November 30, 2008

The events in Mumbai triggered recollection of an exchange I had in an elevator with some Russians in Dubai just 5 days ago. My mom and dad, with their ever surprising versatility, actually speak some decent Russian. Parusky Gavarit? Da!

So, the usual exchange of platitudes was followed up with the ‘where are you from?’ questions… and it turned out that the Russian’s son was born in Mumbai. My dad then mentioned about me settling in New York, and the Father promptly proceeded to say, “United States of America and United States of India, eh?” and we laughed, recommended a restaurant to them, and off we went our merry ways.

My mom and dad took Russian language classes in India, in a time when the two countries had a very strong political alliance. It was a necessary one with Pakistan being backed by the USA. That was a bi-polar world, and I think our Government made the right call. Today, in a world with one recognized super-power, it’s not a question of who you align with as much as how much you align with the USA.

The last 10 years have seen the rise of China and India - and the predisposition of a multi-polar world in the coming decades. As the UK, proxied the USA in the last century, it appears that the USA sees backing India in the present century as a force multiplier for freedom, democracy and capitalism. And thus, with the recent nuclear deal, we are on the way to tacitly becoming the United States of India. Personally, I don’t see this as a bad thing. We have much to learn, and much to achieve as a nation.

Thus when Mumbai burned - resulting in American, Jewish, British, Japanese and Indian lives lost at the hands of Pakistani terrorists wielding Chinese-made Grenades - world sentiment came into sharp focus. Our neighbors are not happy that we are holding the wedding bouquet.

As always, Mumbai will dust off this setback. If the Taj was taking hotel bookings today, I bet there would have been Indians checking in. Just as we boarded the same trains that burned just a night before during previous attacks. The only difference is that we are not alone from now on, we are United.

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