Are we an US obsessed nation ? If social media is to be seen and believed, it feels so. The amount of coverage given to America by our folks back home, especially since last year's Presidential elections is staggering. From what I can see, the obsession has doubled in past 5 years, ever since Trump's arrival in the political scene.
Every American Presidential election gets its fair share of coverage in India. But last year's election Trumped all - partly due to flamboyant nature of Trump's candidacy and character. The social media was flooded with posts followed by discussions. The Right wing conservatives in India found their ally in Trump and Republican party. It's another matter the American Conservatives care a shit about India.
The night after the day of US Elections I was fast asleep. In the wee hours my phone kept ringing. Drowsy after a long day I hesitantly received the call. At the other end I could hear the sad voice of a lad from our village - "BHAINA, KANA TRAWMPAW KU HAREI DELA - Brother, you defeated Trump" ? "But why do you care ?" - I asked in an intriguing tone. He retorted back - "BICHARAA HAARI GALA. NA HELE PAKISTAN UPARE BOMA PAKEI THANTA - The poor guy lost. Otherwise, he could have dropped a bomb on Pakistan". I replied dismissively - "Oh, Trump told you so ? That's good to know".
In meantime, there was a Presidential election that was held in Tanzania on October 28, less than a week before the US Elections. Outside their country, nobody cared, nobody bothered about their elections. Poor Tanzania !!!
A lot has since happened. Trump is gone from the White House and Biden is in. But the obsession hasn't gone, nor subsided. Recently I saw posts where followers of Modi predicting Modi and Trump both winning elections in 2024 and taking the world to next level. Oh Really ? Their terms coincided for four years from 2017 to 2021. To what level they took the world to in those four years and what magic they have to do wonders together in 2024 ! Here in America forget about juxtaposing him with Trump and hallucinating about a glorious global scene in 2020, hardly anybody is even aware of Modi.
When I point about this obsession, some get defensive - justifying it to having their nears and dears in USA to make them obsessed about America. That's a weird and flawed logic. We have far bigger Indian diaspora in Uganda, South Africa, Fiji and Guyana too who got their friends and families in India. In fact, they are much larger in numbers and constitute a sizable portion of the population of their respective countries. Yet we rarely discuss about them.
Another yardstick of obsession is the amount of attention an American President gets while visiting India which can make any global leader turn green with envy. Putin, Xi, leaders of Germany or Japan don't get anything close to what an Ametican president gets in India. Even the British Prime Minister, a country with whom India has lon, historical ties and a sizable Indian diaspora doesn't get 1/10th of the attention an Obama or Trump gets. On the other hand, Putin has stood with India multiple times whereas the US Presidents have hardly done anything beyond lip service.
Why this obsession ? Is it due to Pax Americana ? People tend to look up to others who they perceive up in the higher echelon. For example - I know Modi and Rahul Gandhi. I am sure neither of them knows me, nor care to know about me.
Obsession, like love or hate is a human emotion. It has its own reasons. As Somerset Maugham wrote, love is strongest when it's unreasonable (so also its opposite hate). On a different but good note, there is a decrease in our obsession towards Pakistan in the last few years. And that's not a bad thing at all. Part of the reason - we are surging ahead of Pakistan, not just in economy but in cricket and hockey in which they dominated us for decades. We feel we are better off them, so no need for obsession.
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