the photos of Hollywood stars (Madonna, Demi Moore, Richard Gere, Pierce Brosnan, etc), even if they will be totally lost amongst the millions of (real) devotees...

...Isn't it strange that at the time of globalisation and standardisation of the whole world, at a time when the civilisation of Coca-Cola and MTV reigns supreme from Rio de Janeiro to Manila, from Paris to Shanghai, at a time when man's collective consciousness is universally lowered to an idiotic level by American television soaps "" Bold and Beautiful or Friends "" nobody in the West finds it extraordinary that 80 million souls converge by plane, by car, on horseback, on foot towards a place which they consider sacred, to pray to That which is beyond us, to this immanent Force towards which men have aspired to since millenniums?

But not at all! What does the Western press do? It publishes photos of naked sadhus, or stretched out on beds of thorns; it harps on the ban of Cox & King's unethical marketing of the Mela, or speaks of the VHP's fundamentalism. Always these images which denigrate India, always the colonial superior spirit which perpetuates itself in the negative vision which Western journalists have of the Indian subcontinent.

This has always been India's problem in comparison with China that defies the West, curbs press movement, closely supervises all commentary, resists interference and the internet "" and therefore, in a curious way, commands respect from a somewhat cowed Western media.

How ironic that India, an open democracy, receives the full blast from Western editors and correspondents back in their cocooned offices, air-conditioned rooms, travel privileges, free whiskey/sodas. I have seen it all "" close-to!

SHAKING THE HEAD

...is a very Indian habit especially in answering your questions, as though the skull is permanently on a wobbly ball-bearing base, like the dancing papiermâche figures on sale in the bazaar. Beware! The signals being sent out are opposite to the negative twist of the head from left to right and back which signals NO in Western culture.

Movement in short agreeable bursts from side to side means the person to whom you are talking, or just passing the time of day, is agreeing with you (even if not really listening to what you are saying). Often this emphatic head gesture is accompanied with the spoken exclamation: Achcha or Haan-ji.

Indians wish to please, especially the guest from outside their close community. 'Yes' may well mean NO when the person engaged in conversation with you wants to put you at your ease rather than hurt your feelings. Indian culture has a strong streak in it of honour to the genuine stranger who shows a sincere curiosity. Dharma underpins this with an outgoing courtesy and hospitality. Indian kindness can be quite overwhelming at times and may happen in the least expected situations.

'Naheen' meaning NO can be indicated by gyrating the head in a number of ways. You will soon learn to differentiate between this signal and its verbal response and the Haan-ji or Achcha emphasised on the last AA syllable. This signals YES. A rising inflexion may confuse the entire issue into a question!

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An ABC of Indian Culture
A Personal Padayatra of Half a Century into India

Author Peggy Holroyde
Publisher Mapin Lit
PAGES 373