The Paneer Chilli is Chinese

“It says here that the Paneer Chilli is chinese!!” I said. “Yes, it is” he replied, without so much as a flicker of doubt. I would question the veracity of that statement, except I had learnt the hard way that my friend is never wrong about anything…on a restaurant menu! Eventually the food arrived and proved him right. Some INDIgenius chef had found a way of incorporating the very Indian paneer into a spicy version of the Chinese Stir fry.

I was complaining that I expected the paneer to be an Indian preparation. I’m one of those people who is an Indian Inside! No matter how affluent the restaurant, if it doesn’t make good Indian food it just won’t do. And this got me thinking… You don’t love Indian food because it’s good for you (a lot of it isn’t in the same vicinity as healthy!)… you love it because it makes your taste buds explode!! That applies quite literally if you’re an American on your first trip to India. You can’t expect a gastrointestinal system raised on dumplings from China Town and fries from McDonald’s to handle a Hyderabadi Dum Biryani.

It’s quite the same thing with India as a country. We don’t love India for its sunlit perfection and dependable efficiency… and I certainly don’t love it for its sanskriti and parampara. I love it because we are a nation flawed…and we know it…and it’s okay.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting that we do nothing about the current state of affairs…I’m just saying that you need not look so embarrassed doing it. Being proud of your country on a day when Dhoni lifts the T20 world cup trophy is easy, loving it on a day when you’re stuck in an hour long traffic jam is not. Let’s face it: living in India is hard work…and everyone gets some of it some of the time. It doesn’t matter if you drive a Mercedes S-class, ‘cause a herd of cows parked dead center on a highway will still make you wait. You’re just as likely to step into dog poop whether you wear Gucci or good-old Indian Chappals!

So why do I want so much to live here more than anywhere else in the world? Because living here makes you a better person...it builds character, the kind that will arm you with the street smarts to survive anywhere in the world! Allow me to explain. Versatility is living in a country with 26 recognised languages and having to clear at least 3 of them to just finish high-school. Tolerance is traveling in a bus so crowded that you are nose-to-armpit with the smelliest guy there. Patience is having to slow down on a 4-lane highway ‘cause there are sheep crossing! Value of money is what you learn when you meet a woman begging for alms while balancing an infant on her shoulder. Respect for human life is what keeps us from shooting a guy in the head simply because he pissed us off… the most we would ever do is swear at the blighter in our native tongue!

We’re a nation where you have to do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do…you certainly wouldn’t do it for fear of the criminal justice system! Ours is not speedy enough to inspire that kind of fear. Ours is a nation that teaches you to respect all religions through ample evidence of what happens when people don’t. We’re a nation where children are taught to respect even the enemy and we will cremate, with full respects, the bodies of Pakistani POWs after their own country has disowned them. We are innately an intelligent people. The greatest testament to this is our constant willingness to change and evolve in the face of new wisdom. We are also a secure people, and frequently adopt a lot from the cultures we touch… be that with respect to our national language or the paneer chilli :)

Yes, there are short-comings. Yes, a lot remains to be done. But here’s the thing… for you to want to do something for this nation you have to care… and to truly care about something you have to love it… at least a little.

Much like the Paneer Chilli, which started it all, India is a work in progress, but much like the paneer chilli it can only get better from here.