Grand Narratives vs Ordinary Lives
Nations like their stories large. They prefer epics to blog posts, victories to routines, slogans to conversations. In these grand narratives, history marches forward with flags unfurled and voices raised in (manufactured) unison. But ordinary lives do not march; they wait – at bus stops, hospital corridors, ration shops. Their lives are not shaped by moments of national glory but by small negotiations with time, money, illness, and hope. Grand stories are fine; the problem is they ignore the arithmetic by which most people survive. One grand story that India wrote recently was the celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the RSS, the fascist, nationalist organisation that wants to convert India into a Hindu Rashtra. Ironically, 2 October (Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary) was chosen for the grand show in Nagpur which brought many eminent international guests. Many prominent American journalists were among the guests. “The presence of the US journalists … conferred internati...
