Bedeviled with hegemony

Nowadays, everyone wants to be part of the western world- be it their  dressing sense, the music taste, the food, living style, habits, language- living completely in a hegemonic world. Gone are those days when people would sit on the floor and eat food on coconut leaves without forks and spoons. It is also impossible to find some man who wears a dhoti inside or outside the house. Sanskrit as a spoken language is long forgotten. People take pride in the fact that their children are studying in English medium schools and colleges. Not just in India but all over the eastern side of the world. Is there any country which does not have a KFC or a McDonald in it? Is there any kid today in any country who has not heard of Spiderman or Superman? There are a number of channels for kids today but you’ll find a common pattern in every kid when it comes to their favourite cartoons.

I came crashing into this world in the year 1991- the year India was forced to open up the economy to the outside world due to its financial crisis. So, somewhere, I have seen the change happening in front of my eyes. Of course, many people come into this category (my parents and almost everyone elder to me). But I still think I am different. One, because as they say, I am a ‘21^st century’ child. And secondly, because I don’t think many people analyze the past as much as I do.

Isn’t all of this a sign of the hegemonic world we are living in? Who even cares about chacha chowdhary, champak, amar chitra katha, lambu-motu and the various other cartoon and comic characters anymore? Kids today would probably respond with a look of bafflement if you mention these names in front of them.

I remember the days when going to Nirula’s for an ice-cream used to be a once in a blue moon event. Malls were not there at every nook and corner of the city. Mother dairy ice-creams, roadside chaats and moongphali walas used to be in much demand instead!

I never understood the concept of ‘AC car’ in trains because my parents couldn’t afford to travel in them. And somewhere, I still prefer travelling in a sleeper class than in an AC car. I remember opening the windows to let the wind hit my face- carrying with them so many stories, so many anecdotes- the wind from every part of the country. Sometimes, when it rained, I could smell the different smell of the wet mud as I travelled from one city to another.

But the sleeper class days are over and the smell of the wet mud has not hit me for more than 10 years now. Malls have become the place to hang out at every day and KFC/McDonalds/Baskin Robbins have taken over those moongphali walas. And as I write this, I realize that without meaning too, I too have become a victim of the present hegemonic condition!