Facets of Fantasy

India is a country of extreme diversity.

We learn this as children, and it is reinforced in myriad ways as we grow into adulthood. Everything we do or become is coloured by a delightfully chaotic kaleidoscope of emotions, cultures, languages, locations, and experiences.

If I started tracking my journey through this land – back in time to my first memory and on till this memory that I am creating as I watch these words come to life – I think I would end up with a collage of memories that are wildly whimsical, blindingly beautiful and yet dangerously disturbing, all at the same time.

Tropical forests, snowy hillcrests, sand and surf all intertwined with the traffic snarls winding through the concrete jungles of bustling metropolises. A child’s innocent happiness in the face of abject poverty contrasted with the snobbery of the upper class elite. Random citizens of the country being good Samaritans with their kind deeds putting to shame the peacekeeping force extorting what little they can out of the aam janta.

India is a country of extreme diversity.

We each have our quirks and idiosyncrasies that come to us as part of our heritage, and that is what makes us so unique, even as a cohesive society.

But as I track my journey through this land, I am left wondering, is it just extreme diversity, or is this country a land of diverse extremes? Pulling in different directions, towards different goals, and turning our uniqueness, our special strength, into the very thing that fetters us? Or are these diverse extremes just letting us grow, stronger and smarter, into a force that someday will make everyone sit up and take notice?

Semantics, it may be. But our job is to ask questions, and hope that you will tell us what you think.

Happy reading!