First World, Third World

A friend, who was on the panel of a seminar hosted by one of India’s most prestigious colleges recently, was a bit traumatised by the rampant jingoism he encountered from his fellow panelists and the well-heeled audience comprising undergraduates.

“There was chest-thumping cheering and baying for blood,” he said. “Phrases like ‘we threw Brangelina out!’ and ‘we don’t need the white man!’ were met with raucous applause”

Is India shining a bit too gaudily? No doubt double digit growth and becoming a hot destination for foreign investment does call for some hurrahs, but are we taking things too far? After decades of being the beggar at the world’s banquet are we now displaying bad manners when invited to sup at the table?

I once heard and was shocked when an internationally successful Indian described another as being ‘a First World person’.

This was in the eighties when India was woefully Third World and the information highway and reform were not even a glimmer in Rajiv’s eye. When I heard it I thought it to be racist — after all describing one Indian as being a First World person underlined the ‘Third World’ qualities of the other billion.

But when I thought more about it I understood what was being said: Being described as a First World person implied a pursuit of excellence, a refusal to compromise, a striving for professionalism and objectivity.

On the other hand Third World qualities meant perennially looking for hand outs, having a victim mentality and cutting corners.

But today when I review this phrase I do not know if I am as shocked by it at all. Clearly in a flat world, terms like First and Third World do not have the same thrall on us.

India, in its striving for excellence, its brilliant IT professionals and its status as an emerging economic giant cannot be dismissed as only ‘Third World’ any more. Every day more of its people are sitting eyeball to eyeball with their counterparts the world over and not blinking.

But there is still one frontier to be crossed: and that is the mental one. Until we stop seeing ourselves as gate-crashers at the world’s banquet, we will always be treated as arriviste and never leave our Third World moorings behind.

And that requires us to speak from a position of a quiet confidence that eschews jingoism, racism, and populist chest-thumping.

That requires recognising that though we come from a poor nation we have the wealth of a one of the richest civilisations behind us.

That requires us to accept our new found and very recent success with grace and dignity.

Ultimately it boils down to walking the talk: at the end of the day, you cannot be First World if you don’t behave First World

s_malavika@dnaindia.net