They stood in a queue at the airport emigration counter. It was unusually serpentine. The man in his 60s said in an exasperated tone, “Why is it so difficult to leave this country? This should be a simple process.”
The 30-year-old, just ahead of him in the line, turned around and said, “This is an aberration. I fly often from this airport and it doesn’t take me more than a few minutes.”
The two got talking about India, processes and systems and for everything good the 30-year-old had to say, the 60-something had a counter.
Then, suddenly the older man said, “But now everything will be better. We have a man in charge who knows what to do. And he’s all about India – finally we have one identity.”
The 30-year-old had a puzzled look. He asked, “When did you leave India?”
“1970,” said the older one.
“We were never one India – not in 1975, not in 1984, not in 1990 or 1991, not in 2002. Actually, never.”
And just as he had finished saying that, they announced the older man’s flight.
Ranabir Majumdar 
We all feel the same way that old man is feeling, the idea of Indian as a nation seems to be a work in progress. At the moment, we are trying to solve this jumbled block puzzle called “Indianness” which often haunt us when we step outside our shores. I am not a pessimist Ron, but there is just too much that goes inside the head of an ordinary Indian, from polluted air to terrorism, to women security and the latest in the list “freedom of expression”. I am hoping to see Mr. Modi help us define who we are within his stint as the PM.
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Nice.
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