By TINA IYER
Features Editor
 

Rather than the usual focus on India's disgustingly corrupt democracy, there were stories on the miraculousness of running a democracy of close to one billion people. Instead of the customary reports on the slew of natural disasters that always manage to overrun India, there was commentary on the natural beauty of the landscape. The standard highlights of the desperate poverty of the nation were replaced by news of the vibrant and rich culture and society of India.

For the first time, the press reflected positively on the subcontinent and its progress since independence.

Right. India was, India is, trendy. Hip. Big news. Cool.

India has in fact been popular for quite some time, thanks perhaps to The Beatles and Mia Farrow, to Mother Theresa and Salman Rushdie. The West has looked to India for spirituality and peace, incense and sitars, sensuality and "those dots that women wear on their foreheads" (now available in Japanese department stores, even).

So what does this trendiness mean, if it means anything at all? Does it do anything to change the typical American stereotypes of India as a country of dirt and famine, backwardness and crowdedness? How do those to whom India is more than just a far-away country feel about Indian independence, Indian trendiness, India in the news?

Ben Treat '98 and Hathy Albright '98 were both participants in the South India Term Abroad program during the fall1996. Living for five months in the city of Madurai, both Treat and Albright experienced an India that they had previously never been exposed to.

"Americans don't know anything about India," said Albright. "I didn't."

Now that he has returned from India, Treat doesn't know how to portray the country or explain the experiences he had there to others. He mentioned an incident when someone said to him, "I think that every person should go to the Third World."

Such a comment did not sit well with Treat, who said, "That type of thinking capsulizes it. It makes us look like Americans at the top of a hierarchy, and we're trying to help Indians."

This well-meaning condescension justifies neocolonialism, according to Treat.

Brinda Tahiliani '98 and Kim Walker '98 travelled to Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Calcutta, and New Delhi last May for four weeks. The two were visiting Tahiliani's family and also doing some research on various women's organizations in India.

Tahiliani had been to India before, but it was a new experience for Walker, who said, "I'm sure I went in with stereotypes, but I got over them quickly. I felt like part of a family."

"So much of it [India] isn't touched upon, how much of India is changing. It's such an exciting time there," said Walker about the way that India is typically portrayed in the American press,

While India may not get great press in the media, negative images of India are not perpetuated by all. Working at an NGO this summer, Tahiliani noted that Western women's groups had a high regard for Indian women's organizations such as the ones she and Walker visited.

"They [Western women's groups] realize the amount that Indian women have to deal with and the amount that they have done nonetheless," Tahiliani said.

India is a country in the process of much change and upheaval. It is dealing with the desire to "keep up" with the West, and with wanting to maintain its own traditions as well. "They [Indians] haven't figured out how the assimilation thing will go," said Albright of this dichotomous situation.

Lavina Shankar, assistant professor of English, lived in Calcutta through her high school years, although she frequently visited the United States and the United Kingdom. She has lived in New England since her undergraduate days.

A great admirer of ancient and pre-colonial Indian history, Shankar admits that it's difficult to understand or define India. The nation is complex, she said, and "it is an intense place with a long, intense history. It has gone through such dramatic changes in the past one hundred years because of colonialism. India is still reeling."

While many expatriate Indians have a romanticized or deified image of India, Shankar said, "I don't think that I'm protective of some mythic India. I think that I have a much larger view of the world."

Vijay Kalappa '99 has only spent three years of his life living in India, but his parents are Indian citizens, and he visits India regularly. Born in France and now a Dutch citizen, Kalappa has spent his life in England, Nigeria, Holland, and now the U.S.

Although unfamiliar with the American press and its depiction on India, Vijay Kalappa '99 remarked upon the BBC's (British Broadcasting Company) "love-hate relationship with India."

During the month of August, when hype about India was at its most intense, Kalappa noted that many of the BBC's programs focused on the beauty and richness of the Indian nation and culture. At the same time, their world news show would "always show the same image of some child shitting in the streets."

Kalappa also mentioned that the British press tends to exaggerate the consequences of Indian disasters, saying that often times deaths tolls get raised.

While admitting the negativity of the press toward India, when questioned about the trendiness of Indian fashion, such as the popularization of the "Nehru jacket," Kalappa said, "These days it is difficult to separate culture from fashion, but I think it's kind of flattering, actually, the very fact that something Indian has caught the idea of some designer."

India has not just been influenced the world of fashion; Kalappa explained that the trendiest London nightclubs play a fusion of sophisticated techno and complex Indian music.

Kalappa was in London on August 15, and he was there to see British Indians being proud of who they were. If this pride in their heritage is fueled by the fashionability of India, then Kalappa sees no harm in it.

"Second generation Indians, like myself, have really blossomed. Now it's cool to be Indian. They used to try to distance themselves, but now it's the thing to be Indian."

Spirituality is possibly India's most significantly felt influence on the West, but this spirituality is often questioned by those who are familiar with India.

"It is kind of trendy to be all spiritual, but I think it's all bullshit. You go to India and its not like that. Savvy swamis just play spirituality up for money," said Albright.

Shankar is wary of the appropriation of Indian spirituality in the West. Instead of trying to learn about and understand the depth of Hinduism, she feels that many people merely take what is pleasing to them from the spiritual tradition and leave the rest behind.

Indian spiritualism and philosophy has become "a quick fix approach to peace," Shankar said. Nonetheless, she does not deny the right of people to follow their own path, even if that path really has very little to do with Hinduism per se.

Frequently in the United States, Indians or people of Indian descent are assumed to know a great deal about Indian spirituality. Shankar doesn't mind this assumption, she said. "Partly because I'm thick-skinned, and partly because I'm glad that people are interested. If someone is interested in learning, I'd help them as much as I could," Shankar said.

At the same time, Shankar realizes that she cannot speak for 900 million people.

Of the hype that surrounded the 50th anniversary of Indian independence, Shankar asked,"What does that mean for a country that has been around for 4,000 years?"

Perhaps it means that despite the current spate of trendiness and glowing press, the world still has a great deal to learn about India.