Well, there was another rather eventful, action packed weekend that just hit me. I think I turned nocturnal for about two days in a row afterward. Tonight's my third, I believe. Anyway, that's part of the reason I didn't keep up with the uploads as consecutively as I had been the last six days, and I have some new gripes and insights about the world.
Well, more insights than gripes this time, really.
Now...I understand that my last post, The Inside Track, might have caused some rifts and stirs, and made it seem like all I had for the country that birthed me was contempt and disinterest. And maybe in some ways, that might even be true at times, when the leadership of the nation lets down both the nation itself as well as its people. Perhaps, a better way to put it is that I am a patriot of the nation itself, and not the ideals that run it today.
While I stand by everything I've said in the aforementioned post, I also recognize that I've pointed out far more negatives about the country than its pros, and as I'm someone who propagates and catalyzes positivity and 'good karma', and who sees it as a 'norm' of sorts for myself by default, I am here with an even more personal scoop on the more positive sides of my vast, chaotic, and yet strangely homely nation, as the last one was more based off the standpoint of a former NRI, and how said NRI feels about how his country is doing compared to other nations.
As an Indian, having come home to the rugged, crusty terrain of the home country, I was as mentioned before, reminded of all the things I thought of as a wee lad having been here a few times prior in my childhood. And I completely understood even then that the country was a lot more unstable where the infrastructure the common man inhabited was concerned, and that there was something called corruption, unfamiliar as I was with the concept. Having grown up in foreign lands for much of my life, I had gotten used to the ease and strife-free quality of life and degree of existence there, and always looked down upon those stuck in the grind of life in the land of their origin from that perch of order and stability. Coming here, I came mentally prepared for just about anything that would come my way. And make no mistake, depending of which part of town you find yourself in here, you very likely have to be. Heeding parental and 'informal advisory' warnings of never letting my belongings out of sight for fear of them being snatched, not wearing too much jewelery or bling, and watching one's pockets and backpacks so I wouldn't be a walking target for the unsavoury denizens of the streets to pilfer, plunder and pickpocket off of, I was rigged and ready to go.
Now maybe I just got stupid lucky and didn't draw the right sort of attention for any of that to happen, and gladly so (although I highly doubt it, cause when you speak in a non-Indian accent, wear really Western threads and colours, and look and sound like a 'farrenner', as I have been referred to at times here, you draw all kinds of attention the further you get from the airport), but I really have to come to believe that despite how bad things get, how much hardship there exists here...the heart and soul of my people still beat and burn with the same passion they are so renowned for, and that won't be dying out anytime soon, flicker and fizzle as it may sometimes.
Ever since I got here, people have been very little besides supportive, helpful and caring. Yes, there's the odd aggressive bottom-feeder out there who thinks the world revolves around him, and yes there's also the ever present maniacal community yahoo out there somewhere who thinks if you ain't doin' it the way his particular community does it, you're unfit to be seen as an equal or even as a human being. But for the most part, people are cordial, warm and compel you to return the compliment. I highly expected a great deal of criticism directed toward me at me at my more foreign ways, and inability to speak the local language as well as my incredibly hampered use of the main native language due to both long years without extensive use of it, and further hassled by the natural syntax formation of aforementioned accent, as well as my upshot nonconformist ways. Instead most of the people I encountered, even more 'traditional' individuals, were exceptionally understanding and accepting of me despite my significant differences from them. While I still met a few who looked like they thought I didn't belong and who might even have been contemplating convincing me of it too, most either looked upon me with brief interest as one would if they saw something they didn't see everyday, before proceeding to go about their business, or simply worked with me as the situation at hand necessitated.
When I faced overwhelming power shortages and power cuts, amongst other more frustrating and impossible electricity issues, and when it finally got too much to bear, I wrote to a ''people's help'' section of a local newspaper detailing my problem and how it had begun, not being really optimistic about the odds of it even being read, much less acted upon. To my utter (and pleasant) stupefaction, the problems cleared up in less than a day, and suddenly I had far more consistent power. When it started happening again, I wrote once more, having previously written a letter of gratitude to them for their hand in eliminating my power issues, and once again, in a matter of a day or two, the problems were resolved. It was a power and right of a citizen I didn't believe could be exercised to much effect here. I am pleased beyond belief and proud of the people and individuals that proved me wrong there. It was truly a refreshing experience.
Apart from this, there have been several advances made by the Supreme Court Of India recently in the name of true justice, chief amongst them being the ensuring of citizens' privacy and their rights to it regarding the national identification method, the Aadhaar, as well as the legalization of homosexuality, and other more natural legal actions such as attempting to enact laws prohibiting individuals with noticeably significant legal offences on record from becoming active politicians in the running of the country, as well as incarcerating individuals of great financial, communal and political influence (capable of swaying and summoning vast amounts of lethally loyal followers) for social crimes one might not believe them to get in trouble for, given how easily money opens doors in the walls of the constitution here in this country. When I hear of the exploits of the court in matters like these, it fills a member of society otherwise skeptical of the odds of justice like myself here, locally with hope in our legal system, stained and rusty as it may be right now. It still holds together somehow, somewhere, thankfully, and is making a difference.
So while the last post may have been a former NRI criticizing the lack of awareness and the running of the country at large for not being able to keep up with more westernized standards, and for its citizens and people being oblivious to the far better run infrastructures of nations beyond, this one is a human being who has returned home to his people, recounting his own experiences with the reception he received from them, and expressing his pleasure and ecstasy at finding, as the title suggests, real glimmers of hope and beacons of redemption for the sorry state the country has stagnated in, and who are trying to advance it forward in the face of the natural opposition such spirited efforts would face here in the domestic arena of ideals.
So while the former NRI in me criticizes the lack of development the country faces locally, the human being and Indian in me lauds the bravery, courage and untold sacrifice of those working both behind the scenes and at some helms of the nation to push it forward regardless, at the national, state, district, and communal level. To all those that helped set me up here and made me feel welcome and at home here, as well as any others that may have helped inadvertently, thank you all, I love you guys. You, the seen and unseen, fabled and unsung, the glimmers and beacons...please never stop doing what you do, and fighting to make the country you love great. We all live better lives owing to your efforts, and they are not unnoticed.
Jai Hind!
Also here's a fun little video I discovered on YouTube uploaded by Super Cinematic, featuring the newest Spider-Man/Peter Parker, Tom Holland being introduced to Bollywood dance, performed by none other than Bollywood star Tiger Shroff, who dubbed Spider-Man: Homecoming in Hindi for the India release of the film. Thought it'd be a nice share to anyone who hasn't already seen either the film or knew about this.
Cheers, fellow Steemians :)