Devil's Advocate

Boredom and nostalgia had attacked me at the same time, and believe me, its a cocky mix!!! It so happened that I wanted to get a ticket to Pune, and having nothing else better to do and missing the good old days of getting a ticket from the reservation office, decided to head straight for the same. My lazy ass retorted to the idea, but I had the rush of nostalgia already filling me up with the excitement. And so I went.....

Standing five minutes in a queue and a bit of observing (mainly the ladies-only line!!!), this peculiar thing about our country struck me. A male foreigner was standing in the ladies only line. Given that the ladies only counter is shared by senior citizens and foreign tourists alike, but such an arrangement is done because of a few considerations for the womenfolk. Now it raises a few questions, viz.

• Are foreign males considered at par with Indian women? (Due pun intended!!!)
• If they are considered harmless, then the same should apply to Indian senior citizen males.

Atithi-devo-bhavah has long been the Indian motto but I'm seriously fed up of the second class citizen treatment meted out to us Indians in our homeland which is appalling to say the least. The dollars seem to shut the brain signals of Indians coupled with our fetish for the gori-chamdi (fairer skin). Go to Rajasthan, visit any of the monuments of historical significance. You, as an Indian would be subjected to cordoning off of certain sections of the same monument of which the foreigners will have complete access. Worse still, many of them would have a policy of entertaining only foreign guests. Worst still, we will be subjected to all the routine security checks whereas the foreigners will not be subjected to any checks. And this comes off of an eye witness. This at a time when a former president of our country is subjected to security checks from an American airline. Looks like the terrorism bit has become the forte of Asians!!!

As an Indian citizen and a tax payer (to top it), I should have the access to all the national monuments. As much as or more than the foreign tourists. And stop giving the tired excuse of they bringing dollars. If the guys at tourist spots are welcoming to Indians too, I do not see why a billion plus people would not visit places.

And it happens all too regularly. Come down to Pune. Go and try getting a picture clicked in front of the Osho Ashram (yes the same ashram which caters only to firangs and Indians with deep pockets!!!), and the guards take an exception to it. As if the road in front of the place belongs to these guys!!! So much so for roaming freely in your own country!!!

I'm not against foreigners visiting India. Heck no. But I'm opposed to this idea of bending backwards and welcoming foreigners. Of treating my own countrymen as second rate citizens. What a farce.....