Hi!

I'd like you to meet me. I am an author (Okay! Okay! I am trying to be one!). Optimistic (you bet!). With stars in my eyes. A pen in hand. Wads and wads of paper waiting to translate my thoughts into words. For your approval. Okay, so now that that is settled, let's get down to the brass tacks. So what do I write about? A well-wisher suggested "The East is East and the West is West and ne'er the twain shall meet". There is so much that one can write about this. Seems so deceptively easy …

In a spherical world, west of west is east, or, for that matter, east of east is west! So, where exactly does east stop and west begin? Or vice-versa? Oh, my! If the starting point itself is going to pose such a problem, what should this poor writer do? Where exactly to start, considering that the demarcation of East and West, by itself, is so daunting an obstacle at the very outset! Read on…

A lesser essayist would throw in the towel. Not this one. No way! Let's try a different tack: Everyone knows that 'Indian' denotes East. Start writing? Easier said than done! You might feel that all that the writer now needs to do is identify the two aspects -- Western and Indian. Having been brought up on a staple diet of western comics, and later on books, about Cowboys and Indians, it is but logical that confusion prevails about the kind of Western influences in question. Visions of Ten-gallon hats, Colt .45s and horses are conjured up in the writer's mind! The term "Indian" has images of squaws, wigwams and totem poles fleeting through the writer's mind! Or, the author could write about the contemporary materialistic West vis-à-vis the spiritual East. It is a different ball game altogether. Or, why not juxtapose The Wild West with India? Or, the Red Indians with the contemporary West? This makes it four options in all - four diverse routes for the writer to take! The world of Wild Bill Hickok and the Apaches? But that would be more American History than a treatise on East and West, wouldn't it? The world of NATO and SAARC? But wouldn't that be restricting oneself to Current politics? The world of Wyatt Earp and Mahatma Gandhi? Incongruous, isn't it? The world of George Bush and Chief Sitting Bull? Bizarre. What does one write about? Considering the fact that this article is being written in India for Indian readers, the author need not worry about the options offering the Wild West or the Red Indians!

Now that this is settled, the writer needs to only concentrate on the next part of this assignment: whether to focus on the effects of Western influences on Indian society, or vice versa? And whether to highlight the impact on the different civilizations? On the face of it, the term 'Western civilization' seems so innocuous, consisting of just two words. But, on one count, it encompasses a diverse spectrum ranging from the richness of European Renaissance to the taming of The Wild West. It also covers a mind-boggling chronological span of a few centuries across a geographical expanse straddling two continents! The legacy of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, - the list is endless, representing Western culture at its glorious best in art and sculpture; the musical heritage of Beethoven, Mozart, Bach et al; Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, etc., at their literary best - all this is to be contrasted with Indian civilization ably supported by its nameless multitude of sculptors and artisans who have left behind their imprints manifested in temples, mosques, palaces and mausoleums all over the Indian countryside; the various schools of paintings (complicated further by symbiotic influences from other, sometimes western, styles! After all, Art knoweth not any boundaries); Saint Thyagaraja, Tansen, etc., with their ageless and evergreen musical compositions; the works of Vyasa, Kalidasa and a host of poets and writers; the list can go on and on… Decisions, decisions! With multiple options at that! And the utter helplessness of not being able to resolve the issue!

Mention has not been made on how the Industrial Revolution (unquestionably a Western phenomenon) changed everything, irrevocably, forever! . Even in just one aspect of commercial activity, the textile industry, the advent of the power loom has driven the handloom sector to the brink of extinction while the ancient art of spinning muslin so fine that a saree could pass through a finger ring has been forever lost to Posterity. No doubt, in other respects, day-to-day life has been relieved of drudgery and monotony but the overall effects cannot be denied. Also not taken into account is the significant impact of western travelers, like Marco Polo and Vasco da Gama, who facilitated the barter of goods, and with it, thoughts - in effect, a cultural osmosis, so to speak. Not to mention the forced acceptance and compliance of the diktats of foreign invaders (both, of eastern origin like the Mughals, and western ones, like Alexander the Great) that did leave its mark on the Indian psyche. The pervasive influence on lifestyles has not yet been taken into account. Life, in the not too distant past, was not aided by the kind of labour-saving devices that the modern-day housewife now takes for granted. Without any doubt, the West has made its ubiquitous entrance into Indian homes everywhere. Which of these matters should the author write about? More and more options! And still more decisions to be taken! Not the wavering writer's cup of tea! No thank you, if you please!

Following the earlier course of action, the writer tries yet another tack: write about areas of conflict or convergence. Gone are the days when events and repercussions of events would take some time to percolate through the borders of the countries of the world. There was the time when it took weeks for the world to know that Napoleon was defeated in Waterloo. Even till the Sixties, within the Western world itself, Europe would be blissfully unaware of the then current goings-on in The United States of America and vice versa. And there would be a more than significant time lag before these news touched Indian shores. Ironically, in certain matters, India, with its far-flung expatriate population being in touch with the homeland, would be more in the know of what has been going on in America, for instance, than the Europeans would know! But of course today, thanks to the IT revolution, the whole world is now in your backyard. 'Now' in both senses of the word - time-wise as well as location-wise. Welcome to the world of Instant Everything! The Olympics is seen by not only the spectators in the stadia but also by billions of TV viewers spanning the globe, the West and the East alike. Simultaneously. So much for convergence. In a way.

