Remember "We are seven" by William Wordsworth? A lyrical ballad it is, indeed made the most touching by the young protagonist's insistence "we are seven". The blog today takes its title from the poem because my argument is equally persistent. Well, I am absolutely tenacious in maintaining that despite all the distinctnesses, despite the difficult politicisation's of the differences, we, Indians, are the same. "We are Indian"!
Wanna know why? Just a few days ago, I was sent a video of a dance drama in Malyalam. The choreography of the ballet entitled "Kuchela" clearly had the Mohiniattam stylisation. It seems, the performance was in celebration of the "Kuchela Dinam".
Now even if one knew not a word of Malyalam, the performance with lovely mudra, aangik and waachik abhinaya straight went to one's heart 'coz the soulful call to Krishna in it was by Sudama. Sure, the actor's get-up, including the 'veshti' and the bamboo umbrella, was typically Malayalee, but the soul of the Keralite show was absolutely Indian.
Yes, we ARE Indian. Despite all the differences of languages, looks, rituals, there undoubtedly is a unique commonness we all share. That is our Indianness. Our state(ly!) ego, our ideological differences, the religions, the different denominations in each, nothing can come in the way of this unique togetherness, our Indian identity.
Is it merely ancient, shared via the mythology, and so on? Well, I do not think so. Let me explain why. Yesterday, I was returning home after a programme. The crazy Pune traffic was at its peak. Horns blared, people glared at each other, the signal stared red in fury.
Yet in this mad hustle-n-bustle, all listened avidly when floated on the air Latadi's immortal "Kuch Dil ne kaha, kuch bhi nahi". The magical tenderness of her divine notes set to Bhimpalas by the great Hemantda made Kaifi Azmi's brilliant lyric come alive even in that crazy chaos. Believe me, at the crossroad, till the signal turned green, everyone was listening intently.
Now, it is not exactly a "chikni chameli" type of a 'come hither' song. Yet the charm of this long forgotten ditty was unmistakable. It came from our common, shared Indianness. So like the young Wordsworthian protagonist, my insistence, "we are Indian"!
Pratima@ When a Dhoni hits a helicopter shot or when a soldier suffers a bullet shot, ALL the Indian hearts bloom or bleed as per the occasion. Yet they all beat to the same rhythm, yes, you got it, "we are Indian". I am sure, you have already noticed that I am not using the adjective in its plural form, coz, yes, we ARE Indian!
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