Colonialism of the Indian Mind!

Even the most illiterate one amongst us will know that India got independence from the British on 15th August 1947.

But I wonder are we really as independent as we feel we are?. Did the British leave us in 1947 or are they still sitting in our heads holding the steering wheel and deciding what we like and what we don't.

Today I analyse -

1. How deep is the colonial hangover in our society and what is the difference between colonialism and imperialism?

2. Why are the regiments in the Indian army named after religion ( eg. Sikh regiments ) or castes ( eg. Rajput regiments ) or region ( Madras regiments) ?

3. Is modernisation same as westernisation and how we blindly follow the western culture without even realising it's not rational.

4. How World Bank and IMF facilitate modern day imperialism?

Analysis

Let's us start with a basic question which will help us understand the modern situation well. 

" What is the difference between colonialism and imperialism ? "

Not going by the textbook definitions , Let us understand this using an example.

Consider India pre 1947. India had a British government in place which made laws for our country. We had the British Indian army and our government owed allegiance to the crown in England.

 So India was called the colony of the British , in other words British were the colonial rulers of India.

Now consider our neighbour China. China had their own Chinese rulers even before 1948. However they were still not a free country. The British controlled the Chinese monarchy and influenced their decision making in the favor of British. Thus the British supplied opium to China and even after resistance from the Chinese rulers they could not stop the British from trading opium with China for tea. 

Thus even though British did not rule china china directly , they controlled all it's major decisions. Thus we say British were the imperial rulers of China.

So we conclude that colonialism is having direct control over a country while imperialism is having an indirect control over another country to influence it's decisions

Today I make a proposition that India is still under the imperial rule of the British and the west. Let us see how - 

Let us first analyse how we still live under a colonial hangover.

System of discrimination

It is a general perception that Indian society is divided based on caste while the western societies are divided based on race. 

Is it true ?

What is our construct of beauty? We consider fair skin to be desirable , fair skin is automatically pretty while darker complexion is looked down upon. Indian skin lightening fairness creams make millions of rupees on our obsession with fair skin.

But was our society always like this?

Let me draw your attention towards our mythology. 

Shiva in our scriptures has been mentioned as dark skinned , Lord Vishnu has been mentioned as 'shyaam' in our books because of his dark skin.

 Yet how do we portray them in our TV shows?

 I don't remember ever to have seen the role of Shiva or Krishna being played by a dark skinned actor. Even if it is , layers of makeup are out on his skin to make him appear white. After all how would an audience which is obsessed with white skin ever accept their gods shown as black.

It is because for 200+ years we were made to believe in the racial supremacy theory that the white race is superior to the black/brown races. It was used by the British to make the Indian population feel that the British rule was justified and the Indians  are by birth inferior to British. But after they left , this thought in our consciousness has remained.

Thus it works like a global caste system where the white race by birth is considered superior and all others try to imitate their lifestyle. We look down upon the African blacks because we feel that would make us feel like the whites.

Just like the brahmins in a caste society the whites write the rules for the world and all others follow.

Enough about race , let's talk other ways in which we are still influenced by the British thought.

Army

Ever wondered why is it Rajput regiment or mahar regiment etc. Nowhere in the world you'll see the army organised based on such divisive criteria.

To understand this we have to look at the origin of this system. After the 1857 revolt in the army , the British setup a 'Peel commission ' to analyze the causes behind the mutiny by soldiers.

One of the major reasons cited in the report was -

- India is inherently a caste based society. So when the soldiers are recruited in the army they are supposed to live together , eat together and wear the same uniform. 

Now it must be noted that caste in the Indian society can be observed even by the clothes one wears. Eg a Brahmin wore a janeyu , a Rajput had a tilak on forehead etc. 

However when they were in the army the caste of fellow soldiers could not be determined as they all lived a similar lifestyle. Hence soldiers were uncomfortable eating and living together as the upper caste soldiers did not want to eat alongside the lower caste soldiers. Thus lead to instability and disaffection in the regiments.

Hence , post war the British decided to divide the regiments based in caste. This would make the soldiers comfortable in their barracks as they would not have to worry about the caste of their fellow soldiers. 

This division also had an added advantage for the British. They could use it in their policy of divide and rule. eg if their was a rebellion in Awadh they could send the Sikh or Gurkha regiments i.e they could be used against each other and it would prevent unity among different regiments to rise against the British.

So this was 170 years ago done for colonial purposes , but unfortunately we still have same names for these regiments.

Now let's talk about something which I am sure not many of us would have thought about. Our naming of seasons is also suffering from racial supremacy.

For this let's understand some basic geography.

Britain is located in the temperate regions , hence they have extreme winters with snow and moderate summers.

 Since the winters are extreme , the trees shed their leaves before the winter season to save energy for tackling extreme winters. Thus the season just before winters and after summers is called Autmn which we associate with trees shedding their leaves. 

