Elite Imitation
I talk in English, I walk in English.
Elite refers to someone superior in qualities and abilities to others. They are the most powerful, privileged, and talented people in the group.
People have different standards for an elite. If you are starting a business, someone with a settled business will be an elite. For women, their male counterparts who can roam around the streets fearless at night might be elites. In the world of social media, the influencers with more followers are elite.
In India, we have set some common standards for the elite as well. We are tempted by their qualities and try to copy them by all means.
The Big-City Elite.
Migrating to a big city is a struggle. It takes time to settle in. I moved to Delhi for college and lived with a few friends. Making new friends in an alien city was difficult. But I wanted my college life to be like the one in Rang De Basanti. So, I started to interact with a few people in college.
This is how I imagined my college life to be:
I felt like the outsider in every conversation, especially while talking to the Delhi kids. I had to make constant efforts to fit in. Most people I interacted with spoke English and I wasn’t fluent in the language. I was conscious of my accent as well because I had a Haryanvi touch to the way I spoke. The only time I wasn’t self-conscious was around my hometown friends.
My hometown was just a 2-hour-drive from Delhi. But the culture in Delhi was different from my city. Everything was expensive, the neighbors were rude for no reason and people were willing to kill each other for a parking spot.
What my college life was like:
But as I said, it takes time to settle in. Living in Delhi was a great experience for me to learn and unlearn new things every day. You grow up fast in a big city. And if your father is kind enough to send you some extra money, you can live the Rang De Basanti life as well (thank you, papa).
Foreign Elites
Tina from Kuch Kuch Hota hai is an example of a Foreign Elite. She studied in London, comes from a privileged family, and London me rehne se, vahan padhne likhne se vo apne sanskaar nhi bhuli aur yeh tum mat bhulna!
In North Indian households, anyone who is settled abroad is said to be an elite. It is believed that everyone over there has a fancy lifestyle, which is way better than the one we have in India. Punjabi music and Bollywood had an impact on building this narrative. Parents spend a lot of money to send their kids abroad for education, work, or marriage.
This elite imitation has reached new levels. People have started “Grooming Classes” that teach you to act like an elite. They have a huge market in the small towns and villages.
A lot of these classes are just for women. They create an image of how the foreign elites carry themselves every day and offer to teach this art. Now, one may argue that there are some absurd things within this curriculum. The truth is that their depiction of the lifestyle for men/women living overseas or in big cities is far different from reality. One gets to know about the harsh realities after they settle abroad.
Political Elite
Political elites come top at the ranking of elites. These people are involved in politics, the bureaucracy, think tanks, and so forth. They help in the formation and execution of policies in the country.
They have the qualities of all the elites we have discussed. The living standard of these elites is better than most people in our country. They complete their education abroad and often take part in intellectual conversations with people of the United States, Britain, and Europe. Their worldview is confined due to this. This is one of the reasons why our policies are a mimic of how things are done in the west.
|Shruti Rajagopalan and Alexander Tabarrok’s paper - Premature Imitation and India’s Flailing State explains this situation in our country
An example of this is the use of English in our country. Even though most Indians don’t use it, the country is administered at the top using English. I work in an Audit firm but still have a hard time reading our tax laws. Every important court judgment is a lengthy document, which is complex to understand.
Elite imitation is an inevitable practice. But your elites must keep on changing. It will show that you are achieving your goals in life.
Two things happened when I became fluent in English till the second year of college. English-speaking elites weren’t elites anymore and I started speaking more Hindi. I have always been comfortable with Hindi.
Sometimes it’s also important to do your own thing and not care about others. No one is perfect, not even the elites. It isn’t necessary for you to be inspired by someone to be a better version of yourself.
I think one can start by acknowledging that we all have unique powers that make us an elite.
-Puneet
Beautiful yet again ❤
You are the best version of you PUNEET💕