What's in the Identity....

“What's in the name,

That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”

-          William Shakespeare

The above quote came from Shakespeare, the man who ironically has published some of the greatest works of English literature in his own name! On the same lines, in the past few days’ public opinions taken by media seem to be implying that “Young India” has developed a new quote “What’s in the Identity…”. There were many discussions by eminent panelists who had no qualms of asserting their own identities, but were seemingly unsure whether youth in India assert their respective identities or not. Many of the televised public polls in the Ayodhya verdict build-ups had the representatives of “Young India” making statements like “India is a secular country…” or “We live in 21^st Century…” or “We are in the age globalization, global citizens…” etc. etc. 

Hearing these arguments I had a question in mind - Is Identity truly an outdated concept in today’s globalized world? Saying that I am a global citizen or merely stating out of context that we are Indians; can such single identity suffice us in all the various environments or walks of life we have to interact with? Can Identity as a concept be so rigid?

I don’t think so, according to me Identity being such a fluid concept in today’s world, we tend change it based on circumstances and surroundings. For example, at a global stage we would identify ourselves proudly as Indians, at national stage based on our state-wise affiliations, at state-level we come to city-wise and moving further down the ladder when we are identifying ourselves in relations/friends we identify us with our family name or surname, and this is not restricted to Indians alone but can be considered as a global concept ; people in western world can also be seen proudly displaying their heritages and lineage, based on the what we read in the newspapers or watch on television. Similarly another example I would like to give in context to today’s globalized corporate world is that; when I visit my clients I don’t  present my personal identity, but it becomes a sub-set of larger identity that is my “Company” which has chosen me as its physical medium to represent its own identity, but in my own company when it comes to internal official work  I represent my own team which becomes my identity; coming further down when I am in front of my seniors I have the identity of a junior and have to adhere to it.

This is a concept generally followed by all, but when it comes to asserting some controversial identities, the garb of pseudo-secularism or pseudo-modernism takes over. Just like Shakespeare’s irony, the ideal views people present are only restricted to public discussions, but in the real life all of us have to live by our respective changing identities for gaining recognition for ourselves, our country, our company etc. which defines the base of growth in our life. Whatever we say cannot change our identities, merely saying I am secular won’t change anything, we will always remain who we are whether we accept it or not. The whole point of writing this article is that I want to request all my brethren out there that don’t be afraid to assert your identities. Instead of running away from them by making pseudo-intellectual generic idealistic statements, accept them and try to imbibe the world of co-existence, co-habitance or accommodation of separate Identities. Idealism can only be followed in an ideal world, but the practical material world we live in has different demands of its own and we have to live by them to grow. Differences, controversies are bound to take place; why even two close friends have difference of opinions or quarrels; but does ignoring or running away from them solve the issue. No, we have to take a stand which is just and which promotes co-existence of all identities; like the shrewd verdict of Ayodhya. True you cannot always please everyone; but it’s our duty to take at least a stand & try moving towards a definitive solution.

Hence, I appeal to the “Young India” that the earlier they realize and accept that “All’s in the Identity” will be better for a prosperous future which we see as individuals in our progressive & developing nation.

-Ashish Shekhar Kirtikar

Re-Introduction!!!

Hello everyone, I am getting back to writing after a very long time (my first & only post here was in 2008!!!) and thought that in this post I ought to re-introduce my amatuer interest in writing to all by giving a brief walkthrough of my short journey as an amatuer writer :-).

Reading & Elocution were always my hobbies from my young days, they became the base for my interest in writing. I first got introduced to writing in my school, we had a school magazine (Dehiscence - if I remeber correctly) and I had the privilege of being on its editorial board for two consecutive years. That was the first time I had written some articles of which two were published in the magazine, one was a Hindi Poem on soldiers & the second was a English article on the entry of educated minds in the world of crime, both recieved good response from our teacher who was heading the editorial team as well as my fellow members on the editorial team.Following this I didn't write anything for a long time till the great social networking revolution called "Orkut", I started participating in discussions on the communities on various topics; this caught real steam when I got involved in the Anti-Reservation Protests of 2006; I was just out of college and literally sitting at home so writing & reading orkut communities became a daily addiction.

This protest campaign was my first major introduction to the real power of blogs, I used to read many blogs which openly wrote & argued about the pros/cons of reservation. I understood that a blog could give a larger platform for putting forward ones ideas/views/arguments/grievances etc. But even with this understanding I only satisfied myself by replying in small debates & arguments on the community forums or venting my anger in front of the television debates of "eminent" panelists, never could really muster the confidence to write my own blog. Soon the protests died & my entry into professional life took out all the steam in me, writing became just a thought.

One fine day, just happened to think of a storyline which I thought to be interesting & surprisingly I sat down to write, this was the first short story I wrote. I had it circulated to a close small group of friends & relatives for their honest reviews, being my first attempt many improvements were suggested, but interstingly the response overall was quite positive and many people whom I spoke to genuinely appreciated my attempt with a caution that i need to build on this & improve myself. The positive reviews made me come up with an "ambitious" plan to start writing of many short stories regularly publish them on a blog, the idea behind this was that I would improve with each story I write & the readers of the blog will be able to analyse the difference in my writing from my first story to the ones I would write later.
So, I started this blog & published my first story "Till I'm Alive", this was time when I had just moved to Mysuru for my job. Following two years were so hectic that I didn't have time to think of anyting to write.

Now, I am back in Mumbai & have been thinking for a long time to start writing again, but this was not happening partly due to work & partly due to my extremely lazy nature. But over the past few days a few of my friends have gotten into blogging like Mihir, Tanuja etc. (thanks ppl) & thats what gave me an insipration to decide writing again and thankfully have some good topics in mind.

I hope that this time I shed my laziness & continue writing good articles worth reading; I also would request all my readers to give honest reviews on whatever I write or have written so I can also learn & improve in the process.
God Speed.

Regards,
Ashish Shekhar Kirtikar