In its eagerness to be politically correct, India has lost an opportunity to exploit its cultural heritage, writes Renuka Narayanan in the Hindustan Times
While the politically fearful (read: history departments) and the politically opportunistic (read: politicians) twist and shout on ‘mythomania’ and the Hindus-in-the-middle (read: most regular people) wonder if they should say, “Excuse me for living,” foreigners happily use our Saraswati for their Lakshmi. Want a supremely ironic example? Even as Indians still squabble about the religious and political correctness of singing Vande Mataram, look at Indonesia, a country with the world’s largest Muslim headcount — well over 200 million, making over 88 per cent of its total population while Indonesian Hindus account for merely 1.81 per cent. And yet Indonesia happily called its national airline ‘Garuda Indonesia’ way back in 1950, making its maiden flight to Mecca in 1956. To add a piquant twist, Garuda’s first aircraft was involved in daring airdashes during the country’s freedom struggle against the Dutch with the day of its first flight on January 26, 1949, later recognised as Garuda Indonesia’s official birthday.
Previously on AW: Ramayan trail in Sri Lanka
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