Thursday, September 08, 2005

...proud to be an a**hole??

I read this in one of the mailing lists I'm subscribed to. A perfect example of the misdirected, misinterpreted, shoddy and shameful display of patriotism that I mentioned a couple of posts back. I'm not even sure if the figures and facts are right here, it's just the intent and emotion behind the post below that scares me.

I couldnt' stop making this comparison..

inches of rain in new orleans due to hurricane katrina... 18
inches of rain in mumbai (July 27th).... 37.1

population of new orleans... 484,674
population of mumbai.... 12,622,500

deaths in new orleans within 48 hours of katrina...100
deaths in mumbai within 48hours of rain.. 37

number of people to be evacuated in new orleans... entire city..wohh
number of people evacuated in mumbai...10,000

Cases of shooting and violence in new orleans...Countless
Cases of shooting and violence in mumbai.. NONE

Time taken for US army to reach new orleans... 48hours
Time taken for Indian army and navy to reach mumbai...12hours

status 48hours later...new orleans is still waiting for relief, army and electricty
status 48hours later..mumbai is back on its feet and is business is as usual

USA...world's most developed nation
India...third world country..

oopss...did i get the last fact wrong???

Jai Maharashtra !

I said in that post and I'll say it today, patriotism has always been an emotion based on delusions and malice.

As an Indian, this post does not make me proud. It shames me to think that people with thoughts like these exist in the country that some people tell me is the beacon of compassion, hospitality and good will in this world. Delusions galore my fellow patriots...we are all but an inch away from being the people we hate...

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