Also , since the summer in British climate has moderate temperatures it is good for tree growth hence the trees rejuvenate post winters and it is called the spring season.

Now let us consider India. Most of our country doesn't witness snowfall ( extreme winters ) rather we witness extreme summers. 

So accordingly the trees in India shed their leaves before summers post winters ( look around yourself in the months of late January and early February ) as it helps them survive extreme summers.

Also post summers in the monsoon , our trees come back to life as that time is ideal for their growth.

So we observe that the leaf growth cycle in India is just opposite to what is seen in Britain.

But , what do we read - autmn ( post summers ) is the time when trees shed their leaves and spring ( post winters ) is the time when the trees regrow!!.

So think again , has the British left our minds?

Let's look at our food habits. I will not talk about the obvious McDonald's culture and fast food obsession. 

Let's talk about Ghee Vs Olive oil.

Olive oil is majorly produced in the Mediterranean region which includes Italy , Greece etc.

 The geography of this region is such that the rains mostly take place in winters and the summers are dry and hot. Thus there is very little grass growth in this region as it requires sun and rain together.

In the absence of grasses traditionally , cattle was not reared in these regions as they feed on grass. Thus they never really had animals and animal fat ( like ghee ).

That region is good for the growth of citrus fruits and Olive is a major one of them. Thus they had no option but to use olive oil.

Now when Europeans came to India, they wanted to sell all that they produced. A campaign was started for promotion of olive oil and disregarding the animal fats. ( that we have been eating for 5000 years  atleast , when animal rearing started in India ) So the fat which helped a civilization survive for such long was discredited to sell olive oil which was produced in the countries where the colonisers came from.

Hence , today we observe our millennial generation is obsessed about not eating ghee and wants the food to be cooked in olive oil.

The list is endless , where we just discredit something because it's Indian and fall in love with something just because it's western. 

Take Patanjali Vs Hindustan Unilever ,

Views on YouTube in crores and lakhs Vs views in millions and billions.

VIP culture of our politicians and bureaucrats because they had always been from British , hence it comes with a privelege to be treated better than the common man who were Indian historically.

Ever wondered why the TTE in trains , or Lawyers in courts wear black coats?

Probably now you may guess , because such uniforms suited the climate of British  but this practice is still blindly followed here even in 45 degrees.

Also our obsession with IAS. 

Being an IAS was the highest post any Indian could get in the times of British. Hence it was always seen with awe and reverance. Thus even today all Indian parents want their children to be IAS and 'rule' the citizens not 'serve' them.

Another interesting trend that is observed these days is the influence of British on our marriages.

In Christian weddings the groom is supposed to wear a suit/tuxedos . 

Hindu marriages on the other hand involve taking pheras and tying a knot.

But why do we care if a suit has nothing in it to tie a knot , we can manage, but we have to wear suits to our Hindu wedding!!

 After all it's cool to follow the British culture as ' the white race is superior and whatever they do must be followed '.

Economy

Pre world war 2 the western powers were imperial or colonial powers. Using that, they controlled the economies of the developing world.

However it was not possible post independence of these countries. So a new system had to be adopted hence came the Brettonwood twins ( World Bank and IMF ).

P.S. the chief of IMF has always been a European and the chief of World Bank has always been from USA 

The newly independent countries were given loans by these institutions on conditions to open up their economies for free trade. 

When they opened up , they were asked to compete with industries which were operating since 100 years.

 When the new countries could not develop indigenous industries , the foreign companies again monopolised the economy of these new countries.

Even when some industries develop in such countries , the concept of ecological damage and efficiently is propped up.

 It is said ' even though you make the same stuff , we have better technology to make it with a green technology. So you buy this technology from us. '

Eg. First they setup industries and pollute the environment. Then when you setup industries they say , oh the air is so polluted , we have to do something about this. So you switch to electric cars and save the environment while we being the largest source of greenhouse gases ( USA ) will sell you those electric cars.

So remember , why did the British first came to Asia ? To monopolise economies , that's what they are doing even today. ( Think google Facebook Twitter Amazon )

So , what I wish to convey is that westernisation is not modernisation.

Modernisation refers to taking decisions based on rational thought and logic based on the existing circumstances. Westernisation is on the other hand blindly following the west. 

Thus , even though not rejecting the positive aspects of the western culture and thought , we must not forget our own culture. 

" Even if you take citizenship of Britain and permanently live there , you will always be a second class citizen. You will neither be a complete Briton nor a complete Indian ".

Amit Chauhan!!

P.S. you may not agree with all what I said and may even have fitting rebuttals for a few of the arguments , but I wish you to focus on the central idea of the blog and try to look at things with a different perspective.

Happy brainstorming!