But how does one tackle it if the areas of conflict are the areas of convergence? Take for instance, the world of fashion: each society has its different strata responding to the dictates of current trends at varying tempos. Making the latest fashion statements may show up a person, sometimes, as being too far behind the times since fashion trends have an uncanny, uncomfortable, uncompromising and unfailing way of repeating themselves after a while. The dawn of the twentieth century saw bell-bottoms and short sideburns in vogue, while the late Sixties welcomed bell-bottoms with large sideburns. Till the late Fifties, for example, it was "in" for men to sport short hair. After a few decades of long (and longer) hair, short hair is back in vogue. To make matters worse, the West and the East copy fashions from each other all the time… not to talk about fusion in fashion! There was this period in the Sixties when the Nehru jacket became fashionable in the West, as did 'Bleeding Madras' shirts, and this, in turn, made these garments chic to the upper echelons of Society in India, which had, until then, looked down on such attire! This sudden acceptance of these outfits put many indecisive persons in a quandary: by wearing these, would they be looked up to as being fashion-savvy, or, would they be frowned down upon as their being basically middle-class Indian in their sartorial preferences? The same predicament faced them when The Beatles made long hair fashionable. It was customary for the ultra-conservative orthodox people to check with the almanac even for the trip to the barber. Such people, sometimes, would let their hair grow long as the stars were not favourable for a haircut! There was also the category of exponents of traditional Indian music who grew long hair. The trepidation that the followers of the Beatle haircuts would be misconstrued as belonging to these not so 'fashionable' categories, was too real.

The mention of The Beatles invariably leads one to the realms of music. Remember the time when the sitar was exclusive to Hindustani Music, while the Mandolin, with its Italian antecedents, was the preserve of Western music? Nowadays, the sitar will not feel out of place even in a Hard Rock concert (Pandit Ravi Shankar, the multiple Grammy Award winner, played at Woodstock, remember?), while the mandolin would be acceptable at a traditional Carnatic music performance with the wholehearted blessings of the cognoscenti. Indian light music borrows freely from western music as regards content and instruments, while western light music reciprocates. Fusion music could perhaps be renamed 'con'fusion music as far as this debate goes! How would you classify this genre of music when Indian ragas form its very foundation and its lifeblood is operatic or western classical in nature? Western or Indian? Frankly, this vacillation is just about all that this writer needs at this crucial juncture.

"The East is East and the West is West and ne'er the twain shall meet" - thus spake the wise man. (Easy for him to have said it and go away!) What we see now is that the East is slowly drifting towards the West and vice versa, but, with both moving in the same direction (spherical world, remember?), the saying still retains its relevance. The sprouting of ashrams and 'Houses of God' all over the globe, more especially so in the West substantiates the fact that the West is tending towards shedding its 'almighty-dollar mantra' and probing the world of Consciousness Beyond, while the more spiritually inclined East is slowly but surely drifting towards rank materialism, as is evidenced by the ever-growing consumer culture being spawned by shopping malls mushrooming everywhere. Given such shifting allegiances, the writer is bound to get mired in discussions of a serious, more often than not, contradictory nature! Definitely it would be prudent to give this course a wide berth! If you please!

The writer is slowly, but surely, starting to run out of options. With choices narrowing down, perhaps something about current affairs should fit the bill. Given the very amorphous nature of the stands taken by countries and the unpredictable ways in which even turning volte-face is par for the course, 'shaky ground' is too weak a term to describe the terra firma on which the writer thinks he is standing. Yesterday's enemies are today's allies. And the foe of your foe need not necessarily be your friend. And if the differences are based on religion, race, or pigment, matters get more and more complicated. The situation may change half a dozen times in an equal number of directions, leaving the writer flummoxed and his viewpoint either irrelevant or hopelessly outdated. The unfolding of events post-September 11th sums up the situation. No doubt about it, everyone has been numbed by the horrific onslaught on the innocent people of all colours and creeds minding their own business and living out their lives in the ill-fated twin towers of the World Trade Center. And everyone did feel that the perpetrators of such a barbarous act against Humanity had to be brought to book and taught a lesson. But the manner in which events have subsequently unfolded, it has resulted only in adding to the existing misery of the Afghans in the street (for no fault of theirs, except being there at that time) sets one thinking. Going deeper into the cause of discontent that has spawned such animosity and revulsion against The United States, the situation tends to become hazier. The actions of the avenger do not seem any different from that of the aggressor. The lesser that one talks about being sucked into the vortex of Controversy the better. So it is good-bye to yet another option.

The way things have taken shape, at this juncture, even the most optimistic of writers will find the outlook bleak and drive even the most persistent scribe to call it a day and wish the hopes of writing an article, goodbye. But, wait!! On second thoughts, perhaps a sequential narration of these endeavors, by itself, meets the requirements of an article!

The writer has done it at last!!

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