India’s dichotomy many times manifests funny or illogical and weird ways of activities; it makes someone who tries to think and act logically stumped. The anachronism most of the times slap on one’s face but, we, the Indians keep moving with our head straight and completely blind to it.

Long back, when I was a school going boy, I read Tamil writer Manian’s ‘Idayam Pesukirathu’ (The heart speaks), who had specialized in writing travelogue at that time; it was about five decades ago. In one of his trips he was questioned by a foreigner, I think in the US, how in India people survive in two diametrically opposite levels of life in the same place, referring to the five star hotels and palatial bungalows flanked by dirty houses and slums. Manian, being a true Indian fielded that question with an answer, ‘our country people believe in Karma (effects of sins and virtues of their previous birth) and accept life as it is.’ May be a smart or practical answer! But, as the fast developing nation and Indian Diasporas all over the globe, it is amazing that the same philosophy still prevails!

Every morning you open a newspaper; the first thing on the first page glares at you is an advertisement either for real estate, gold, or a host of three or four wheelers. The advertisement campaigns have assumed various smart to uncouth proportions to assault the readers. In addition, many pages carry different advertisements once again from four liners to full page.

In addition to these, if you carelessly open the newspaper, a bunch of notices will fall from inside. In fact, this form of inserting advertisement slips inside the newspapers is prohibited, but who cares in India? Rules and regulations are there only to be violated for a price or just for the heck of it! We believe in Karma, isn’t it?

Recently, I was really amused by the colourful to mundane bit notices of advertisements for assorted products and services inserted inside a popular newspaper. They were for a restaurant which provides ‘take away delivery’ round the clock, an arts school specialized in a wide range of techniques from Basic Drawing to Murals to 3D Model to cursive writing, an international college which offers degrees in many engineering courses with tie ups with some well known foreign universities, a popular hospital offering package health tests, a fashion jewellery with myriad designs, a coaching academy to crack UPSC to RPF last but not the least, a dealer in cars especially in luxury riding like Benz. If one has to describe this development in the present genre of language: simply awesome!

Again, here the disparity is striking; someone who has the capacity to buy Mercedes may not be interested in cracking the courses for TNPSC! But, this goes on. Notwithstanding the claims made by the popular newspapers, everyday, we find not less than five to ten advertisement slips inside the paper ranging from mosquito net to milk to Audi cars. We will have jaunty malls by the side of open toilets, luxury cars trying to whizz past in the pothole roads, opulent jewellers surrounded by way side unhygienic eateries! We believe in ‘Karma’ and endure!

It proves that Indian developments will be bizarre only. That is the reasons we still continue to be a country of multiple languages, caste and creed, customs and manners, religions and believes. Logics have no place; we look only for miracles!