A Journo's Diary

Last one and a half month of my life has had quite a bit of “Slumdog” element in it. Right from watching the movie to engaging in discussions about the movie to shooting a TV and radio package on the movie and finally the Oscars. My initial reaction to the movie was quite natural. Like many, I was reluctant to accept the widespread poverty showcased in the movie. I was depressed for some time, trying to think if it was a good move on part of the film makers to show the dark side of India in the International world. More so, at a time when India is trying to make a place for itself in the midst of a changing world. Will this affect India’s image outside? I read quite a number of reviews in the Indian newspapers reaffirming my initial reaction. The movie’s focus on India’s grinding poverty and the fact that its director is a foreigner had created a considerable controversy among many in India.

But then I thought to myself and realised that I was being a coward in accepting the reality. As a person who has grown up in the capital city of India, I had never known what life is in the dark corners of the country. We see things on TV, or a small interaction with a kid begging on the street tells us to do something for them. Seeing the government work inefficiently, we tell ourselves that one day we will do something to bring about a change. But we forget that in order to do something we really need to know where to start from. The movie brings to light the stark reality of Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum. And this is what makes me like the movie. The fact that I don’t call myself an Indian only because I have seen the posh market areas and sights of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Calcutta but also because I am now aware in-depth about the life in the dark corners of India.

It is kind of strange how we don’t really care too much about the situation in the country while we are eating a four course meal in expensive restaurants, or when we walk past a beggar or carelessly throw garbage all over the place. Why does the morality suddenly rise up when we see it along with the whole world on the big screen? Is it because we are too timid to face the situation that exists back home? Or is it because we don’t want to be humiliated as an “inhabitant of a slumland”? Or is it because the movie has been directed by a foreigner and that makes it shameful for us to accept the reality? I think it is the weakness within us that drags our mind into ideas of dumping or disregarding the reality.

In an interview with Mr. C B Patel, Editor of Asian Voices, a newspaper in UK, he very eloquently mentioned that India is no more a country of snake charmers but it is a much more organised and sophisticated society. Very well said! But at the same time can we also forget that India is not just about the big banner “Incredible India” adverts that show the so-called colours and posh Taj Mansinghs? India is a mixture of both sides today and each one of us has to accept it by heart like we did alphabets when we were in school.

I saw a sudden change in reactions of the people, commentators, film makers, policymakers, from the time the movie won BAFTAS and was nominated for Oscars. They slowly started getting magnetised to the other end, the end that supported the movie. But, why? Maybe because the movie was to win Oscars, maybe because it was a moment of pride for India and of course, for Indians? Or, maybe because Obama said it was his favourite movie? How much we LOVE and ADORE the US of A.

Quite surprisingly, those people who live in the poorest, broken neighbourhoods of India’s overflowing cities and who can testify to the realism of the poverty portrayed in the movie, have been amongst the movie’s warmest fans. And they will relish the scenes of Indians taking center-stage at Hollywood’s red carpet for a really long time.